Magnesium firestarter technique

T

TEXASTACTICAL

Joined
Dec 23, 2002
Messages
93
My Son and I went out to play with our Magnesium frestarters last night. While using it on the damp dirt I realized that it was a problem to get and keep all the shavings into a pile in the dirt. I then tried a rock and that worked a little better.

How do y'all gather and or keep your shavings together?
 
I haven't tried a magnesium block in years (although I do own one). I find it too hard to get enough magnesium together to start a fire, especially if there's any kind of a wind. That said, as I recall I used to find a small log with either a natural indentation or with a small bowl that I carved into it myself, and then shave the magnesium into that. I'd then built my kindling teepee, lean-to, whatever over the magnesium pile, leaving a half side cleared so that I could get the magnesium lit. You had to be quick to get more kindling over the flame once the magnesium was lit because the stuff would burn so darn fast.

As I said, fussy and ultimately I felt not worth the bother. I moved on to other fire starting tools.
 
bulgron used the word fussy. That is the way I feel too, though like bulgron I also own some. I used my hat or backpack or jacket. Anything that would form a bowl and didn't move around.
 
A piece of bark works, or a dollar bill or a candy/granola bar wrapper for collection. Relatively heavy plastic (freezer) bags work too and can act as a tinder enhancer. Get your tinder ready next to the pile of shavings. Find a calm place the shavings blow a way very easily in a breeze.
If all else fails, in an emergency or extremely damp conditions, pile the shavings on/along side an unwrapped trioxane tab, or frayed cotton/PJ (Petroleum Jelly) ball.
You have the right idea; practice with mag bars at home in controlled conditions until you have the techniques down. They can be relatively finicky. I carry one as a backup to a BIC.
Enjoy!
 
I try to get out of the wind to light a fire, but it helps to lay out a piece of duct tape, sticky side up, to shave the magnesium on to.
 
Using the file blade of your multi tool or SAK will provide a LOT more shavings without dulling your important knife blade. Don't try to shave the magnesium right into your fire pit or under your kindling. I find it a lot more comfortable to find a place where I can sit, out of the wind, instead of bending over the spot where I'll build my fire. Grind off a pile about the size of a quarter. Gather your tinder, kindling, and fuel wood BEFORE you grind your magnesium unless you have a safe container to store it in. It could blow away or the like before it is time to ignite it.

I have found that a piece of cardboard or paper, if on hand, is ideal for scraping magnesium onto. When you have enough filings, just pour them onto a dry leaf or flat wood chip. Even better would be a flat rock that could sit in the bottom of your fire pit that would be stable enough for you to rest either the ferro rod or the striker against while sparking. This helps you to not knock over your pile of filings while you are trying to ignite it. These days, I add the additional tinder and kindling after I have ignited the magnesium.

-- FLIX
 
My son and I play with one too.
We found a fuzzy kindling like milk weed or cattail fluff works very well to catch and hold the magnesium shavings. Plus the fluff goes up pretty quickly too.
 
I do what Happy Joe does as well. Shave magnesium onto a piece of bark typically and then try to get a concentrate of the shavings into my tinder bundle. I usually have to pack the fines in my tinder bundle a little tighter to hold the shavings.

I carry a Sparky attached to a small neck knife as a back-up. If you haven't tried it before, lighting natural tinder with magnesium isn't as easy as you may think. Practice, practice, practice...

http://www.wisementrading.com/firestarters/magnesium.htm
 
A Leaf.
Tree Bark, a flat rock, a log, anything where you can pile it up, scrape it off, keep track of it.
 
I keep several layers of duct tape squares stuck to the side of mine. If its really nasty out I just peel one off, stick it to the bottm base of the mag block (sticky side up) and shave away, the shavings stick to the duct tape and the duct tape burns as well. More often than not however, I try to use the magnesium for backup when natural tinder is not available or too wet.
 
After reading this thread, I took my new magnesium fire starter outside to try it. There was a light breeze and I immediately saw the problem. So I went into my shop and tried it on an old cookie sheet. Magnesium scrapings ignited fine, no problem. Then I tried throwing sparks onto a dry pulled-apart cotton ball. That ignited easily. Then I made a small pile of wood shavings with birch bark shreds, magnesium scrapings on top of that. On the second scratch, it ignited, enough sustained flame to get real small kindling going.

So, yeah, wind is a real problem. I think you could scrape the magnesium shavings into a pulled-apart cotton ball to hold them in place...but then if you have a cotton ball, you don't need the shavings ;)
 
Coldwood said:
I think you could scrape the magnesium shavings into a pulled-apart cotton ball to hold them in place...but then if you have a cotton ball, you don't need the shavings ;)
Click to expand...

Remeber, if one is good, TWO is better.. THREE is best.

I'd scrap those mag shavings into a Vaseline covered cotton ball, and put that on shredded birch bark. THAT will get going in the rain and wind..

- Rescue Mike
Starting fires in the Pacific NorthWET since 2000!
 
Yep, with tinder , more is better.

Also, as far as wind goes....

Go to the leeward side of a largish live tree or find a dead tree, and start your fire on the non-wind side. A rocky outcropping too can work as a wind break.

When out in the open, I have had to lay down on the ground, on my side, back to the wind, and used ME as the wind break. In this case, you'll probably need a permenent windblock and/or a deepish firepit.

If in the wilderness and it's windy, find a dead tree (uprooted, down), dig a hole a couple feet away, on the leeward side, build and light your permenent fire there, so that it is wind blocked permanently.

It's a twofold problem with wind, getting a fire lit and burning is its own problem,
But then should you accomplish it, the wind can cause the fire to burn through fuel like an old steam train.
 
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