Magnesium bars - old vs. new

Doc,

I have a Doan's that lives in my Spec-ops sheath, I've used it a couple of times with no issues (I normally just use a ferro rod). I did buy a mag bar from Wal-mart a couple of years ago, and the rod separated from the block, can't remember the maker though...
 
ummmmm Doc, might want to recheck that bar....... there is a U.S.A. in China, as well as a Sheffield "england" in China.

made in the U.S.A. USA or made in the U.S.A. CHINA, inquiring minds want to know.
 
Seems like the "problem" is the adhesive being used, nothing some gorilla glue won't fix.
Anyone notice any issues with the actual magnesium itself?
 
Bushman5 said:
ummmmm Doc, might want to recheck that bar....... there is a U.S.A. in China, as well as a Sheffield "england" in China.

made in the U.S.A. USA or made in the U.S.A. CHINA, inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...

Can't recheck the bar, you saw everything that was there.

Where did you hear/see this, B5? I just did a Google map check on U.S.A., China and nothing turned up.

If this is true, think of the ramifications. :confused:

Doc
 
You can get magnesium rods at plumbing supply stores or take them out of some broken hot water tank. It's the anode rod in the hot water tanks.
 
KuRUpTD said:
Seems like the "problem" is the adhesive being used, nothing some gorilla glue won't fix.
Anyone notice any issues with the actual magnesium itself?
Click to expand...

Chris Janowski used epoxy to fix the rods in the magnesium. I know this because one time he gifted me one of his 'seconds' and he said the only thing wrong with them, was the epoxy join was a little bit sloppy.

I still have it, and wouldn't have known anything was wrong with it if he hadn't said anything.

Doc
 
Bushman5 said:
ummmmm Doc, might want to recheck that bar....... there is a U.S.A. in China, as well as a Sheffield "england" in China.

made in the U.S.A. USA or made in the U.S.A. CHINA, inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...

i believe they are actually made in the USA. Not made in China and then stamped Made in the USA. I would like to think that a company like coghlan's (one of Canada's original outdoor stores), which was been around for such a long time would not advertise things falsely...

I posted earlier that mine has Made in the USA stamped on it and i believe others who checked theirs also stated it is Made in the USA.


the "Made in the USA" mark indicates that the product is made in the USA and the Federal Trade Commission regulates this marking fairly strictly. If the coghlan's magnesium bars were "assembled in the USA" from materials else where then it would be labelled as such.

The "Buy American Act" states that a product that is stamped "Made in the USA" must be more than 50% although i believe this is limited to government procurement purchases.


I am fairly confident that the coghlan's brand of magnesium bars are made in the USA.
 
I think it's possible, that we have both. Some made in China and some made in USA and they are marked accordingly.
 
Hi Doc, Interesting you mentioned Chris Janowski, be fore he passed away several years back. I have chatted with him on a couple of times when I ordered them mag and firesteel rods he sold. I have 2 of them and still use one for starting my fires at my newest campsite. I keep it in that red first aid kit you can see in the right side of the pic. the round tin on the left side is where I keep my fuzzsticks.

IMG_0472.jpg


This is the one that I keep at my campsite. Like I said after I seen what and how John Wiseman used his mag bar and shaved just 7 times off of it and the struck his firesteel rod and started his leaf on fire I do it that way too. But instead of using leaves I normally will use birch bark to hold the shaving on to it and then strike the firesteel rod to lite up the mag. shavings. I have used the firesteel rod way more than the mag. bar though as you can see in this pic lol

IMG_0476.jpg



To bad Chris passed away the World Survival Instute was neat place. I have a bunch of his videos in VHS.

Take care,

Bryan
 
sicily02 said:
Hi Doc, Interesting you mentioned Chris Janowski, be fore he passed away several years back. I have chatted with him on a couple of times when I ordered them mag and firesteel rods he sold. I have 2 of them and still use one for starting my fires at my newest campsite. I keep it in that red first aid kit you can see in the right side of the pic. the round tin on the left side is where I keep my fuzzsticks.

IMG_0472.jpg


This is the one that I keep at my campsite. Like I said after I seen what and how John Wiseman used his mag bar and shaved just 7 times off of it and the struck his firesteel rod and started his leaf on fire I do it that way too. But instead of using leaves I normally will use birch bark to hold the shaving on to it and then strike the firesteel rod to lite up the mag. shavings. I have used the firesteel rod way more than the mag. bar though as you can see in this pic lol

IMG_0476.jpg



To bad Chris passed away the World Survival Instute was neat place. I have a bunch of his videos in VHS.

Take care,

Bryan
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Hey Bryan,

That is the same one he sent me - a husky little bugger. I don't know if I've ever used it, it's on a 550 Baldric with a Mora and a EZ lap.

I talked to him for a little bit on the phone, as well, and we were discussing mag bars, that's how he came to send it to me. I ordered a video (quality of the video was terrible, but the information was good) and when it came, there was a note inside, saying he enjoyed our conversation and thought he would send me one of his mag bars to try out.

From the short time I talked to him, he seemed like a nice guy - too bad he left us so early.

Doc
 
I just tried my Doans mag bar. My JK Ewok threw some of the best sparks I've seen of the sparking insert. As for the mag itself, it was super hard. I had a hell of a time trying to get shavings off of it. I tried several different knives and all I could get was little chips that did not ignite when I threw sparks at them. I know it's probably my fault but I just couldn't get good shavings.
 
protourist said:
I just tried my Doans mag bar. My JK Ewok threw some of the best sparks I've seen of the sparking insert. As for the mag itself, it was super hard. I had a hell of a time trying to get shavings off of it. I tried several different knives and all I could get was little chips that did not ignite when I threw sparks at them. I know it's probably my fault but I just couldn't get good shavings.
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Hey Mack, don't take this the wrong way, but I want to be sure that we're all doing this the same way.

Are you trying to slice shavings off, like you'd whittle a piece of wood, or scrape them off with the blade at a 90 degree angle to the bar? The 90 degree angle is what you want.

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
Hey Mack, don't take this the wrong way, but I want to be sure that we're all doing this the same way.

Are you trying to slice shavings off, like you'd whittle a piece of wood, or scrape them off with the blade at a 90 degree angle to the bar? The 90 degree angle is what you want.

Doc
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Thank you! I was trying to whittle them. I has hoping you would read it that way and explain it to me.
 
Ok, doing it that way, I got a nice pile of magnesium. It flamed very briefly and then went out. If I was in a real survival situation I could make it work but it would be a last resort.
 
protourist said:
Ok, doing it that way, I got a nice pile of magnesium. It flamed very briefly and then went out. If I was in a real survival situation I could make it work but it would be a last resort.
Click to expand...

The idea is that there is a momentary 5000+ degree flame that will ignite less than suitable tinder, whether due to dampness or type of material. It will start stuff that a ferro rod, by itself, won't, thereby filling a niche.

Glad you made the scraping work. I almost offered the swap to you. We still haven't heard from Blais.

Doc
 
Great test Doc. I generally use a ferro-rod, but I have to say that I do like the Coghlan's doan bars. I find them very easy to strike and very easy to hold onto the block while striking. Never had a problem with my cheapo ones.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
The idea is that there is a momentary 5000+ degree flame that will ignite less than suitable tinder, whether due to dampness or type of material. It will start stuff that a ferro rod, by itself, won't, thereby filling a niche.

Glad you made the scraping work. I almost offered the swap to you. We still haven't heard from Blais.

Doc
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One thing I found out that I didn't expect. The serrated portion of my Sog Seal Pup scraped some great filings from the bar. It's nice to know serrations are good for something. Also, the Sog threw some fabulous sparks putting an end to the "stainless steel won't throw sparks from a firesteel" rumors.(or rumours if you prefer):thumbup:
 
If anyone is interested and will be around for a while I am thinking about a little experiment of my own. I leave for Korea on saturday for a year, I am thinking of burying a brand new from wally world Coghlans magbar and a bic in the backyard till I get back, dig both up, and see if I can start a fire with either.

Anyone up for a really long term test. Chris
 
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