Help using a Magnesium bar!

Diamond Dog said:
Oh the last time it was windy and I couldn't get the dust to stay put, so I was using other tinder and I struck it probably around 15-18 times. I've since bought a swedish fire steel and striker and have not used it yet. Nice tutorial! I need to try sawing the mag bar next time.
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The best thing I do on a windy day is put my back in the direction, kneel down, so my shines touch the ground, place a piece of bark on the ground and saw away, usually keeps it in one place, then dump where ever you need it, or the best would be to start your fire on that piece of bark.
 
Hey Guys....

Luke...

I find that shaving it off with the blade of the knife at a 90 degree angle works best for me..Give nice Curly pieces....A small file will also work well.....

I've rolled wet PCB's in Magnesium dust, and they don't burn any better...So it's really a waste of time....

One of the reasons I moved away from Magnesium is because it can be difficult to ignite in windy conditions....

I still like the old PCB better than anything though....

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I've been frustrated in shaving off Mg from the bars. They take a lot of effort to get the sufficient pile size to do anything useful. But I guess if all your tinder is wet, this would be a good way to go. I prefer a good old firesteel and cottonball/vaseline combo to do the trick. Actually, my first preference would be to stop being a moron and actually carry a few butane lighters into the field and only use a firesteel as a backup.
 
Hey Guys..

pradeep1...

Keep the lighters as backup and start using a Firesteel as your primary firelighting source..
Firesteel and a PCB is nearly foolproof...

You simply can't go wrong..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
I have my first DOAN Magnesium Firestarter and it looks pretty gnarly after about 21 or 22 years. The insert has never fell out and it has started a lot more fires than the gnarled magnesium block would suggest because I stopped using the magnesium for quite some time.

I had to learn through trial and error a long time ago. Hahaha!

In my opinion and experience, you should have a supply of tightly packed, obviously dry, cottonballs on you at all times. If you have a knife sheath with a pocket, more in there in some type of smallish ZIP-LOK baggy... The actual block of magnesium, for the most part, is a nice grip to use the ferro rod on.

Some time ago, people were reporting in here, or elsewhere, I cannot remember, that the Coughlan (however it is spelled...) brand mag block and ferro rod was inferior with the ferro rod coming loose, etc. I don't know if that has been corrected or not. The DOAN...I don't know if they are still manufactured.

If you have cottonballs that are dry, or if they have been treated with Vaseline/PJ, if you have all of your fire planned out and have excellent tinder, kindling and small-medium-large fuel ready and it's constructed properly - one of these ferro rods could last you a lifetime because you're talking about a two strike fire except under the worst possible conditions. Two strikes and you have fire.

Use the magnesium when you have to but learn to start the fire with cottonballs, dryer lint, 0000 Steel Wool and possibly charred cloth. Then move on to the excellent ideas of Vaseline/PJ, paraffin and the little fire straws.

You learn to start the fire with the focus on fire construction and the bare essentials you can carry and then when you add PJ and other things, perhaps when you are injured or shaking from cold, etc., it will be easier for you - having done this so many times...
 
For magnesiun shavings, they have invented the metal saw/file on a SAK :D . It's one of the reasons a SAK is very valuable as survival tool (with the proper tools). I prefer the Craftsman/Handyman, Locksmith, Swisschamp etc. All SAKs with file/metal saw.

I also prefer a woodsaw, the back it fantastic in creating big sparks from a ferro rod.

For firestarters I use:
DOAN Tool
Ferro rods (firesteel) in several diameter sizes (7mm/8mm/100) with a hacksaw as scraper
Petroleum jelly soaked cottonballs.
Fatwood (shavings)
BIC Lighter
Peanut lighter (o-ring keeps fuel inside)
magnifing glass (fresnel lens)

And more primitive but still working
Fire bow
Fire plow (pffff.......very hard work to get a coal)

CZ
 
Don Rearic said:
The actual block of magnesium, for the most part, is a nice grip to use the ferro rod on.
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Thats usually the most I think of it when Im out. Sure its nice to know I can get a fire going with just that mag bar, but like most I sure prefer that good ol' ferro rod.
 
Normark said:
One of the reasons I moved away from Magnesium is because it can be difficult to ignite in windy conditions....

I still like the old PCB better than anything though....
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. If I had the choice, PCB's all the way.

( I like how the shortening of that phrase really took:D)
 
I like ferro rods (assuming I don't have a lighter) and pcbs. I find the mag bar bulky for what it is. I am always fighting with weight and bulk in my kits and a ferro rod just takes less space.
 
I use a LM wave saw to make the shavings that I needed one time. I think after you do it once the mag block is easier to shave. It seems that the outside when you first get it is very tough.
 
I carried one of those once. It was more trouble than it was worth. Great to impress your friends with, but in a real emergency, a bic lighter is lighter and much quicker. Ever try to light a fire with a magnesium firestarter, while you are shivering uncontrollably? Not too easy. I keep a bic lighter for emergencies
 
If you become intimately familiar with good tender in your area, using a mag bar can be extremely easy. If you rake some damp leaves together and expect your equipment to do the job for you, you might be in trouble.

There is a reason that the military choose a mag bar and flint over a bic to equip pilots for a survival situation. Throw it in your pocket and 10 years from now it will still work, the bic maybe, maybe not. Mag bars work, and work very well, many people in this thread have told the proper way to use them, it is a skill however that requires learning, unlike flicking your bic. Chris
 
runningboar said:
If you become intimately familiar with good tender in your area, using a mag bar can be extremely easy. If you rake some damp leaves together and expect your equipment to do the job for you, you might be in trouble.

There is a reason that the military choose a mag bar and flint over a bic to equip pilots for a survival situation. Throw it in your pocket and 10 years from now it will still work, the bic maybe, maybe not. Mag bars work, and work very well, many people in this thread have told the proper way to use them, it is a skill however that requires learning, unlike flicking your bic. Chris
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WELL SAID!!!!

Skam
 
Diamond Dog said:
How long does the actual fire steel last on the magnessium bar? I used mine just a couple of times and the rod shows slight wear down where I was striking. I mean there is a depression like it is straight bows under and then straightish again. I wonder if I'm striking too hard? I have had the same encounters with the wind and the hard scrapping with the mag bar. I agree with what has been said about having good tinder and smaller kindling for it to work properly.
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Instead of striking, I quickly slide the spine of the knife along the fire steel while applying pressure. With a good wind barrier, you won't need a huge cascade of sparks to set off the magnesium. If you have a SAK with the small magnifying glass on it (and some sun light), you can light the magnesium with a concentrated beam of light. I use a beater Ka-Bar Dozier folder with the three inch AUS-8 blade to shave the magnesium, and it does not greatly dull the knife.
 
Fonly said:
The best thing I do on a windy day is put my back in the direction, kneel down, so my shines touch the ground, place a piece of bark on the ground and saw away, usually keeps it in one place, then dump where ever you need it, or the best would be to start your fire on that piece of bark.
Click to expand...

Fonly, nice tip, your friend at the post Donald S.
 
For me the pokey tool that you never use on a sak or leatherman works great my surge has a metal tool that has a slightly curved grind into an edge and it grinds it off well.
 
johnny reb said:
Ever try to light a fire with a magnesium firestarter, while you are shivering uncontrollably? Not too easy. I keep a bic lighter for emergencies
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Someone on this forum (Codger64?) made a remark once about how hard it is to light a fire if you're freezing and your hands "claw up" on you. I use a mag bar too but I'm thinking for a few bucks, these spark-making firestarters can be used one-handed. Indeed, I thought I heard somewhere that they're included in pilots' survival kits for that reason given the odds of breaking a limb after a crash (can anybody correct me on that?).

You'd still have problems if you can't find dry tinder, though.
 
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