Magnesium bar fire starter - should you bother?

A quick look at a Harbor Freight magnesium fire starter and how it stacks up against fat-wood.

[@thomasmusso1147]

👍👍👍 I have one of those Magnesium Bars .. a 'Coleman' Brand which I bought (if I recall correctly) back in the 80's / late70's (?). It seems to be of a better quality than those on sale today. The Magnesium is quite soft, I get a good amount of shavings with each stroke and a decent-sized flame when ignited. I use a piece of good quality hacksaw blade salvaged off my work bench as the scraper / striker (I cannot recall if it was supplied with a striker and if so, than long gone). You are 100% correct .. it will not have the desired effect unless one's tinder preparation is up to standard. The secret is to scape a decent amount of shavings (a little pile) and then mix it in with some tinder. I do not see this fire starter as something for everyday use, but rather for when conditions are not optimum and one needs all of the help that one can get. It sits in a 'just in case of' pouch with other 'just in cases of' .. there for 'just in case of' 😊. Incidentally, my adjacent forest (and those in the surrounding countryside .. Switzerland) does not have Pine Trees. I have some Fatwood harvested elsewhere years back and I hoard it for use only for a 'just in case' 😁. Thanks for sharing .. take care ..

[@cyberjism]

for being made a couple years ago this is one of the better quality videos without all the typical bs. thanks for the upload.

[@LovingIdaho]

These magnesium firestarters work great and start plenty of fires for $1.50 each . I have been using for years and keep one in each of my fire kits .

[@watcher1323]

That's a knoif