Fire: Magnesium Fire Starter


By far one of the most effective ways for foul weather fire starting is the Ferrocerium rod. I may be biased because this is the same tool I was trained with in the military. It has a ferro rod  insert that you can use by itself on the top portion of the block, along with a bar of Magnesium. Magnesium can be scraped on to a pile of tinder and when struck by sparks from the flint. The Magnesium will burn at 5400 degrees. This will even light damp tinder. 

With the Doan natural tinder can be lit fairly easily. Its always good to carry spare tinder such as cotton balls soaked in vaseline, but with the Doan you don't necessarily need it. Its small and carries its own tinder. Thats one of the main reason's why I like magnesium. Especially when working with damp tinder.

Doan magnesium fire starters are standard issue in most military survival kits.

I attach mine to a bright lanyard with reflective material woven into it so it can be easily spotted if lost. I also attach a signal whistle, so that if I have a multi-tool and this lanyard I should be good to go. 

Also striking a flint whether it be with the Doan, Ferro rods or Swedish fire steels using a saw edged blade will produce more sparks than a knife blade. You can either Strike a blade down on the tinder or hold the blade and draw the flint across it and produce great results. 

As I've stated always carry 3 methods of fire starting to be on the safe side. 

1 comment:

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