Coghlan's Magnesium Bar mini-review

Bushman5 said:
mag bars = :mad::thumbdn::grumpy: anyone that expects to stake their life on one deserves the cold death that follows.
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Okay, I'll go as far as to say that you shouldn't depend on the mag bar as your primary fire starter, but it makes a good back-up, IMHO. I've started hundreds of fires with a Doan's bar. I always carry one.
 
dawsonbob said:
Okay, I'll go as far as to say that you shouldn't depend on the mag bar as your primary fire starter, but it makes a good back-up, IMHO. I've started hundreds of fires with a Doan's bar. I always carry one.
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I have one (Doan's) and I'm not going to throw it away even though I don't like it. But I can't see using it for anything other than the striker rod - which does work great. It just seems like there are TOO MANY other options that work better with less effort. Anyone in a true survival situation, aside from wanting more than one option, would want something that works quick and with ease. The mag block, even though it works, is not that option, IMHO.

Just do a little test. If you have a mag block and a piece of fatwood try this.

Shave off a quarter size of shavings from the magblock and light it.

Then shave off half the size of a dime of fatwood and light it.

Watch the result. See which one burns long and see which one require more effort.

Or...do a test with the magblock and PJCB.

I know the mag blocks burn hotter.. but really who cares. I would rather have a long lasting USABLE flame where you don't have to put your tinder on it in just a few seconds.

For me personally, If I'm puttng together a survival kit I would leave the mag block out. Like I said...there are just too many other options that work really well with less work and less things to worry about (like the wind blowing your shavings away).

Anyway...those are just my thoughts. :)
 
newknife said:
I would rather have a long lasting USABLE flame where you don't have to put your tinder on it in just a few seconds.
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Perhaps I'm missing something, but why does that matter? You should have your tinder and kindling ready before you try and start it anyway. Your tinder should be flammable and give you the 'long lasting USABLE flame'.

Maybe it's a case, like a lot of other things here, different strokes...... (no pun intended).

I'm still going to do the test, even if it's just for me and dawsonbob.

Doc
 
I recently picked up a coghlans mag bar at my local Bi-Mart and I have not had any problems lighting my fires with it so far. I suppose that they could have horrible QC and that they are not all alike. One thing I did find surprising though was last week I went on a few mile hike in the rain and I kept my mag bar in my front coat pocket. When I got home I pulled it out to dry it and there was already a surprising amount of corrosion on both the rod and the magnesium. I thought that was a bit odd. But ya I think that the mag block is a good thing to keep in your pack. I have not yet tried any other style fire steels yet but in my experience as long as you strike it with something somewhat sharp ( I use the burred spine of my sod buster jr.) you should be able to scrape off a nice amount of magnesium and get a good shower of sparks of the rod.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Perhaps I'm missing something, but why does that matter? You should have your tinder and kindling ready before you try and start it anyway. Your tinder should be flammable and give you the 'long lasting USABLE flame'.

Maybe it's a case, like a lot of other things here, different strokes...... (no pun intended).

I'm still going to do the test, even if it's just for me and dawsonbob.

Doc
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And I really am interested, Doc. I've only tried one of the Coghlan's type before, and that was many years ago. At the time, it seemed not as good as the Doan's, but I can't remember why.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Perhaps I'm missing something, but why does that matter? You should have your tinder and kindling ready before you try and start it anyway. Your tinder should be flammable and give you the 'long lasting USABLE flame'.

Maybe it's a case, like a lot of other things here, different strokes...... (no pun intended).

I'm still going to do the test, even if it's just for me and dawsonbob.

Doc
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We'll..sure you should have you're tinder ready. But even a little wind can mess those mag shavings up. With other fire starting options you don't have to have microscopic shavings that fly all over the place. (I know that wind could any any option more difficult - nothing is fool proof).

For me, I live at about 8,000 feet above sea level. Right now there's about 1.5 feet of snow on the ground. Usually it's pretty cold..especially as evening rolls around. I go hiking quite a lot ..many times at evening and into the night ( I find it enjoyable then). Our land backs up to thousands of acres of state land. If I was to get lost at night and in the cold I wouldn't want to spend the time messing with a mag block. My first option would be going to the bic lighter in my pocket (as I'm sure most people would) but my next option would be an option that works quickly and with ease. Most likely a ferro rod and fatwood or pjcb (both of which I would carry). Something along those lines.

Thats how my mind thinks when I look at these things.
 
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newknife said:
We'll..sure you should have you're tinder ready. But even a little wind can mess those mag shavings up. With other fire starting options you don't have to have microscopic shavings that fly all over the place. (I know that wind could any any option more difficult - nothing is fool proof).

For me, I live at about 8,000 feet above sea level. Right now there's about 1.5 feet of snow on the ground. Usually it's pretty cold..especially as evening rolls around. I go hiking quite a lot ..many at evening and into the night ( I find it enjoyable then). Our land backs up to thousands of acres of state land. If I was to get lost at night and in the cold I wouldn't want to spend the time messing with a mag block. My first option's going to the bic lighter in my pocket (as I'm sure most people would be) but my next option would be an option works quickly and with ease. Most likely a ferro rod and fatwood or pjcb (both of which I would carry). Something along those lines.

Thats how my mind thinks when I look at these things.
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I don't disagree, I would prefer my fire straws, which I also carry, as well as a Zippo, Bic, and modified lantern lighter, but I still will keep my Coghlan - just one more option when things go south. I also do bow drill and hand drill (last resort, of course :D).

Doc
 
I spent a couple hours one day scraping & sparking on a coghlans mag bar.
I tried the duct-tape trick & the hacksaw blade trick & even a file.
Then I tossed it in the trash.
Anything that difficult & complicated doesn't go in my kit.
 
I have four of the Coghlans ones, all from different stores, with no probs. Maybe yours is too new , and you need to wear the black coating off some more and/or use a sharper hacksaw blade. I edge-ground mine to a sharp edge on my belt sander (using pliers and eye protection.)

It is quite possible you may have a bad one , but I doubt it.

My fire rule of threes: Bic lighter , matches , and sparkstick ( ferrorod )

If all those three fail at once ( unlikely) , then it's back to the stone age.
 
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My limited experience with Bic and the like: they do not
light in even a small wind. Is there a lighter that does (?),
if so give me an advisory and link.

Concerning the mag monolith with firesteel, glued on. I have
both brands but have not tested them very much.
Shame on me.:(
I have got very decent sparks off of the firesteel rod part, the
few times I tested them. It could start a fire without using the
mag shavings. Do not get a mind-block on this.

Would it be cheating to make a few petroleum-jelly and cotton
with mag sprinkles and all stuffed into a straw. :confused: So the mag
bar would weigh less, and PJ straws would be mag fortified,
before you went afield.

Edit to add:
Now I see that the above "mag sprinkles" PRE-mixed with pj + cotton,
was posted long ago. No wonder that idea popped into my head so easily.


I should do this myself. :D
 
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I feel like there is unrealistic expectations on the mag bar. The mag bar is flash tinder used to start the kindling that is something like the fatwood (or firestraws). It is meant to be an intense starter flame used to light the rest of the fuel. Firesteel to spark the mag that lights the fatwood.


(at least how I was taught)
 
I found one in a class room in my school one time. The thing sucks. The fire steel is terrible at throwing sparks and mine broke off the mag block. Shaving mag is time consuming and when you get a decent enough pile, it catches a tiny flame and dies in about 5-10 seconds. Total POS.

Charcloth+jute twine, or just jute twine works for me.
 
I stick a mini-bic in a ziplock bag with steel wool, waterproof strike anywhere matches and keep a Doans on my zipper of the BOB...any and all will make a cold night better in a hurry.

Sorry for your bad luck Broseph, its a combo job on some nights to keep warm and like my brothers say, improvise-adapt-overcome.
 
I also think that 1 of the reason people think the mag-bar suck is because they compare it to PJ balls and fat-wood. When we really should make a comperance along the lines of:
How good tinder is the handle on the mag-bar rod ( Pretty good) compared to how good the green / red plastic handle on LMF is as tinder ( not so good).
 
fnc said:
Did you mean "not meant" ?
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No- I meant that the Mag. is meant to have an intense start that catches the next stage (tinder/shavings/grass bowl) that in turn catches the kindling (twigs/feather sticks) that catches the bigger fuel (sticks) to light the logs on fire.

I think I have heard it here as "flash kindling" or something else, similar to using cattail fluff or coffee mate.
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
No- I meant that the Mag. is meant to have an intense start that catches the next stage (tinder/shavings/grass bowl) that in turn catches the kindling (twigs/feather sticks) that catches the bigger fuel (sticks) to light the logs on fire.

I think I have heard it here as "flash kindling" or something else, similar to using cattail fluff or coffee mate.
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Coffee mate? Hadn't heard that one. Thistle flower pod will flash.
 
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