Why a Magnesium alloy Fire Stick over a "shave and spark" Fire starter?

[Rick Marchand]

Every mag bar I've owned has lost the ferro rod. I like the insurance of the magnesium but in extreme cold the glue will fail. I still keep one taped to my pack frame but have a narrow strip of duct tape wrapped around it so I don't drop the ferro.


Ever throw a mag bar into the coals of a hot fire? Don't look directly at it!!!

Rick

 

[Brad "the butcher"]

...and a fire bow, saw or plough roughly takes enough calories to equal bailing out wall street.

I agree the Doan bars are too much work and are great for dulling your knife. Ferro rod and some waterproofed tinders will have the same or less bulk and weight with far less prep. Also is it just me or is there an anti-waterproof match agenda?? I always have 22 parafin soaked matches in a brass case along with ferro/tinder. If I have the time to play, ferro it is, otherwise matches are always my first choice.

 

[LittleHairyApe]

I like the magnesium block fire starters.

They are half the cost of a scout model ferro rod.
They last a long time
I have never had one break
I rarely fail to light natural tinder with Doan tool sparker
Outside of demonstrations I have only used the magnesium in wet weather and it worked well

I have a Doan tool laced onto the machete sheathes I use for my course. Each guy gets a Doan tool as his primary fire lighter. Like Chris (Runningboar) I consider the Bic as a back-up when training.

I have found the squared off spine of a Mora a great tool for scraping the shavings. A knife blade tends to cut in too deep. The main problem is that people get impatient and stop scraping too soon. Keep at it, pass it off to someone else so they can keep at it. Build a small windbreak with rocks if you have to. Use a piece of tape to collect the shavings. Cut off a 1/2 inch ring of bike inner tube and collect the shavings inside the ring of rubber. The magnesium will ignite the rubber and give lots of long lasting flame.

I think everyone should own a Doan tool. They are everywhere. Take the time to learn how to make one work. Often I encounter people who bought one, tried it a time or two and gave up. Mac

100% agreement. Couldn't have said it any better.

 

[CSG]

Took me a long time to learn how to use the Doan Mag bars and they are a lot of work to get enough shavings. The trick though, as has been pointed out, is to use the spine of your blade or a scraper like hacksaw blade, etc. Duct tape is a great collector of shavings.

I'd taken them out of my packs (I've got three in various stages of use) but decided to put them back in as one more tool just in case. I still prefer using the ferro rod.

And yes, I carry NATO matches, a few strike anywhere matches and a Bic in each bag. If I needed a fire quickly, I would use any of those first. If I'm practicing and trying to learn, I'll use a sparker of some sort.

 

[bladz]

I use my LMF scout ferro most of the time. My son carries the mag block with small ferro on the side. It's very nice when in damp conditions.

 

[txmoonwolf]

Anyone find other tools work better for mag bars ? Saws on Swiss Army Knives, small Stanley Surform files, vegatable peeler, small cheese or nutmeg grater etc ?

The sawback of the USAF pilot's knife works pretty good, as a narrow rasp file, on the mag bar. That with a Doan mag bar is a good combo-- that said, my usual EDC is a carbon steel Opinel (or a SAK) and a BSA HotSpark. So far I've only monkeyed with it, managed to light a feathered stick twice out of several dozen times tried. I had better luck using a Fresnel lens the other day, than I've had with the Hot Spark. It's given me lots of practice with making feather sticks, tho.

Matt in Tx

 

[runningboar]

The sawback of the USAF pilot's knife works pretty good, as a narrow rasp file, on the mag bar. That with a Doan mag bar is a good combo-- that said, my usual EDC is a carbon steel Opinel (or a SAK) and a BSA HotSpark. So far I've only monkeyed with it, managed to light a feathered stick twice out of several dozen times tried. I had better luck using a Fresnel lens the other day, than I've had with the Hot Spark. It's given me lots of practice with making feather sticks, tho.

Matt in Tx

Try to find some fluffy seed heads, shedded bark, birch is great if you have any but almost any bark that is shaggy, like cedar, will work, if nothing else just some dried grass or broom sage. For everything but the fluffy seed heads, they work great just the way they are, take a good handfull and twist and rubb it together and rough it up good until you have a softball size wad of softened twisted up tinder, strike that with your firesteel and I bet you will have some good luck. Look around the area you live and experiment with some of the plants that grow in your local area, you may find something that works great, if you do be sure to share. :thumbup:

You still need to have your fuzz sticks and smaller twigs ready to go though. Hope this helps, Chris

 

[Thomas Linton]

200 lb. man running 23 miles = @ 3000 calories. (Da*n! So much easier to put it on than take it off.)

My complaint about mag shavings is how fast they burn out. I like the longer-lasting VCB or candle stub.

How many butane lighters do you get for the weight of a Doan Tool? 1? 2? 1.x?

 

[dipbait]

Only thing I have is a magbar. Scraping shavings off is a real chore. The tip spine of my "Cough" Schrade Survival BT01 has small serations. Thats the best thing Ive found for scraping.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Only thing I have is a magbar. Scraping shavings off is a real chore. The tip spine of my "Cough" Schrade Survival BT01 has small serations. Thats the best thing Ive found for scraping.

Did a Goggle for Cough Schrade and got no hits.





[]

 

[pict]

This is the kind of thing we collect in dry season in Central Brazil for fire starting. I have never had a problem lighting this kind of natural tinder in dry season with a ferro rod or the striker off a Doan tool.

In rainy season this kind of tinder will be anywhere from damp to waterlogged and you have to search for it in places protected from the driving rain. Ferro rods are a hard proposition in such conditions without prepared tinder. You can make a ferro rod work but you have to prepare dry tinder in the field.

In rainy season you have to find a dead Candeia (can-DAY-ah) tree like in the above photo, split a length to get to the dry oil filled center, and prepare superfine shavings with the machete spine.

Fine Candeia wood shavings created in this way will light in rainy season with just sparks from a ferro rod or Doan tool. Here's the kicker though, Candeia doesn't grow in the lower elevation forests. If you have to light a fire down there you will have to use damp tinder and the magnesium especially when combined with rubber is a great help. Mac