Survival items or skills that don't work

troutfisher13111 said:
Try making a small indentation in a piece of wood, creating a tiny bowl, and scraping the shavings into it. Then place your tinder so that it covers half of the opening, then let the sparks fly.
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I've seen several mentions here of scraping the magnesium onto the sticky side of a piece of duct tape...it won't blow away in the wind and doesn't get knocked about. Haven't tried it yet. Wonder if the duct tape catches alight.
 
dartanyon said:
I've been enjoying reading the posts on this thread ... I think I'm a bit kit-crazy with kits scattered in all sorts of places so I thought I'd throw my say in. Of all my kits the only thing I ever use (kit from car glovebox) is the condoms but its not for water storage ;)
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Then again, if you DON'T use them, you may have several more people around to help you survive! :D
 
I recomend that if you can fit a small pot, or even a thin bread pan folded up rather than a sheet of foil do it.[/QUOTE]


I tried folding up a small loaf pan and then unfolding it and I had a decent size hole in one corner on each of them I tried. Unless someone has stronger ones than mine they don't work either. I need to find a small metal cup.[/QUOTE]

I think the ideal thing for boiling water is the smallest SnoPeak Ti Pot. Not only is it light weight but it will nest around the bottom of a typical widemouth Nalgene bottle (my preferred water carrier).

I have tinfoil in my kit, not to hold the water but to fashion a lid for the Ti pot -- the water boils so much quicker with a lid, thus enhancing fuel efficiency. I normally have en Esbit folding stove (tommycooker), so fuel efficiency is an issue, since the fuel tabs don't burn forever. (They are, however, some of the best firestarters you could ever find).

I hadn't thought of using the foil as a windscreen for the tommycooker. That's a good suggestion, thanks.
 
Love Ferro rods...hate magnesium firestarters! The idea baffles me. First of all, scraping the shavings off the block is difficult to do with the back of a knife, works better with the knife blade, but seems like a silly thing to do to a knife edge. You need a repectable amount of shavings to accomplish anything and even then, the shavings burn incredibly hot, but very very brief. PJ cotton balls and a ferro rod seem to work alot better. I was actually camping with a group last weekend and one of the guys wanted to practice starting the campfire with a mag block, he never did get it going and had to use a bic lighter. I knew for a fact that I could have pulled out my kit and with a PJ cotten ball and firesteel had a fire burning in about 10 seconds, but I didn't want him to think I was mocking his fire starting skills (ps. I would have been :) ).

The condom thing has always struck me as silly. If I were going to go that route I think latex gloves would make more sense and require less explaining.

Sean
 
deff the mag block is a waste of time. after getting one and trying to start a fire with it, i just popped the ferro rod off the block and glued it into a little wood handle.

i kept the mag block and later tossed it into the campfire for a little lightshow. took forever to catch the whole block on fire though...

the old teknique of scraping the knife edge on the ferro rod, from back in WWII days (scrape mag with knife edge, scrape ferro rod with knife edge) is horrible. it cuts huge holes in the edge of any knife that can cut.

i have not had any personal experience with these, but almost any hollow handle survival knives seem like junk (excepting chris reeves one peice etc). epoxy and a single pin to hold together a big knife like that? not soemthing that i would want to trust. on a tiny neck/fixed pocket blade i might feel a little bit better about less support, but with a knife that should be capable of chopping and battoning i would not want such little connection.
 
pict said:
I really like the turkey bag idea but I have never used it personally. It merits exploration.
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I've never tried boiling in one, and I have my doubts to if it will work- 212F isn't a problem for something designed to handle a 300F oven, but 450F+ of hot rock would probably melt right through the bottom. If you had a way of gaging temperature you'd be ok, but I don't know of anything other than carrying a thermometer. If I'm going to do that, I'm just going to carry a mess tin. :P

I just use it to carry water in and hold it while the tablets do their thing.

As for mag blocks...

I've probably said these things:
-Scrape with the spine of your blade, not the edge.
-Strike with the spine of your blade, not the edge.
-If you are using a high chromium steel blade, don't be surprised if it defeats you.
-If you have a file in your multitool and didn't use it, don't take it personally if I point and laugh. It's the best way to get the shavings, and it usually is a high enough carbon/low enough chromium that it works well on the ferrorod.
-If you don't have a multitool, attach a bit of hacksaw blade as a scraper- it works almost as well. Or a cut down needle file!
-These aren't made to be used in a hurry, or replaced matches and lighters. These were designed so that you could extend your match supply. Take your time. If you need fire RIGHT NOW, that's what flares are for; if you need fire in a minute or two, that's what matches and lighters are for.
 
Racerx2oo3 said:
Love Ferro rods...hate magnesium firestarters! The idea baffles me. First of all, scraping the shavings off the block is difficult to do with the back of a knife, works better with the knife blade, but seems like a silly thing to do to a knife edge. You need a repectable amount of shavings to accomplish anything and even then, the shavings burn incredibly hot, but very very brief. PJ cotton balls and a ferro rod seem to work alot better.

Sean
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I agree 100% about the magnesium block. When I used the same amount as seen on the picture on the package I had no luck starting a fire. I then decided to try and cut larger pieces, instead of tons more smaller pieces that may potentially fly away. In the end, I cut myself and nearly wrecked my knife trying to scrape off those large pieces. I never did get a fire started using the magnesium shavings. Use vaseline soaked cotton balls or the firespark tinder.

Michael
 
A word about mag bars, The bar far easiest thing is to saw it to get your shavings. Take the saw on your sak and saw some off, quick and easy.
 
I dont like mag bars that much either but a carry one and practice with it for no other reason than it is a tinder that will always be with me.

I Am not a big fan of mylar blankets, But again they have their place, sitting cross legged with a small candle in front of you wrapped in one of them can warm you up fairly quickly, and they are good to wateproof a shelter, as well as add thermal reflection.

Solar stills are pretty useless unless you are on a sea shore, and can prime it with salt water, or in a desert where no other form of water is available. Prime it with your waste if need be.
 
If you're using a mag block, try tying a short length of hacksaw blade to it. You can use the teeth of the blade to "saw" off magnesium shavings, and the back of the blade works fine on the ferro rod.

For a strong, packable water container, why not use some of the new silicone bakeware? It's very flexible and can take heat up to 500F, though it probably wouldn't transfer heat well enough to make an effective fire-top boiler.
 
Mylar blankets have one good use. Tie one up in front of you and one behind, place you and your fire between them and you are sitting in a solar oven!

Suggesting the use of baby bottle plastic bags instead of condoms just made my eyes water!
 
Actually, they're not baby bottle bags. They're bags for lactating mothers to store extra breast milk in. That should stir up some discussion! :D
 
Here's a hint for using magnesium firestarters (and ferrocerium rods in general). To avoid accidentally hitting and scattering your shavings / tinder with your knife, instead of holding the sparker still and scraping it with the knife, hold the knife still and pull back on the sparker.
 
Mylar blankets have one good use. Tie one up in front of you and one behind, place you and your fire between them and you are sitting in a solar oven!
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Excellent, a giant , adjustable, heat reflector, (or two).

I had dumped them because when I needed one in the dry mountains of Southern California, I realized that they were just aluminum foil that tears to shreds if you lay on dry ground, or are around shrubs and Mesquite branches.

Your idea is brilliant.
 
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