Scraping Magnesium

[Coldwood]

Sorry guys but I draw the line at cotton balls. Yes they weigh nothing but its still one more thing I gotta carry regardless. If I want another backup I carry another Bic. Pissing with cotton balls takes too long. Skam

I'm with you, I'm a big believer in Bics. They're cheap, they're lightweight, and you can have a dozen of them stashed all over. I think they probably have a better reputation for lighting everytime than a Zippo.

However, cottonballs are easy. Dry cottonballs don't require any special container, you can stick a wad of them into every pocket. As long as they don't get wet, they're good immediate tinder for your Bic. Even if they get wadded up in your pocket, you can easily pull them apart and fluff them out.

I love PJ cottonballs ever since I started experimenting with them last winter. I melted a little PJ in a sauce pan, soaked the cotton balls in them and stashed them in one of these flat tins that AOL used to send out CDs in:

That's probably more PJ cottonballs than I will need in a lifetime of survival situations. Fortunately, I have a group of friends who love to get together around backyard campfires, so I have plenty of opportunity to show off

I spread one out under my tinder, pull apart a dry cottonball and stick that to the PJ...or some milkweed fluff which is highly flammable...and hit it with sparks from my firesteel (I could use a Bic, but a firesteel is very theatrical ). Instant flame. Rounds of applause

Edit: If you wanted to, you could probably drill a sighting hole in the middle of that cover and use it for a signal mirror. Just an after-thought.

 

[stingray4540]

Sorry guys but I draw the line at cotton balls. Yes they weigh nothing but its still one more thing I gotta carry regardless.

If I want another backup I carry another Bic. Pissing with cotton balls takes too long.

Backup can also be more than one in the same fire making type. They all dont have to be different. They dont get much better than a bic.
KISS theory.

Skam

Wait, you don't carry cotton balls because it's one more thing to carry, but you wouldn't mind carrying another lighter?

So, when you're in a situation that renders a certain fire starting method useless, and that's the only type you have, You'll be SOL. It doesn't matter if you have ten of them, if none of them work and you don't have a different way of making fire, then what are you gonna do? Ever hear of the putting all your eggs in one basket theory?

Cotton balls must be carried separately from flint and are thus prone to loss. They also dont light near as many fires.



Skam

You can't put a PJ cotton ball in a spy capsule and attach the capsule and the flint to a key ring?

 

[skammer]

Ever hear of the putting all your eggs in one basket theory?

As I see it 3 bics is 3 ways to light fires. A bic is faster and produces a flame unlike coton balls that need more work. We can dance all day this issue but my last resort is magnesium,flint not cotton balls that may or may not get wet or damp or may or may not get separated from the striker.

I have used them and they work good coated and uncoated. A bic works better. If one bic gets lost or doesn't work I have 2 more. That is redundant fire making no matter how you look at it.

I do not need a firebow to include it as a fire making method when practicing redundancy. Get a fire is gettin a fire, it matters not how its done just that it gets done. It doesnt get much easier or more reliable than a bic.

Sound off.

Skam

 

[Coldwood]

As I see it 3 bics is 3 ways to light fires. A bic is faster and produces a flame unlike coton balls that need more work. We can dance all day this issue but my last resort is magnesium,flint not cotton balls that may or may not get wet or damp or may or may not get separated from the striker. Sound off. Skam

You're right, I'm finding that there's nothing better than a Bic firing up a PJ cottonball. I did an experiment tonight, took a PJ cottonball and ran it under the faucet...shook the water off...then lit it up with a Bic. When it was burning good, I threw it out onto the entrance walkway, in a drizzling rain. It burned for about 8 minutes. Petroleum jelly (vaseline) and cotton balls burn real good, and I suspect that PJ smeared into any kind of 100 % cotton fabric would also burn real well.

 

[skammer]

You're right, I'm finding that there's nothing better than a Bic firing up a PJ cottonball. .

That it does. It also lights a half dozen things in my wilderness AO wet or dry making cotton balls pointless tinder.

Your mileage apparently varies.

Skam

 

[runningboar]

I love bics and carry one everywhere I go.:thumbup:

After an unexpected swim a couple of years ago in 40 degree weather my bic was useless. 99% of the time the bic and natural tender get the nod but a 1/4" thick flint and a firestraw taped to it takes up very little weight and space and is about as foolproof as anything I can think of. Chris

 

[DOC-CANADA]

I love bics and carry one everywhere I go.:thumbup:

After an unexpected swim a couple of years ago in 40 degree weather my bic was useless. 99% of the time the bic and natural tender get the nod but a 1/4" thick flint and a firestraw taped to it takes up very little weight and space and is about as foolproof as anything I can think of. Chris

My sentiments, exactly. :thumbup::thumbup: Although, I also carry a mag bar.

Doc

 

[Codger_64]

Bics are great. I always have two, three or six about. But a wet bic is about as useful as a wet match. Like Chris, I've been caught in a cold, wet environment with a wet Bic. My backup lighter which was dry wasn't dry after water dripped on the wheel from my shaking, cold hands. Yes, they can be dried and are as good as ever then, but that doesn't help when you need fire NOW.

Alternate fire-makings make good sense for most environments harsher than your living room or backyard. By alternate, I don't mean more of the same. Choices are endless and preferences are as varied as the individuals and environments. To me, it just makes sense to tuck away something different, not better but different, than the Bic. Particularly when outing. I've used my muzzleloader to start fires before. And at one time or another, just about every means mentioned on this forum excepting the fireplow, ice lens, and piston. I'll get a piston one of these days.

Codger

 

[Coldwood]

Alternate fire-makings make good sense for most environments harsher than your living room or backyard. Codger

Really? I have to laugh because at my old age, I've become an armchair survivalist

Back to the topic of magnesium shavings. I've got a Doan mag block with fire steel, don't have any problem carving shavings off it, but I don't like the firesteel that much. I think my "Swedish" fire steel makes much better sparks.

Mag shavings are hard to keep in place, a breeze will blow them around. Others here have suggested scraping them onto a piece of duct tape. I hate to belabor the point, but a PJ cottonball will work as well. I think mag shavings alone are hard to start, but when coupled with another fire tinder they're great.

I just fired up another cotton ball soaked in bacon grease, burns as well as PJ. And it could do double-duty for frying up your turtle eggs. The bears like it too

 

[skammer]

I love bics and carry one everywhere I go.:thumbup:

After an unexpected swim a couple of years ago in 40 degree weather my bic was useless. 99% of the time the bic and natural tender get the nod but a 1/4" thick flint and a firestraw taped to it takes up very little weight and space and is about as foolproof as anything I can think of. Chris

Its why I carry the mag flint bar as backup. No need to carry anything else.

Skam

 

[skammer]

Bics are great. I always have two, three or six about. But a wet bic is about as useful as a wet match.

I have never had a wet bic take more than 45 mins to dry enough to spark back to life. Just blow on it, put it in your pit to warm up a few minutes, blow on it, move the wheel to help the water evaporate so on etc...

Works just fine for me 100% of the time.

Try it.

Skam

 

[skammer]

Alternate fire-makings make good sense for most environments harsher than your living room or backyard. By alternate, I don't mean more of the same. Codger

It does but carrying 10 means therapy.

A bic is fire not part or parcel of a fire system it is fire unlike 99% of other methods. DO NOT discount multiple bics stuffed in your kit as not having backup. Utter crazy talk.
If you got trouble getting fire going with a 3 bics you are in dep doo doo with nearly all other methods not involving combustable liquids.

Skam

 

[runningboar]

Its why I carry the mag flint bar as backup. No need to carry anything else.

Skam

We are agreeing, you are carrying the same thing as me as backup. The only difference is instead of magnesium, using pj cotton which is easier to use, catches better with just a spark, burns longer and is lighter. Chris

 

[Pritch]

All right you two! Don't make me get the belt!!! Skammer, you MUST carry PCBs from now on, and RB, you MUST drop a week's pay on a Busse!

-- FLIX

 

[runningboar]

All right you two! Don't make me get the belt!!! Skammer, you MUST carry PCBs from now on, and RB, you MUST drop a week's pay on a Busse!

-- FLIX

The busse is out of the question but I am seriously considering a weeks pay on a Huglu 28 ga SxS I fondled today at gander mountain. Chris

 

[Codger_64]

I have never had a wet bic take more than 45 mins to dry enough to spark back to life. Just blow on it, put it in your pit to warm up a few minutes, blow on it, move the wheel to help the water evaporate so on etc...

Works just fine for me 100% of the time.

Try it.

Skam

I have. 45 minutes is too long when you are wet head to foot, and you have no dry pits. 3/4 of an hour can mean life or death. Yes, the people who find your body may have a dry bic, or two, or ten as a prize, but it doesn't help you any. Firesteels, knives and a flint nodule... there are plenty of alternatives that don't go south when wet. Peanunt butter...I mean petroleum jelly cotton balls are one more card in the deck. Mag blocks can work when damp. Even the powder from a cartridge or shotshell can work if you don't lose your eyebrows in the process. I'm not against any method that works. For me it makes sense to include alternate methods that work even after submersion now, not later. And no, I am not buying a Busse and you can't make me. However, donations are welcome.

Codger

 

[sketchbag]

My 12"x1/2"diameter magnesium cylinder arrived. I'll cut it up eventually, but for the time being I decided to fill a pill container with shavings. It took some experimenting with different tools, but once I found the right one I filled that sucker up in short order, and with nice long curled shavings rather than just dust.

I ended up using the side of a wood chisel, the hard steel and 90degree edge seems to be just right; sharp enough to scrape but not sharp enough to bite in and slow you down.

 

[Pritch]

My 12"x1/2"diameter magnesium cylinder arrived. I'll cut it up eventually, but for the time being I decided to fill a pill container with shavings. It took some experimenting with different tools, but once I found the right one I filled that sucker up in short order, and with nice long curled shavings rather than just dust.

I ended up using the side of a wood chisel, the hard steel and 90degree edge seems to be just right; sharp enough to scrape but not sharp enough to bite in and slow you down.

Sketchbag,

I made up some curls a while ago as well. If you are planning to ignite them with a firesteel, make sure to sest them to make sure 1) that the curls are not too big, and 2) that the magnesium content of the (presumably alloy) rod is sufficient to ignite.

-- FLIX

 

[sketchbag]

the curls (which are still very thin) catch a spark like a charm. Trying to shave it off any thicker just caused the scraping tool to jam.
I'm using ~95% pure magnesium. How pure are the Doan mag/ferro blocks?

 

[upnorth]

Matches, bics, cotton balls and mag blocks all way next to nothing, so there is no reason to leave one of them at home. A mag block is the hardest to use, but it is also the one that will last the longest. I don't use mine much, but if a true survival situation ever arose, I would be glad to have it.

I agree. I don't know what season of the year or what weather conditions I will meet in an emergency fire situation. I pack multiple systems partly for this reason.