Coghlan's Magnesium Fire Starter

by Coghlan's

Product Features

• To start your fire just scrape the starter with a knife and ignite the shavings
• A flame source of 5400 degrees gets the fire started

Product Description

A must for every field trip. The magnesium fire starter is easy to use. To start your fire just scrape the starter with a knife and ignite the shavings. A flame source of 5400 degrees gets the fire started. One starter will provide enough shavings to start hundreds of fires.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 3.8 x 0.7 inches ; 1.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000CE2D8
• Item model number: 7870
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,578 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors)
  • #1 in Sports & Outdoors > Team Sports > Track & Field > Track Equipment > Starter Pistols

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great fire starting tool, February 21, 2009

By 

Aaron Frankel (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This is a great, very inexpensive, extremely light weight, tried and true fire starting tool for emergencies. I have about five of them in total taking up permanent residence in my parka, hiking Backpack, emergency kits, and gun bag. This way I never forget to take one with me.

Helpful hints:
* The packaging says to make a pile about this size of a quarter for best results. This is very accurate however the pile should be at least 1/8 of an inch deep (eyeball it).
* Be extremely careful when using a knife as a shaver/striker. I found the tool pretty effective without having to bear down on it very hard.
* Use a straight, smooth, fluid motion both for shaving the magnesium off and striking the flint. DO NOT chop at the magnesium or the flint. I watched in dismay as a friend made a mess of his by chopping at it recently so I thought I would include this. The chopping motion is dangerous (when using a knife), ruins the tool, and does not yield NEARLY the same results as using a smooth motion.
* If you have to use your knife, use the back side of your knife or the base of the blade if it is squared off and not sharp. Most fixed blade knifes are squared at the base. If your blade does not lock or is not fixed, USE THE BLADE. Do not try to use the back of the knife if the blade is not fixed or does not lock. It will most likely close on your fingers/hand causing injury if you try to use the back of a non-locking blade.
* Don't just buy this tool and not test it out. Spend 15 minutes playing with the tool and starting a fire (in a safe and controlled environment) BEFORE you actually need it in an emergency situation. Trust me, this tool will last you a LONG time. You are not wasting it.

Cons:
* The product does not come with any kind of striker/shaver attached. This tool could really benifit from a small piece of metal to use as a striker and to shave magnesium off.
* Shaving magnesium off and striking the flint with your knife will dull the blade pretty quickly.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A better way to use Coghlan's magnesium fire starter, July 2, 2009

By 

David Delaney (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Coghlan's magnesium fire starter (Coghlan's #7870) is a great product, but it is difficult to use if you follow most instructions for its use, including the manufacturer's instructions, and it will quickly dull your knife.

I wince when I see the precious edge of a knife being used to pare the magnesium block or to strike sparks off the flint.

Instead, break off the end of a fine-tooth hacksaw blade to the length of the magnesium block. Clamp the hack saw blade in a vise or a in a pair of vise grip pliers to break the blade. Join the piece of hack saw blade to the fire starter block with a short lanyard to keep them together. Use the teeth of the hack saw to make magnesium filings. Use the back of the hack saw to strike sparks.

It is much easier to make magnesium filings with the hacksaw blade than to shave the magnesium block with a knife.

The very hard high-carbon hacksaw blade will make a much bigger shower of sparks from the fire starter "flint" attached to the magnesium block than a stainless steel knife. You may have to stroke the "flint" a couple of times to clear oxidation. Much less motion is required with the back of the hack saw blade than with the back of a stainless steel knife to make an adequate shower of sparks -- you are much less likely to disturb your pile of magnesium filings and other tinder.

To see a photo of the lanyard arrangement, Google "A better way to use Coghlan's magnesium fire starter".

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, Time Permitting, March 7, 2005

By 

Thomas W P Slatin "TomSlatin.com" (Schoharie, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coghlan's Magnesium Fire Starter (Sports)

This product works great, I have used it many times to start campfires in the wilderness. Regardless of conditions, this will never let you down, even if submerged in water, just dry it off, and it works. The only downfall is that you will need to scrape off a lot of magnesium for it to do any good. So, if you don't have a lot of time to spend scraping, you're better off with waterproof matches. But keep this in your pack just in case.