Thread: Fire Starter, (Magnesium rods )

Who else out there uses these,very handy I must say.Definitely worth throwing into the hunting kit.

I have thought about it maybe it will cut down the room taken up in my pack when carting in a container of little lucifer fire starters.

Yep I carry one, used it in training, starts fires aslong as you have dry tinder around, also used it to light the gas cooker once when I had misplaced my lighter.

I see that the Army ration pack match containers now have a small flint rod installed at the base of the container, very handy should you run out of matches

I carry a lighter(and waterproofed matches) and inner tube. Inner tube is great but it pays to test it first,some of the new ones dont burn

Also carry one of those emergency flint things with the magnesium on it aswell,have used it and it works but a lighter and inner tube is much quicker/easyer

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I carry a lighter(and waterproofed matches) and inner tube. Inner tube is great but it pays to test it first,some of the new ones dont burn

Also carry one of those emergency flint things with the magnesium on it aswell,have used it and it works but a lighter and inner tube is much quicker/easyer

Done properly the flint will ignite and you will have a good flame within seconds.As for dry tinder etc, cotton wool buds with a smidgen of vaseline ignite into a good flame with one strike of the knife and the wind has bugger all affect,you have got to stamp it out..Lets face it,a handfull of cotton buds will start a lot of fires,you only need one.
I have carried a piece of inner tube for 45 plus years but man these fire sticks would have opened up a few eyes back then.Survival,definitely.

I have carried a fire stick for years but only as a back up to a lighter which as Vietnamcam says is certainly faster and more efficient to use. I have also carried a nugget can with cotton wool smeared with Vaseline in it for years but have just this morning taken it out of my day pack as I have never needed to use it. One thing I would say about the fire stick is that if you have one you. Should practise using it as the first time you really need it, you do not want to be going through a learning curve.

I bought one a while ago, but have never tried it out,
any tips on the best way to use it to get a fire started?

I carry two small plastic pill bottles filled with two readily available chemicals, that when mixed together burst into flame within a few seconds without the need for matches. Less than a teaspoon of the mix is needed to start the fire. Each chemical on it's own is stable and so long as they are stored away from each other in your pack/day bag there is no danger. There is no way I would carry firelighters of a kerosine base as if they taint your food stuff then you are in for a nightmare trip.

Originally Posted by DAF

I bought one a while ago, but have never tried it out,
any tips on the best way to use it to get a fire started?

First up you are going to need some tinder. If you are practicing at home then it is most easy to either use some lint from out of a clothes dryer or some cotton wool smeared with Vaseline (both of which will catch a spark very quickly). To start a fire, place the fire stick in close proximity to the tinder and using the striker (which are included with many fire sticks) or a knife, solidly stroke the fire stick in a downward (away from you) direction such that a shower of sparks lands in and on the tinder. With a really easy catching tinder like the two above you will likely get it to catch straight away but the thing is that if it doesn't you simply keep repeating the action.

Originally Posted by Rushy

I have carried a fire stick for years but only as a back up to a lighter which as Vietnamcam says is certainly faster and more efficient to use. I have also carried a nugget can with cotton wool smeared with Vaseline in it for years but have just this morning taken it out of my day pack as I have never needed to use it. One thing I would say about the fire stick is that if you have one you. Should practise using it as the first time you really need it, you do not want to be going through a learning curve.

Yeah thats good advise about learning how to use one first there Rushy.They are new to me but will sure as hell have one for a back up now.New toys for old boys as the saying goes.
PS I'd leave that nugget tin on board mate,eh

Originally Posted by doinit

I'd leave that nugget tin on board mate,eh

Yeh you can almost guarantee that that old bastard Murphy that makes those stupid law's will make certain that I have reason to need the bloody thing. Although the survivalist in me always takes opportunity to reinforce skills when I can and I often will use the inner dry dead fronds of punga as tinder (also eat every bloody huhu that I find as I have been eating them since I was a young fella and consider them a delicacy). Been known to freak a few hunt buddies out when I go feral and rip into rotten log.

I am sure that most of us use a lighter as our primary fire lighting tool, but as a "survival" accessory you cant go past the these little puppies, you can get them wet and best of all they can be left in the survival kit for years to come and not have to worry about the gas in the lighter vanishing (yes they do become gasless over time even if they are left unused)

A few years ago my brother and I took his then 12yo boy for a hunt/camp down Clements Mill Road.
We had a go at lighting a fire with his fire starter and took a bit to find the right material to get it started.
Not something I would look forward to doing if suffering the onset of hypothermia.Using a lighter with shaking hands is hard enough.
Going to try the cotton wool and vasoline trick next weekend (at home)

Originally Posted by Rushy

First up you are going to need some tinder. If you are practicing at home then it is most easy to either use some lint from out of a clothes dryer or some cotton wool smeared with Vaseline (both of which will catch a spark very quickly). To start a fire, place the fire stick in close proximity to the tinder and using the striker (which are included with many fire sticks) or a knife, solidly stroke the fire stick in a downward (away from you) direction such that a shower of sparks lands in and on the tinder. With a really easy catching tinder like the two above you will likely get it to catch straight away but the thing is that if it doesn't you simply keep repeating the action.

Correct me if I am wrong.....which is a lot by the way........Do you not scrape some of the magnesium with a knife off into your tinder? It lights immediately from memory. I thought that was the point of the thing.

Personally - I carry a lighter and a few fire lighters wrapped in glad wrap as my primary fire source. Also carry a box of waterproof matches and some bike inner tube. If all else fails - my cooker has a ignition spark on it - so I just fire that up and use that flame from there.

Or we could all just be like Bear Grills and stab your cell phone battery ...