Are all magnesium fire starters created equal?
- Thread starter David
- Start date
errrr, ummm yes you will, one episode bare gills stuck a water tube right up he dotexplaining how to hydrate from suspect water sources with no water purification available.
back to ferro and Mg, strikers to me always are lacking, made my own from tool steel, as you can not carry anything sharper than a butter knife here now days, and harvest Mg from a hot water heater sacrificial anode
I am also a member of Pyromaniacs Anonamouse
Lol’d. I stand corrected.
Mr Kool!
Not magnesium, but we learned a seriously cool trick from a bushcraft instructor when camping last month.
Take a small pinch of potassium permanganate, add a drop of glycercine or glycol (vape juice works great) and hey presto. Instant fire.
We have added a small tube of PP and some vape juice to the fire kit.
Take a small pinch of potassium permanganate, add a drop of glycercine or glycol (vape juice works great) and hey presto. Instant fire.
We have added a small tube of PP and some vape juice to the fire kit.
So where does someone pick up this potassium permanganate?
Good sources here
potassium permanganate for sale | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3671980.m570.l1311&_nkw=potassium+permanganate&_sacat=0
This is good!
Survival Science: Potassium Permanganate and Vape fluid - Backcountry Survival Ltd - https://www.backcountrysurvival.co.uk/2018/07/13/survival-science-potassium-permanganate-and-vape-fluid/
Glycerine and Potassium Permanganate Fire:
- First, set up your tinder and kindling.
- Place a flat piece of cardboard or paper over this.
- Put about 10g of potassium permanganate on the paper.
- Add an equal amount of glycerine. You can also use antifreeze.
- It might take a few moments, but a bright purple flame should start.
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Wow, cool video! One of the links says you can substitute anti-freeze, but the newer antifreeze brands are now being manufactured without propylene glycol?
Just the cheapest bottle of vape juice should do it. Also ordinary sugar works.
Sugar and Potassium Permanganate Fire:
- Mix equal parts of sugar and potassium permanganate
- Apply friction to the mixture by pushing on it with a wide, flat stick
- A fire should form quickly
Pretty cool stuff if ya ask me!
Yeah, we were pretty impressed!Pretty cool stuff if ya ask me!
Seems a good fire starting SHTF method if you have injuries to the hands or arms, and cannot manipulate a ferro rod or magnesium starter.
A useful addition to a fire kit.
Your local Pharmacy, Chemist shop or Drug Store, depending on your counties name for it, the shop that is, pool stores, pet stores. Potassium Permanganate was formerly known as ''Condy's Crystals" it can be used as a water purifier, no sticking the hose up ya dot Bare Gills, as a disinfectant and as a fake tanning solution << this is why a cautionary note is pertinent, it 'will' turn your skin brown !! It's a class 5 ... strong oxidizing agent, so in the art of pyromania treat it with a little caution, but not paranoia
don't use metal container to store it.disinfection rates are something like 1:10,000 mixture [12 individual crystals per gallon] and in days of old when men were men it was allegedly used to treat snakebite? so if you have some in the kit, get bit, the SHTF, you can try it, what have you got to lose?
I've never got that to work,
, but thats me, or it was not the right type of sugar as i keep saying to myself.Now i need try Mg shavings in PP and glycerin, but I refused to pay the price of glycerin here, get it in the cake cooking aisle in the supermarket, but come on !! 9AUD for 200Ml ???
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Chaps, this thread is about commercially made magnesium fire starters, and simililar.
Let's keep the talk of improvised chemical incendiaries to ourselves, lest we end up on some watch list somewhere.
Let's keep the talk of improvised chemical incendiaries to ourselves, lest we end up on some watch list somewhere.
So, back to magnesium, ferro or whatever they are made of, I bought a good brand name [so i thought] ferro rod, then scored another cheaper one at a miss marked price, at a camping shop no less. After saying nothing on this thread, i had to go start a fire, the cheap rod is fine looks the same as the last time i saw it 12 moons ago, the dear one is like a bleedin golf ball full of corrosion and ugly grey powder, funny thing is they both live next to each other in an old remington elec shaver box with all the other necessities to have fire in a survival situation stranded twenty minutes from the nearest McDonalds.
The cheap one might have had some coating applied to keep the oxidation at bay. I usually keep a layer of petroleum jelly on mine when it is in storage.
Good point, but Alas no ..... both get a hiding with a striker i made from tool steel with a curved throat for more face contact and no sideways slippage, and when they get used they get over used, I just have an addiction to making sparks and lots of them, i can't help it !!
The cheap one being cheap gets the absolute flogging, well did i say it was cheap, so it is absolute bare as a badgers bottom metal, no coating left if there was a coating?
My theory is the same as the good old corroded Zamak [pot metal] razor head .... a mix of metals and one rod was mixed better? or has less of Mg in it that would be the easiest metal to corrode faster than Jack Robinson. The dear one may have more Mg? there is one plus side though, jeez did it throw sparks
I've gone in another direction with this ... focusing on the ferro rods (Bayite, 6") and making sure the knife's spine is square.Magnesium's helpful, but if you have a shower of molten steel sparks from a 6" ferro-rod, feather sticks and almost anything will ignite. The little 1/8" ferro rod on those blocks might work, but. It's satisfying when one strike throws fireworks like Mt Vesuvius.
(Which makes up for my middling skills).
AA
Funny. Real flint and steel is all I use anymore. Yes, I have Ferro rods in my kits, but I have zero problem with flint and steel.
I make my charcloth from 1" cotton oil lamp wick, and keep about 30 foot of jute twine in my fire kit.
I always have a Bic tucked away somewhere. They're great until it's too cold for them to work or they get wet.
I prefer a Zippo for day to day use. They're easier to spark (important when your fingers are cold) can be left lit longer...and used hands-free once lit. They're not as cold-sensitive as a Bic, probably worse than a Bic if wet for an extended time (SOL if water gets into the fuel chamber).
Ferro rods and actual flint and steel are foolproof if you have proper dry tinder. In any case, the build of your fire is more important than anything. If you don't have a good build, you'll get plenty of practice 'starting' the fire
I've tried most of the methods listed here (jute, cotton balls, dryer lint etc), but I keep coming back to ferro rods and fatwood (pitchwood, sapwood or whatever you call it locally). Easy to find in the bush and it sparks up easy regardless of being wet or dry.
I have sharpened the backs of most of my knifes, but I also carry one of those Carbide Tip sharpeners since those through tons of sparks off the ferro. Could also be used for its intended purpose I guess.
I have sharpened the backs of most of my knifes, but I also carry one of those Carbide Tip sharpeners since those through tons of sparks off the ferro. Could also be used for its intended purpose I guess.
