Coghlan's Magnesium Bar mini-review

Don Rearic said:
Bob,

I'm beginning to think you and I are supermen with superman hand strength or some crap. Magnesium is soft. I wonder if these guys are getting some kind of harder grade of Magnesium. I mean, there are different hardnesses of Aluminum, so-called "Aircraft-Grade," etc. Maybe Bushy's got a bum chunk of mag or something, I really don't know. Magnesium is not hard as steel, it's easy to shave.

I'm sort of perplexed about all of this. I don't have Coughlan's Brand, just a bunch of Doan's including my first one and what I can do with that just doesn't jibe with what they're experiencing.
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Don, I'm beginning to think we must be. I've never had any trouble starting a fire with a Doan's bar. Magnesium is soft enough that I've whittled off shavings with my little pocket knife, and didn't dull the edge (much).

Something's going on here, for sure. Some of us have no trouble starting fires with magnesium blocks, while others can't get a fire at all: what's up with that? Maybe they're expecting the wrong thing out of the block? It could be that the magnesium block is doing just what it's supposed to do, but they don't recognize it for what it is. (scratches head in bewilderment)
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Here's a thought - maybe it's a question of relativity. I'm thinking that maybe all or most of the people who don't like the mag bar, have never done friction fire.

If they did, I think it would enhance their appreciation of the mag bar. Just a thought.

Doc
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I think you may be on to something here, Doc. It could be that they're expecting big, leaping flames, not realizing that a little hot thing is fire, too: it's up to them to bring it to life.
 
KuRUpTD said:
I'm sure if
fatwood or PJCB's didn't exist there would be more of an appreciation for magnesium.
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I'm sure your right. For me, you hit the nail on the head. If it wasn't for the other 50 options that worked better, quicker, and with less work I'd be all for the mag block. :)
 
newknife said:
I'm sure your right. For me, you hit the nail on the head. If it wasn't for the other 50 options that worked better, quicker, and with less work I'd be all for the mag block. :)
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Where the mag bar excels is that it is dang near indestructable and totally waterproof, basically throw it in your bag and forget it till you need it. There are lots of ways to start a fire but I think the mag bar is at the top for toughness. Chris
 
August West said:
Where the mag bar excels is that it is dang near indestructable and totally waterproof, basically throw it in your bag and forget it till you need it. There are lots of ways to start a fire but I think the mag bar is at the top for toughness. Chris
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:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
August West said:
Where the mag bar excels is that it is dang near indestructable and totally waterproof, basically throw it in your bag and forget it till you need it. There are lots of ways to start a fire but I think the mag bar is at the top for toughness. Chris
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I keep a mag bar or fire steel, in my pack just in case I run out of lighter fluid, or my matches get wet, or my lighter cracks, or I lose my lighter, etc. You don't want to be stuck 100 miles from nowhere without a means to make fire, especially in the winter. It's a good thing to know how to use firesteel or magnesium in the off chance that your prefered method craps out on you.

By the way, Dryer lint is great tinder when using a firesteel.
 
Blais said:
After all the talk about the Doan mag bars, I wanted to try one (or something similar) for myself. I happened to find a Coghlan's mag bar at Walmart yesterday and couldn't wait to try it out.
s7_590102_imageset_02

I did what others recommended and snapped off a piece of hack saw blade to help scrape the magnesium and it works great for getting a pile of shavings in a reasonably small amount of time. Next, I tried the ferro bar and was dismayed to find that I couldn't get it to spark with the hacksaw blade. After twenty attempts, I switched to my LMF striker...nuthin. I then switched the spine of my puukko, and finally the sharp edge and got a weak spark after a few tries. :grumpy:

No amount of changing strikers, altering striking style, and swearing could get more than a tiny flash out of the ferro rod. I tried quick and short strokes, long and hard strokes, high-pressure and slow strokes and was very disappointed in the performance. I also noticed that the rod seemed much softer than my LMF rod and was getting torn up pretty bad. This was all done indoors in dry, warm conditions so I can only imagine the frustration it would cause if I was wet, cold, and tired.
Extra-:mad:

At this point I gave up on the built-in ferro rod and decided to use my LMF to ignite the pile of shavings. It took five attempts to get the shavings to catch and when they did, I wasn't particularly impressed. It burned real hot and certainly would readily ignite tinder but it fizzled out so quickly that I have my doubts about being able to start a fire in wet conditions.

On the whole, my Coghlan's Mag bar is useless to me without a more reliable way to ignite the shavings. Someone mentioned that the Doan's mag bar is, at worst, a ferro rod with a large handle but the Coghlan's isn't even that. As an emergency survival tool, I give it a big FAIL. I'm not willing to rule out the chance that mine came with a bad ferro rod and I do plan on removing it and replacing it with a better one. I certainly see it's value as a waterproof fuel source for firestarting and will keep it with my gear but I'm not leaving the PJCBs or oiled dryer lint at home.
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Hi Blais,

I had also huge problems with a no name magnesium fire starter and then I tried the DOAN. The DOAN works just perfect and I strongly recommend this device! It's quite easy to get the shavings with a hack saw blade and the firesteel works easy! Don't by an other magnesium fire starter! You can get it easily from eBay stores for a few bucks.

Best regards,

tuxtex
 
I have a couple of cheapo Doans from different sources. One thing I notice is that they are all comfortable to strike the ferro rod. I like being able to grab that big block and strike. Almost more so than a large dedicated ferro rod.

Still, in the end, I like the big ferro rods better.
 
kgd said:
I have a couple of cheapo Doans from different sources. One thing I notice is that they are all comfortable to strike the ferro rod. I like being able to grab that big block and strike. Almost more so than a large dedicated ferro rod.

Still, in the end, I like the big ferro rods better.
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But a preference for one, does not preclude the carrying of the other as a backup.
 
Hawkings said:
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).
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Now that's apples to apples.

I have multiples of the Coughlins and Doan tools and they have worked fine for me. I actually rarely use the magnesium, I just use the ferro rod to light natural tinder or treated cotton.

I did have a coughlin's lose it's rod recently. I plan to do the magnum ferro rod conversion on it. Mac
 
OK, I think I solved the problem. I thought that I would be in the neighbourhood of MEC before New Year's Eve, so I did a quick search on their website for magnesium bars. This is what I found:

Magnesiumfirestarter.jpg
Here's the link in case anybody wants it.

So, anyway, I guess I saved myself a couple of bucks, and made a mental note to not buy any more.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
OK, I think I solved the problem. I thought that I would be in the neighbourhood of MEC before New Year's Eve, so I did a quick search on their website for magnesium bars. This is what I found:

Magnesiumfirestarter.jpg
Here's the link in case anybody wants it.

So, anyway, I guess I saved myself a couple of bucks, and made a mental note to not buy any more.

Doc
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Made in china does not = bad quality , just because there is a problem with the mag-bar.
And I don't see how the problem is sovled, we still don't know what is wrong with the mag-bar ?

I don't post a lot but I do read alot on the forums and I've come to enjoy an respected you opinion (Even agreeing with you more then disagreeing ;)).

I've come to expect more from you then a cheap one liner like this. (China = Bad) :confused:

If I'm getting this wrong I would appreciate it if you could explain it better, so that I might understand :)
 
good catch Doc, that probably solves the old 'are Coghlan's made by Doan's' question.
I might buy a Doan's if ever I see one, but so far have never seen one for sale anywhere in Alberta.

Hawkings, I personally bought 4 of the Coghlan's from MEC and threw them in the trash after trying to scrape shavings off.
They are HARD.
I had assumed they are same as Doan's - Doc shows us they are not.
Maybe made in China does not = bad quality... but I can't think of anything off hand that is state of the art quality and made in China.
 
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fasteer said:
good catch Doc, that probably solves the old 'are Coghlan's made by Doan's' question.
I might buy a Doan's if ever I see one, but so far have never seen one for sale anywhere in Alberta.

Hawkings, I personally bought 4 of the Coghlan's from MEC and threw them in the trash after trying to scrape shavings off.
They are HARD.
I had assumed they are same as Doan's - Doc shows us they are not.
Maybe made in China does not = bad quality... but I can't think of anything off hand that is state of the art quality and made in China.
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Flip over your keyboard, what does it say ? and how is that working for you ;)
 
I've used a Coghlan's bar for years. Never had a problem out of any of them.

OP>>

The posts regarding the black coating are right. There's a kind of varnish--or atleast it acts like varnish-- on it that you have to scrape off. Then use a sharp edge (I knocked the teeth off of a sawz-all blade) some pressure and a quick, hard stroke--think "boyscount flint". I get a good sized shower of sparks everytime.

The posts regarding its purpose are correct as well. It's not meant to be a stand alone flame, it doesn't last long enough to reach the flashpoint of anything bigger than fine tinder. What it IS meant to be is a quick, intense burst of heat to ignite fine tinder so that you can get a lasting flame to begin building your fire on.

I don't knock stuff made in China, unless it's crap. There's plenty of stuff made right here in the good old USA that is crap.

As long as it works I don't care if it was made in Nazi Germany.

When you scrape the shavings don't try to whittle them off, just use something with a sharp edge or corner (SAWZ-ALL BLADE...again) and just scrape at it. The directions say a pile as big as a dime, but I make my pile as big as a quarter.

I hated my boyscout model flint when I first bought it. The scraper they come with are crap...atleast mine was. Not a corner sharp enough to cause a spark--so I trashed the scraper and used my knife. I got so frustrated with that thing I called it every son of a b--ch under the sun.
Then one day a little serendipity happened while I was playing with drier lint and an empty bic mini...I was doing the flint wrong. I was trying to light tinder that was too big. So I scraped some lint off my socks and pants, tried a new technique...and got what I was looking for.

Don't give up on the magnesium bar, brother. They're excellent. Coughlan's makes a good one, but there are principles involved--just like with everything else. If you still don't want it you can always give it to someone.
 
I got to playing with my army model firesteel and Coghlan's mag bar yesterday. I used a simple knife I'd made from a high carbon RR spike and in less than a minute had a quarter size pile of shavings. I tried using the spine of the knive as a striker for the mag bars ferro rod....not a spark. Tried it on my army model firesteel, no luck either. Just for comparison I flipped the knive over and tentatively tried getting a spark with the sharpened edge....I got some sparks but not much and stopped for concern for my knifes edge. So I tried the striker that came with my firesteel on the mag bar......big fat honken sparks! Even few little molten balls; perhaps not quite as good as with my army model firesteel, but enough to ignite the mag shaving with a couple strikes. I suspect that most poor performance with some ferro rods isn't the rod itself but what you are using as a striker. I'm not saying I have any vast experience in this only that what I'm seeing seems to bear that out
 
i used one camping one time, it worked but was such a pain to keep the shavings together at a campsite that i likely wont bring one again as i like my lazy bic or firesteel for backup
 
Calebklyne said:
i used one camping one time, it worked but was such a pain to keep the shavings together at a campsite that i likely wont bring one again as i like my lazy bic or firesteel for backup
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Try shaving them onto a piece of duct tape, just the trick. Chris
 
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