Doan Magnesium Fire Starter Review

Polymath said:
Mag blocks seem to be a polarizing subject like Tom Brown. You either love'm or hate'm.
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I think that is being totally unfair to the DOAN and to Tom Brown... :D

I don't carry flint and steel. Flint rocks are as common as ticks around here and I usually have a suitable knife or hatchet on hand.
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That might be true for your given locale. Take this into careful consideration, however...

It would really suck to have to drag yourself around on the ground with a compound fracture, bleeding out your heat into the cold ground. Could happen. At least you wouldn't have to hunt around, 30 feet could be an agony with a bad injury.

pict said:
About the only thing that makes up for a poor fire lay is a pint of gasoline.
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That is NO LIE! :D

ETA - Johnny Reb - I think most of us carry a Bic as a go-to lighter. I usually have a pair of them. The trouble is that they are prone to fail in extreme cold, high wind and don't work right away when soaked in water and those are the conditions where you need fire the most. The Doan tool, or ferro rod, and a prepared tinder like PJ treated cotton are there for just such conditions.
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Good advice.

skammer said:
The beauty of the magblock is its guranteed fire in one unit...

It is however not idiot proof.
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I expected miracles when I was a kid. It took a while for the cold, hard reality to sink in.

See comments below. I just turned 39 the end of August...this reminds me of a 16 year old me. :D

johnny reb said:
I tried one of those years ago, More of a pain than it was worth. A Bic lighter is quicker and more dependable. Would I carry it as a backup? No I would carry an extra Bic.
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You're lining up to be the cautionary tale.

The Bic lighter is not more dependable, you are not skilled. Just like I was years ago.
 
Some good points Don. Any skill worth knowing has to be learned. And it does take some "dirt time" to become familiar and proficient with any fire starting means other than a flick. It is much the same way I know and feel comfortable with my old antique fixed blade. I have tactile memory of it, know it's shape and strong and weak points. I can do things with it now that I never thought possible thirty years ago.
 
Very true...

Did you get my E-mail last night or did it get lost in the bowels of some America Online trap? :D
 
I got it just fine Don. Sorry I didn't respond, but my local work fizzled in July, and I am commuting to Nashville every day. 1 1/2 hours each way with a full workday inbetween. Early to bed and early to rise and all that. A good hint you gave. Just need to find a cheaper source of a material! :D

More hints at Mcguyvering appreciated!

Codger
 
Did Willy Shake say that? :D

Well, it wasn't a problem when I was young... say... 39 or so. Now it is all I can do to stay awake on the way home. And the truckers don't like it if I read a good book while driving. I'm 80% deaf, so listening to the radio isn't very entertaining. But I did play with my mag block on the way home today in a driving rainstorm. It didn't seem to be affected. Kinda like flash bulbs in the ashtray though. Maybe I should work on some of those knife rehandle jobs during the commute.;)
 
Whilst reading your posting, I was thinking that you might enjoy Hamlet in a books-on-tape format, alas, I was mistaken. :D

Perhaps you would be interested in A Midmagnesium Block's Dream?
 
I am toying with the idea of laminating the sides of the block with cedar or fatwood. Shave a bit here, shave a bit there. Maybe even hollow it out some for a photon light. By the way, the spine of my Uncle Henry Schrade+ stainless steel blade showers sparks from the rod just fine, so it does not take high carbon steel to do it. I will get aroung to reshaping one of the many used hacksaw blades in my truck for a striker though. Or maybe a small sawzall blade.
 
Attaching a fatwood chunk is a good idea, Codger. You could even just drill a hole in the fatwood for to loop paracord connecting the wood and mag bar + striker. Good setup.
 
Nice writeup. I used one with limited success at first and then decided to make up my scrapings and keep them in a sealed container until needed.

Since I already had the shavings, I figured I didn't need to carry the bar and just found myself an inexpensive sparking tool in the BSA Hotspark and it worked a lot better for me. I eventually stopped carrying the mag shavings, but continue to keep a container full of them on hand in the cabinet.

Today in addition to the BSA Hotspark, I carry a small bic lighter, ranger bands, fatwood, spark-lite firestarting kit, some homemade wax & cotton firestarter that double as fuel for the esbit stove and at least one tinder bundle that I've made up from available resources in our woods here.
 
Codger,

"Maybe even hollow it out some for a photon light."

Now, is that thinking inside or outside of the box? I really like this idea so much that I am going to shamelessly steal it.

If you recall my latest leather project from about 10 pages back...
img2164ap1.jpg

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This thing is just crying to have a micro-light included but I hadn't thought of how to do it before starting the project. I think you just handed me a perfect solution.

It wouldn't be hard to drill a hole lengthwise down a mag-block to hold PJ cotton either. Cap it off with a little rubber stopper or even tap some threads and make a screw in plug, just a thought. Mac
 
Pict, interesting folder. Details? Sorry to all for deviating from the topic at hand.
 
Don Rearic said:
That might be true for your given locale. Take this into careful consideration, however...

It would really suck to have to drag yourself around on the ground with a compound fracture, bleeding out your heat into the cold ground. Could happen. At least you wouldn't have to hunt around, 30 feet could be an agony with a bad injury.
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I should be more clear. I always carry three methods - usually Bic, matches,
and a fire steel with VCB for tinder. My other kit is the same except for a
Sparklite and tinder in place of the fire steel.

What I actually meant was that I don't bother to carry flint and steel in
addition to the above. If I have lost all three of the above then I am truly
in primitive mode and will hunt down a flint rock pronto. However, if I have
my knife on me then I have fire makings in the pocket on the sheath. If I
don't have have my knife :eek: I have fire makings in my pocket.
 
Polymath said:
However, if I have
my knife on me then I have fire makings in the pocket on the sheath. If I
don't have have my knife :eek: I have fire makings in my pocket.
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And if I even lose that.....I still have my brain and knowledge........:D
It will take some time before you've made a bow drill or hand drill.....but if I lose all fire making tools, I still know how to make fire, if the conditions (weather, environment) are fair/good. When it's pooring down, it's hard to make a fire with just the stuff you find in the woods.......
Also I try to take some luck with me.........but it looks like I always lose that first........

CZ
 
Polymath said:
I should be more clear. I always carry three methods - usually Bic, matches,
and a fire steel with VCB for tinder. My other kit is the same except for a
Sparklite and tinder in place of the fire steel.

What I actually meant was that I don't bother to carry flint and steel in
addition to the above. If I have lost all three of the above then I am truly
in primitive mode and will hunt down a flint rock pronto. However, if I have
my knife on me then I have fire makings in the pocket on the sheath. If I
don't have have my knife :eek: I have fire makings in my pocket.
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If I missed that before, I do apologize. Of course, I oftentimes make large, blundering mistakes. :D
 
I started out not liking the mag blocks, but after getting good with using one, its my go to if my matches somehow fail. It has limitations just like anything else. I think people have the idea that a mag block is a fool proof method, its not. You just have to learn how to use it and respect its limitations.
 
johnny reb said:
I tried one of those years ago, More of a pain than it was worth. A Bic lighter is quicker and more dependable. Would I carry it as a backup? No I would carry an extra Bic.
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What will you do if both your Bics get wet??????

Bruceter
 
x39 said:
Pict, interesting folder. Details? Sorry to all for deviating from the topic at hand.
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x39,

That's a Zebu folder Barretos, Sao Paulo Brazil. They are a solid working knife, very robust build, stiff spring. My only criticism is that the steel is a little soft. They are easy to sharpen but won't hold an edge on hard materials like bamboo for long. I like them alot though. Mac
 
KnifeGuy07 said:
Has anyone here ever heard of the Doan MFS ever loosing it's ferrocium?
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Yes, heard a lot of stories about it. And probably true, but with all good stuff, there is allways a lemon between them.

I've got all DOAN tools, and never had a ferrorod come loose. The Coghlans got some reports of loose ferrorods, but another story is that they also came from the same plant where Doan tools are manufactured, and could be a blown up story.

CZ
 
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