	MAGNESIUM FIRE STARTER INFO


From: Cindy 

Subject: Re: Magnesium Fire Starter
Date: 26 Jan 1997 16:53:54 GMT

A while back I bought one from an army-navy store, thinking it would be a 
neat item to have. Let me tell you: it SUCKS!!! The magnesium dulls your 
knife miserably when you try to shave it. The magnesium shavings fly all 
over the place when you try to shave them off. It will take you a long 
time to get a "quarter-sized pile" of shavings. 

The flint chips off into giant chunks. When you do get the shavings burning, 
they burn up so fast you don't even have time to put any tinder on the fire. 

And last, if you ever put water on a magnesium fire, the 5400 degree 
temperature will cause the separation of the water molecules into their 
individual elements (hydrogen and oxygen-both explosive) and you will 
cause a huge explosion. (see below for other info)

There is one flint- oriented firestarter I would recommend. It's the one 
from Chris Janowsky of WSI. I personally use a Gerber "Strike Force" 
firestarter, which uses a flint and striker to ignite a gelled alcohol 
cube that burns for 5-10 minutes. It works  MUCH better than any 
flint/magnesium firestarter. Mr. Janowsky's uses Vasolene-soaked cotton 
as an inexpensive but effective tinder.


Nope, Mg doesn't explode in water, it just burns faster, prehaps much 
faster, but never at a rate that could be called explosive.  Sometime 
magnesium fires can be extingushed with large volumes of water, but if it 
fails, its too late to reach for the Class D fire extinguisher.

The cotton balls are an old, but good, trick.  And I prefer the Strike 
Force also, but the mag block has it's place (some where in front of the 
bow drill). Pat
