Firestarter-magnesium vs. lighter

Craig_PHX said:
The best deal on a ferro rod is the $12 Strike Force. The ferro rod is 1/2" thick and 2 1/4" long. It is only held in place by friction. I put mine in a vice and easily pulled off the plastic handle. It has rounded edges so it can be carried in your pocket with no problem. I tossed the plastic parts in the trash. It does not need a handle!

The best treated cotton I have tried is the Coghlan's Emergency Tinder. Coating them with magnesium might be fun.

See I kept on the magnesium thread! :D
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I like this one...it is 4" long and 1/2" in diameter and sells for $14.50 lots of other cool stuff on this site as well.
http://www.epcamps.com/4in_Flint.html
 
1.Melt a paraffin candle in a tin can.
2.Dip 'Light Anywhere Matches' in the paraffin using a foreceps or needle nose pliers, gripping the wood end; Not the striking end.
3. Let thick paraffin coating harden in air (takes less than a minute).
4. Pour water on coated match; try to drown it. Let Mother Nature blow on match. (Not infallable, use some available shielding).
5. Strike coated match on any dry surface.....will burn hot for several minutes. Wood match serves as extra large wick, paraffin as fuel. In the event everything is hopelessy soaked, break a rock or split some wood to expose a dry striking surface.
6. If you have used tinder and progressively larger fuel....Wallah fire.
 
bigbcustom said:
I like this one...it is 4" long and 1/2" in diameter and sells for $14.50 lots of other cool stuff on this site as well.
http://www.epcamps.com/4in_Flint.html
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OK, I want one for my PSK! $14.50 for a 1/2" x 4" ferro rod is a screaming deal! I have a County Comm Metal Match and a MagFire Pro in the PSK now! I started with the BSA Hot Spark and moved up to bigger and bigger ferro rods. Starting wood curls with a ferro rod is B I G fun!

But (monkey :D ) 4" is too long for pocket carry. I EDC the Strike Force Ferro rod in my pants pocket with my mini Bic and two Coghlan's Emergency Tinder!

Bunch of pyromaniacs! :D :D :D
 
Craig_PHX said:
. . . I EDC the Strike Force Ferro rod in my pants pocket with my mini Bic and two Coghlan's Emergency Tinder!

Bunch of pyromaniacs! :D :D :D
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And damn proud of the title, you betcha! :D
 
Craig_PHX said:
Bunch of pyromaniacs! :D :D :D
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Fire, mmmm.

Okay, now ya started it. A fire vs f'ar story. While stationed in Alaska, two of us went on a hunt. We ATVd into the Steese mountains and set up a base camp. Larry would use a little gasoline to get a fire going in the AM, making sure there were no embers from the night before and putting it around the base of the woodpile instead of on it. When I questioned him about doing things that way he told me that yes, he can do the fuzzsticks and fire lay and the whole Boy Scout routine, but he was making a f'ar, not a fire. He explained his education in the difference too me, thereby educating me.

Seems he was out hunting with some good ole boys (it might have been a coon hunt - I've also learned there are different types of coon hunts by my own experience, that's another story.) and they were going to get a fire going for the night. Larry started doing the proper steps to build a fire. One of the fellas there asked what he was doing then told him to get out of the way. This ole boy stacks some wood, pours some gasoline around and in the base of the fire and of course some settles in the dirt which will act like a wick. He then steps back a ways and tosses a match on to the stack. Whoosh! The fire kicks up from the base and licks the wood into combustion. The Good Old Boy holds his hands out and says, "Now that's a f'ar!"

Now you know the difference between a fire and a f'ar. I guess each has its place and time. <g> Btw, f'ar is as close an approximation as I can get to the pronunciation, but you get the idea.

Oh yeah, and that flint rod in the link above. As Tim the Toolman Taylor would say, Oh, Oh, Oh! Gotta get one of those soon. Oh no, am I suffering from firesteel envy? :eek:
 
I think the Firesteels and all that are really cool to try or for backup, or just to play with for fun, but for me I usually just rely on a lighter and maybe some paper or candle wax scrapings to get stuff started.
 
hollowdweller said:
I think the Firesteels and all that are really cool to try or for backup, or just to play with for fun, but for me I usually just rely on a lighter and maybe some paper or candle wax scrapings to get stuff started.
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F'ar Tribe or Fire Tribe? :D
 
OK, now I have to tell a f'ar story.

I was in the Army guarding an ammo dump. It was night and cold out. We had an old trailer for our guard shack for the soldiers that were not on watch. There was a 55 gallon barrel out front of the trailer that was being used as a fire barrel to keep warm. The trailer had a diesel heater to keep the sleeping soldiers warm. The fire in the barrel was dieing down. The Sargent in charge took a 5 gallon can of fuel and started pouring it in the barrel. The moment he started pouring a flame came out of the barrel and reached the 5 gallon fuel can. The Sargent saw the flame and threw the fuel can as the flame came up. It made a very impressive arc of flame from the 55 gallon drum to where the fuel can landed. No one was hurt but it created some excitement for awhile. :eek:
 
Hey Guys...

As it has probably been said before in this thread, sorry I haven't read all of the replies, Sparked based fire starting, using a Ferro rod, such as the Magfire Pro, is probably the best method bar none to start a fire quickly, easily and reliably.

The use of a Doan tool, matches and a lighter shouldn't be your primary source for fire.. All of these can fail, and usually will when the SHTF.

A prime example of this is to get a lighter and matches wet when it's cold windy and your fingers are ready to snap off.. Try using a lighter under these conditions..Possible,, but difficult.

The same goes for using magnesium filings when it's windy... Extremely frustrating, as the filings are so light, they easily blow away,, or one wrong move, and the nice little pile you just scraped off, if all over the place...

With a ferro rod such as the Magfire Pro, using waterproof tinder, such as vasoile balls, or a commercial chemical fire tinder, you simple strike a spark onto the tinder, and build your fire.

It can be done when it's raining, cold as well as windy.

The Magfire will also ignite such tinder as char cloth, fatwood, birch bark, dryer lint, steel wool under ideal conditions.

When I go camping or teach fire making, matches and a lighter are the last things I bring..

Get one,, try it,, and you'll never need anything else to light your fires with.

Magfire can be found here

www.magfireusa.com

ttyle

Eric...
 
you can get a bic or other butane lighters wet and they will still work, just gotta let them dry out. ive had people throw em away cause they drop them in a puddle then try and light it thinking it will never work again. it will work just let it dry out, its just an abrasive wheel rolling over a peg of steel(or another type of metal not sure) when wet it wont have any friction to cause a spark but give it an hour or so to dry.

that said the magnesium is better to have incase it does get wet and you just cant wait for your lighter to dry out like say if you fall in freezing cold water, cant give it a few hours to dry, hypotherma will set in well before that need to make a fire pretty much right then
 
Hey Guys...

Yes the lighter will still work once it drys out, however while your waiting for the lighter to dry, I'm heating water for a coffee and roasting that road kill Possum I found earlier.. :)

The flint inside a bic lighter is Ferrocerium. The flints themselves can be scavenged from discarded bic lighters and an spark based firestarter can also be made.

ttyle

Eric
 
I like my options.

In my PSK (Altoids tin in BK-7 Sheath) I have a sparklite, sparklite tinder, six waterproof SA matches, and several straws of PJ treated cotton. The sheath has several black rubber ranger bands that can be used for tinder as well as three birthday candles sealed in clear contct paper (that also burns). I seal the candles in contact paper because wax in the tropical heat often gets into fabric. In the pouch of my canteen, I keep a yellow mini-bic lighter. These are the things that are always on my body in the wilderness.

In my Pack I have a larger nylon pouch PSK that includes a kershaw ferro rod, wetfire tinder, triox bar, and a large yellow Bic. The side pouch on the pack also has a pair of citronela candles, and more PJ treated cottonballs wrapped in foil. PJ treated, foil wrapped cotton balls are great for starting fire in wet conditions and thay are practically free.

When I hike up above 2000 meters there is very little to burn up there. I take a tiny alcohol stove I made from a Gamo air rifle pellet can for use under my US Army canteen cup and stove sleeve. I also have used paper egg carton cups filled with sawdust and paraffin. One of these will boil a canteen cup of water if sheltered from the wind.

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The go-to firelighter is the mini-bic on the canteen as it is usually the most handy. I don't see these things an an either/or but more of a "why not?"

I do recommend getting out in adverse conditions and trying your PSK fire lighting system. I did this with my sparklite and ended up adding the PJ treated cotton to the PSK. Mac
 
OK. After reading through this thread, I no longer feel my paraffin coated strike anywhere matches and a Bic are enough. Right now I'm leaning toward the MagFire Pro magnesium starter.
 
How about the M1A1 Bic? It's a bit heavy but nobody doubts it's effectiveness. Mac

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The way I see this one is to carry all 3; a bic (the full sized ones last longer, keeping them in an inside pocket helps durring sub zero usage), a mag bar (they take some practise but they work), and a ferro rod (currently looking for the best buy, to attach to my knife sheath) Pj cotton balls in a straw and a few Trioxane tabs should take care of emergency tinder (I like fatwood too but the genuine stuff is sometimes hard to replace).
I'm a fan of multiple backups (of critical systems) spread through out my pack and pockets; mag bar in a pocket (always), a bic in another pocket (when in the woods), another in the kit (when hiking), and the ferro rod on the sheath.
Just my $0.02.
Enjoy!
 
pict said:
How about the M1A1 Bic? It's a bit heavy but nobody doubts it's effectiveness. Mac

flamethrowerusmchc6to.jpg
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Looks like it would do the job:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: But you might incinerate your buddy.
 
pict said:
How about the M1A1 Bic? It's a bit heavy but nobody doubts it's effectiveness. Mac

flamethrowerusmchc6to.jpg
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Now where did I leave the coffee, oh darn it was next to the tinder :D
 
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