Well my old flint and steel snapped about three years ago and since then I've been useing TG's Sweedish Firesteel. So while I'm out here in Canada I decided to pick one up for myself, as I've been saying for the past few years...lol........but for a change and to make some comparisons I've picked up one of these magnesium fire starters, with a flame source of 5400F. It should do the trick of replaceing my old flint and steel.
Looking at the ammount I've used so far for testing, it should provide me with sufficient shavings to start hundreds of fires.
Will be nice to set it against the sweedish one in a field test this winter when it's damp and frosty.
A tip i've seen recently for starting a fire with a Magnesium Fire starter is to use a cotton ball or tissue with a SMALL amount of vaseline in it. The vasaline acts as fuel and makes the cotton/tissue burn longer giving time for the tinder to ignite, i guess additionally in windy conditions the vaseline can be used to stop the magnesium flakes from blowing away!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JRzkcOzfjo
ReplyDeleteYeah I think the cotton wool would come in handy if not just for catching the shavings. I did have problems with the shavings being blown away, so unless it's dead calm on the forest floor, I'm going to need something to catch the shavings. I guess they should snag nice on the cotton wool. Will pack some on the next trip.
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