Great Idea (Not Mine)

[J. Doyle]

I saw this mentioned by Mistwalker in the Doan Magnesium Firestarter thread.

Exactly! That's the best attitude to have with them...a handle made of a usable fuel if needs be. If only the ferro rod on them was a 3/8 dia instead of 3/16...

Thought it was a good idea and gave it a try.

This literally took five minutes total with a large rat tail rasp and some JB weld. It's a 3/8 diameter large misch metal firesteel on Doan's mag block. Crappy pic but you get the idea.

 

[KuRUpTD]

Very nice mod ... I could see something like that being real popular around here.

 

[Anrkst6973]

Too cool dude! Heres a trick for the "mag_shavers" among us. Use a shredded cotton ball to catch the mag shavings and fatwood tinder. It''ll cling like crazy and you can place the now flaming cotton ball just where you need it under your pile..use a few (2-3) splinters of fatwood with the ball wrapped around the end like a kind of oversized match..one of those KISS things that hit me today out playing in the rain! (Thanks a lot MistWalker!! I NEEDED to go play in the rain!!)

 

[newknife]

Use a shredded cotton ball to catch the mag shavings and fatwood tinder.

I don't get it. Why not just use the ferro rod to light the cotton ball. The mag shavings seem like an unnecesary step. The cotton ball will light up easily without the shavings.

 

[Skimo]

more heat.. 5,000° vs. a few hundred degrees.

 

[Fallbrook Forge]

what if the cotton ball is wet? The mag will still go up

 

[Pritch]

Nie. Now cut some duct tape thin enough to wrap vertically around the mag block. That way it won't be in the way when you want to scrape some filings but will be handy to tear off a piece to catch them when it's windy. If this doesn't make sense, I'll post a pic tomorrow. (Oh crap. It is tomorrow.)

 

[hushnel]

Here is my version, with a Fatwood handle.

 

[pict]

That's a great mod. A Doan tool on steroids.

I still have the first Doan tool I bought a long time ago. It is all carved up and the ferro rod is very worn down. The duct tape idea is very solid, I've used it many times. Just be sure you test the duct tape. I have had some of it not light, just melt and curl. Whatever tape you use just make sure it burns easily.

I have nine of the Coughlins mag blocks that I use for training. I was looking at them to other day and noticed that one of the ferro rods had come loose. I think I'll make a magnum version out of it and use the old ferro rod in a mini-kit. I use these here because they are one of the few ferro products available in Brazil, even then they are expensive and hard to find. The other ferro product we have here is a cheap imitation of the blastmatch. Invariably these break and guys mount the stubby ferro rod into a handle.

We don't have anything like fatwood in our area but we do have Candeia which lights up very easily even in rainy season. You wouldn't want it as a handle though, it smells like a wet dog. I don't even like to put it in my pack as everything starts to smell worse than my old socks. Mac

 

[matthewdanger]

The part about the rat tail file just gave me an idea. Has anyone just used a file to make magnesium shavings? A lot of use usually have a SAK with us and I bet the file would make a pile of nice fine shavings in no time.

 

[Anrkst6973]

Great mods everyone. glad I'm not alone in saying "Hummm I wonder if this would work..." For the questioner above: mag shavings will blow away in the slightest breeze, The cotton ball "snags them". I suppose even the PJ soaked ones would do the same thing. As to the file, I tried the rasp side of my multitool file and it did work..lots of filing to get enough shavings tho! I've never worried about dulling/damaging my knife edge in scraping a mag block..I touch my edge up whenever I feel the need to anyway...

 

[revolverman357]

Just how many shavings of the magnesium do you need for a good start.
Somewhere I read a pile about the size of a quarter.

 

[CShepherd]

The part about the rat tail file just gave me an idea. Has anyone just used a file to make magnesium shavings? A lot of use usually have a SAK with us and I bet the file would make a pile of nice fine shavings in no time.

The file on my Gerber multi-tool makes great shavings quickly from a doan.

Charlie

 

[KuRUpTD]

Just how many shavings of the magnesium do you need for a good start.
Somewhere I read a pile about the size of a quarter.

That's about right and you need to keep in mind that magnesium shavings are a "flash tinder" source that burns quick and very hot.
The key is to have the proper kindling (small pieces of grass, leaves and twigs) collected and ready to slowly build up your fire.

 

[dawsonbob]

I saw this mentioned by Mistwalker in the Doan Magnesium Firestarter thread.



Thought it was a good idea and gave it a try.

This literally took five minutes total with a large rat tail rasp and some JB weld. It's a 3/8 diameter large misch metal firesteel on Doan's mag block. Crappy pic but you get the idea.

I like that. I like that so much, that I'm going to have to try it.

Thanks, countryboy.

 

[banana-clip]

Thats a great idea

 

[thesupersurvivalpost]

I saw this mentioned by Mistwalker in the Doan Magnesium Firestarter thread.



Thought it was a good idea and gave it a try.

This literally took five minutes total with a large rat tail rasp and some JB weld. It's a 3/8 diameter large misch metal firesteel on Doan's mag block. Crappy pic but you get the idea.

Thanks it looks good, your friend at the post Donald S.

 

[Darteres]

Very cool...almost makes me regret throwing mine in the fire once the striker wore out...almost

 

[Iboschi]

Very cool idea! Nice execution!

Very cool...almost makes me regret throwing mine in the fire once the striker wore out...almost

Was the resulting flare up, sun hot?

 

[Don Rearic]

The part about the rat tail file just gave me an idea. Has anyone just used a file to make magnesium shavings? A lot of use usually have a SAK with us and I bet the file would make a pile of nice fine shavings in no time.

I have a file from a Gerber Multitool that bit the dust attached to one of my Doan's.