Mag starter or ferro rod?

Sam Wilson said:
I prefer ferro rods, also. I do a lot of "survival stuff," and haven't had any requests for mag blocks yet. Not that they're not good, just don't seem to be as popular. I prefer to just carry a little extra decent tinder in the "survival kit," myself. I'm sure you know this, Anthony, but about the only mag blocks worth messing with are the Doan brand. The rest, in my experience, seem to enjoy waiting for the worst possible moment to eject your ferro rod into a pile of leaves.

Sam
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I'm with Sam on this one.

I make my own tinder packs which are Cotton balls, coated with Vaseline. They light when wet [well at least....always lit for ME when wet]. I also have charred punk wood, charred/raw fungus, charcloth and fatwood in my fire bundle. but I also agree with what's said above.....wet natural tinder is way harder to light with just a ferro rod....sometimes even with a lighter.

Even though I have my magnesium blocks in my pack, I never really use them. I certainly don't put them on my sheath. That should not detract you from offering the service as a sheath maker...just make a decent and 'generic' template that you can simply add to the design.
 
druid189 said:
I'm with Sam on this one.

I make my own tinder packs which are Cotton balls, coated with Vaseline. They light when wet [well at least....always lit for ME when wet]. I also have charred punk wood, charred/raw fungus, charcloth and fatwood in my fire bundle. but I also agree with what's said above.....wet natural tinder is way harder to light with just a ferro rod....sometimes even with a lighter.

Even though I have my magnesium blocks in my pack, I never really use them. I certainly don't put them on my sheath. That should not detract you from offering the service as a sheath maker...just make a decent and 'generic' template that you can simply add to the design.
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Druid,

For the last year or so, I have been carrying jute twine impregnated with wax. I don't know if you have tried it or not, but I really like it. Nothing revolutionary, but I get the same burn time from a 2 1/2" piece of the twine as I do from a Vaseline cotton ball. But it takes up very little space and is much less messy. I'll post a pic if I have one in Photobucket.
 
Sam Wilson said:
Druid,

For the last year or so, I have been carrying jute twine impregnated with wax. I don't know if you have tried it or not, but I really like it. Nothing revolutionary, but I get the same burn time from a 2 1/2" piece of the twine as I do from a Vaseline cotton ball. But it takes up very little space and is much less messy. I'll post a pic if I have one in Photobucket.
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Actually, I have used Jute but not with the wax. that actually never occurred to me :stupid:..........lol.

My Vaseline coated cotton balls are actually put into a small 'envelope' of tin foil. I simply cut an "X" into the foil, peel the petals up and throw sparks right into it. Works great.

How do you impregnate the jute with wax? Just melt the wax and make "wicks" out of them? Paraffin or Bees? I'm kinda liking this idea....
 
druid189 said:
Actually, I have used Jute but not with the wax. that actually never occurred to me :stupid:..........lol.

My Vaseline coated cotton balls are actually put into a small 'envelope' of tin foil. I simply cut an "X" into the foil, peel the petals up and throw sparks right into it. Works great.

How do you impregnate the jute with wax? Just melt the wax and make "wicks" out of them? Paraffin or Bees? I'm kinda liking this idea....
Click to expand...

Jute works good on its own, but even better with wax. I just take a small metal tray and melt paraffin wax, easy to get in the supermarket in the canning section, and then dip the twine in the liquid wax. I melt it with a torch, because I usually do larger quantities and the torch is handy in the shop. But a lighter or even a pencil torch from Harbor freight would work. Beeswax smells really good, but is significantly more expensive.

I like the envelope idea. The Vaseline cotton balls work great, I just hadn't thought of a workaround for the mess. But this is so efficient, spacewise. You can see in the pic that I have it folded in three inch sections. I just cut it at the bend, fray the end, and it sparks right up with a ferro rod. Each section burns 1.5-3 minutes, depending on conditions. You could have 20-30 minutes of tinder in a bundle not too much bigger than a Chapstick, if you pack it tight.

105_2266_zpsysnqqzxe.jpg


Sam
 
Sam Wilson said:
The Vaseline cotton balls work great, I just hadn't thought of a workaround for the mess.
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An old prescription container works well to store them in! Some of them are waterproof too so you can put other things in like a spare mini lighter. I'm going to have to try out the jute with wax though

-mike
 
Omega Leather Works said:
Cool man. I actually do like Visalia. There and Clovis are nice. In any case, we're both lucky to live in Cali. The weather is gorgeous and the mountains, Pismo, SF and LA beckon... ;)
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Couldn't agree more! I've been wanting to get back out to the oceano dunes for a camp trip soon!:thumbup:
 
North Arm Knives said:
An old prescription container works well to store them in! Some of them are waterproof too so you can put other things in like a spare mini lighter. I'm going to have to try out the jute with wax though

-mike
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That's a good idea. I had tried the little Ziploc baggies that you put pills in, and it worked decent. You can only get 3 or 4 in there, though. I needed something that would fit well in the tin pictured above, and leave plenty of room for other things. When I started playing with the waxed jute (not that it was my idea at all) it was a perfect fit for what I was working with. I still have a tiny jar of petroleum jelly in my fire kit, but in my "survival tin" this has taken the place.

Sam :thumbup:
 
I have both the mag starter and ferro rods. Frankly, I never use them. Bic lighter and matches are what I rely on. ;)
 
Sam Wilson said:
Jute works good on its own, but even better with wax. I just take a small metal tray and melt paraffin wax, easy to get in the supermarket in the canning section, and then dip the twine in the liquid wax. I melt it with a torch, because I usually do larger quantities and the torch is handy in the shop. But a lighter or even a pencil torch from Harbor freight would work. Beeswax smells really good, but is significantly more expensive.

I like the envelope idea. The Vaseline cotton balls work great, I just hadn't thought of a workaround for the mess. But this is so efficient, spacewise. You can see in the pic that I have it folded in three inch sections. I just cut it at the bend, fray the end, and it sparks right up with a ferro rod. Each section burns 1.5-3 minutes, depending on conditions. You could have 20-30 minutes of tinder in a bundle not too much bigger than a Chapstick, if you pack it tight.
::snip::

Sam
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Awesome, thanks for the tip.

For the cottonballs, my daughters use those gignormus sized ones. I pull a sheet of reynolds wrap and cut them into 4"x4" squares and lay them out shiny side down.

Put on latex [or food service] gloves and dunk the cottonball into the Vaseline and force it completely into the fibers. Set it on the foil square and continue on until they are all done.

Change to dry gloves and fold the 4 edges over making a smaller square envelope. Fold the 4 corners to make them octagons.

Flip them over to the "clean" side [unfolded side] and put an "X" on it with a sharpie marker. Throw them into a pouch or tin.

To use, lightly cut the "X" and peel up the "V" shaped petals to create a small windscreen. Dump sparks from a ferro rod and !BOOM!.....fire.

As for the Jute....I like these tins and think they would be awesome for this purpose....

Altoids "Arctic" tins. They are tall and slender, opening at the end instead of the common tins:

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...and then I saw THIS and thought how awesome that idea was:

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It uses a larger tins you can find on Amazon....

http://www.amazon.com/Tin-Rectangul..._sbs_hg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=09D2SCQZDE1XBAM49CVQ

http://www.amazon.com/Trangia-32756...sbs_hg_14?ie=UTF8&refRID=09D2SCQZDE1XBAM49CVQ

http://www.amazon.com/Adventurer-Aluminum-Survival-Kit-Box/dp/B00I8YOUOC/ref=wl_mb_wl_huc_mrai_1_dp

http://www.amazon.com/ECOlunchbox-R...F8&qid=1425070695&sr=8-3&keywords=ecolunchbox

http://www.amazon.com/ECOlunchbox-R...F8&qid=1425070695&sr=8-8&keywords=ecolunchbox

Found these too....coolness LOL

http://www.amazon.com/Eco-Friendly-...8&qid=1425070715&sr=8-23&keywords=ecolunchbox

http://www.amazon.com/Ramen-Fork-Spoon-Stainless-Museum/dp/B0023T3B0M/ref=wl_mb_wl_huc_mrai_10_dp
 
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Sam Wilson said:
Jute works good on its own, but even better with wax.

Sam
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On track with the OP query - for my part it is ferro rod exclusively.

For my campfire at the back of the property I use dried jute to start fire regularly.

It was my good fortune that When the 'rope' handrails of a children's tree house lookout over Lake Rosseau (yup, kids'-walk in the sky! for a pay bracket way above my own) needed replacing, I snapped up the chance to take the jute. I have more than I could light up in my lifetime! Dry, seeking blaze ...

How convenient. Not like nature hands it to you in reality.

Susan
 
B34NS said:
CA tinder?!

No stoner I know would ever let an ember go out, maybe something the bushcraft guys could get into.
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lol "could and should" are two different things. Besides there's no fun in doing battle with mamma bear, rattle snake or puma/lynx when your goofed up....you generally lose.
 
North Arm Knives said:
If it's wet enough a spark alone isn't enough to light natural tinder. If I was in a survival situation and had to choose between having a mag block/ferro rod combo and just a plain ferro rod, I'd choose the former.
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I met a bush pilot in northern Saskatchewan that said a mag bar saved his life. I saw the bar in a custom leather belt set up that he was wearing. It was a busy Canadian Tire gas bar line up and I had to go. To this day I wish that I'd asked him a few more questions about what happened.
 
BillyJoeBobJim said:
That is beautiful.
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Thanks man.

upnorth said:
To this day I wish that I'd asked him a few more questions about what happened.
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I hear that. My biggest regrets are not talking to my grandfather about the war and how he shot down two Zeros. My dad had a lot of stories I never really listened to also, but kids are asses. My kids interrupt me all the time while I'm trying to teach them something. Asses. :)
 
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