I was wondering about the magnesium fire starters. I have a Gerber First Strike and love it. I want to have an extra option to keep with my gear. Is there a better mag starter on the market or is the Cohglans mag and striker good. They are cheap and a back up to my back kinda thing. Just curious if thereis a better oneon the market? Thanks and Take Care!!!
"everything else is just a jeep"
OT: Fire starter Q????
Go to Equipped to Survive(http://www.equipped.com/) and do a search on fire starters. Lots of good info on this site,plus they do Shot Show reports on the latest knives,tools,and lights.
There are other magnesium firestarters on the market but of course they all use the same element magnesium and a ferro-match sparker, so the only real difference between them is size and design. Some are bigger and even come mounted to hardwood handles which supposedly you can whittle if you are really in a bind for tinder. Others are much smaller and designed to attach to your keyring or the like. So as to which one is "better" it just depends on what size suits you best.
I like the el cheapo Coglan's (or Doan's) unit because it costs less and is available everywhere. Put one in your pocket with your Spyderco of choice and you will always be able to start a fire when you need one.
Bear in mind that these things take practice however. You have to learn how to scrape the magnesium effectively (hard to do; I found that the back of my old Copilot worked about as well as anything else I ever tried) and gain a large enough pile of shavings (about the size of a fat nickle) to ignite your tinder. You have to learn how to strike the sparks with your knife or a piece of hacksaw blade in such a way as to not scatter your little pile of shavings all over the place and lose them. You should also know enough about firebuilding in the first place to be able to choose good tinder and make a proper firelay so that your magnesium will have a chance at starting a fire.
Many people prefer to carry vaseline soaked cotton balls to use in place of magnesium. They certainly are much easier to use and burn longer than a little pile of magnesium shavings, which gives you a much better chance to get things going under bad conditions.
When all is said and done however, I still tend to carry a magnesium starter in my kit (together with at least two other methods of firestarting, including the cotton balls) whenever I'm in the woods. Although it is not the easiest tool to use, it does work and it will give you fire if you know how to use it. Heck, if those boobs on tv's "Survivor" can start a fire with one, ANYbody can do it. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
I recommend them.
Eremitike
I like the el cheapo Coglan's (or Doan's) unit because it costs less and is available everywhere. Put one in your pocket with your Spyderco of choice and you will always be able to start a fire when you need one.
Bear in mind that these things take practice however. You have to learn how to scrape the magnesium effectively (hard to do; I found that the back of my old Copilot worked about as well as anything else I ever tried) and gain a large enough pile of shavings (about the size of a fat nickle) to ignite your tinder. You have to learn how to strike the sparks with your knife or a piece of hacksaw blade in such a way as to not scatter your little pile of shavings all over the place and lose them. You should also know enough about firebuilding in the first place to be able to choose good tinder and make a proper firelay so that your magnesium will have a chance at starting a fire.
Many people prefer to carry vaseline soaked cotton balls to use in place of magnesium. They certainly are much easier to use and burn longer than a little pile of magnesium shavings, which gives you a much better chance to get things going under bad conditions.
When all is said and done however, I still tend to carry a magnesium starter in my kit (together with at least two other methods of firestarting, including the cotton balls) whenever I'm in the woods. Although it is not the easiest tool to use, it does work and it will give you fire if you know how to use it. Heck, if those boobs on tv's "Survivor" can start a fire with one, ANYbody can do it. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle border=0>
I recommend them.
Eremitike
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vampyrewolf
- Member
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
- Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
fire starters in my kit?
I have a cohglans magnesium, 2 "Light my fire" swiss firesteels(ferrocium rods & strikers), mayo wood(2 pices), tinder papers(about 15-20 of em), small butane, and 2 books of paper matches...
I also carry a zippo on my belt. If I'm in the bush and I'm having to re-light fires... the order I'd use in: zippo(gonna dry up anyways if I don't use it), matches(and tinder paper), ferro & mayo wood, butane, then magnesium.
magnesium does work, but it's a pain to get the scrapings and aim with cold hands. Ferro rods(or flint and steel) only have a weakness with moisture over time(dry it before packing it away, and thats about it). Ferro is the easiest way to get fire going, due to the throw and amount of sparks you get.
I have done enough for firestarting between cadets and scouting that I was known for 5min bonfires off a single match. Teepee with tinder inside and using pencil thickness(6-8" high, 4-5 across)...log cabin around that with kindling dropped in the open spaces between the 2... have lots of wrist sized and then forearm sized logs beside yah. Light it up, let the log cabin catch before you start piling on, and within about 5min you can have a 6' flame on a 2' base. Takes 20min to set up, but makes one **** of a signal fire.
Vaseline or mineral oil soaked cottonballs are your friends. Found another trick in BFC this last week, stuffing them into plastic straws, and having "firesticks". made one, works pretty well.
<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/sp ... pyder5.gif">
Mei Fides, Mei Victus
Coffee Before Conciousness
Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com
I have a cohglans magnesium, 2 "Light my fire" swiss firesteels(ferrocium rods & strikers), mayo wood(2 pices), tinder papers(about 15-20 of em), small butane, and 2 books of paper matches...
I also carry a zippo on my belt. If I'm in the bush and I'm having to re-light fires... the order I'd use in: zippo(gonna dry up anyways if I don't use it), matches(and tinder paper), ferro & mayo wood, butane, then magnesium.
magnesium does work, but it's a pain to get the scrapings and aim with cold hands. Ferro rods(or flint and steel) only have a weakness with moisture over time(dry it before packing it away, and thats about it). Ferro is the easiest way to get fire going, due to the throw and amount of sparks you get.
I have done enough for firestarting between cadets and scouting that I was known for 5min bonfires off a single match. Teepee with tinder inside and using pencil thickness(6-8" high, 4-5 across)...log cabin around that with kindling dropped in the open spaces between the 2... have lots of wrist sized and then forearm sized logs beside yah. Light it up, let the log cabin catch before you start piling on, and within about 5min you can have a 6' flame on a 2' base. Takes 20min to set up, but makes one **** of a signal fire.
Vaseline or mineral oil soaked cottonballs are your friends. Found another trick in BFC this last week, stuffing them into plastic straws, and having "firesticks". made one, works pretty well.
<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/sp ... pyder5.gif">
Mei Fides, Mei Victus
Coffee Before Conciousness
Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com
CKE-
Try powdered magnesium. It beats shaving pieces of the stuff, and works great with just a little bit of it. You can store it in and old med. bottle. Once it gets going add a drop or two of water and that stuff takes off.
Also another sure fire starter is a nine volt battery and some steel wool. But don't store them together or you will have a melt down. Put them in separate zip lock bags.
ken
Try powdered magnesium. It beats shaving pieces of the stuff, and works great with just a little bit of it. You can store it in and old med. bottle. Once it gets going add a drop or two of water and that stuff takes off.
Also another sure fire starter is a nine volt battery and some steel wool. But don't store them together or you will have a melt down. Put them in separate zip lock bags.
ken
vampyrewolf, you found out about cotton balls stuffed in soda straws on BF? How cool. I came up with that idea a couple months ago and shared it on another forum. I wonder if it worked it's way to BF or if someone else came up with the same idea by chance? Anyway, I think it's a great way to pack some tinder into a minikit. I cut the straw to a little over one inch long and seal the ends with caulking.
Eremitike
Eremitike
-
vampyrewolf
- Member
- Posts: 7486
- Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:33 am
- Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showt ... did=291476
there's where I got the idea myself.
had been just doing a film canister of em. made a few with 1/2 length slush straws.
<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/sp ... pyder5.gif">
Mei Fides, Mei Victus
Coffee Before Conciousness
Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com
there's where I got the idea myself.
had been just doing a film canister of em. made a few with 1/2 length slush straws.
<img src="http://www.members.shaw.ca/pjharyett/sp ... pyder5.gif">
Mei Fides, Mei Victus
Coffee Before Conciousness
Vampyrewolf@yahoo.com