Magnesium Rod Fire Flint Spark Fire Starter with Iron Scraper Emergency Survival Kit $1.99 + FREE SHIPPING!

Niiiice. Fire starter from China of dubious quality. In for two.

Also, if you use a Jig Saw blade for making sparks (and not the crappy scraper that comes with it) you get a lot more sparks.

Quote from lordryugen : Niiiice. Fire starter from China of dubious quality. In for two.

These go on sale at Meritline pretty frequently. They're made of steel, not magnesium. They work OK but the the real ones work better since tou can shave magnesium fillings to help start the fire.

thanks. i buy anything "tactical" and "survival"

Quote from Vannita : These go on sale at Meritline pretty frequently. They're made of steel, not magnesium. They work OK but the the real ones work better since tou can shave magnesium fillings to help start the fire.

I saw that earlier today, but when I got to it, they were OOS.

So they just make sparks because of friction? Bawww. But the title says magnesium! The Chinese always ship what they say on their websites.

Quote from lordryugen : I saw that earlier today, but when I got to it, they were OOS. So they just make sparks because of friction? Bawww. But the title says magnesium! The Chinese always ship what they say on their websites.

Yep, more of a novelty than anything else. I would much rather use a real magnesium fire starter if I was really planning to use it, burns a lot hotter and throws mad sparks even wet.

These are flint sticks with a metal striker, nothing more. No magnesium. Will make a shower of sparks but no flame like magnesium does.

Here is a magnesium fire starter. The gray part is the magnesium from which you scrape off shavings into a small pile and the small black part is the flint which makes sparks to ignite the magnesium. MUCH better fire starter:

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Iss...708&sr=8-2

Please, guys. These are not steel, they're not flint, and they're not magnesium. They're called ferro-cerium rods (ferrocerium), they're used in industrial ignitors, and they're the same compound used in Zippo and Bic lighter "flints", which aren't flint either, which is one source of confusion. They work very well, with a few minutes practice you can create showers of sparks, and you can scrape dust off of them and ignite the dust to help start a fire, although that bit doesn't work as well as the military magnesium bar type. The striker on the magnesium bar type is another ferrocerium rod, which is another source of confusion. A third is that they are marketed as "Swedish Firesteels".

I've got a lot exactly like this, that I bought for 69 cents to $1.50 each shipped, one just yesterday. On the other hand, a "Swedish Firesteel" in your outdoor store might easily cost $18, so $2 each is not exactly a ripoff.

cool now i can pretend to be Bear Grylls

Quote from gigaboom : Please, guys. These are not steel, they're not flint, and they're not magnesium. They're called ferro-cerium rods (ferrocerium), they're used in industrial ignitors, and they're the same compound used in Zippo and Bic lighter "flints", which aren't flint either, which is one source of confusion. They work very well, with a few minutes practice you can create showers of sparks, and you can scrape dust off of them and ignite the dust to help start a fire, although that bit doesn't work as well as the military magnesium bar type. The striker on the magnesium bar type is another ferrocerium rod, which is another source of confusion. A third is that they are marketed as "Swedish Firesteels". I've got a lot exactly like this, that I bought for 69 cents to $1.50 each shipped, one just yesterday. On the other hand, a "Swedish Firesteel" in your outdoor store might easily cost $18, so $2 each is not exactly a ripoff.

Well you got me not so upset. I have a ferro-rod which I'm happy with. Hopefully you're right and they're comparable.

i live in the city, its great to have survival and tactical tools with me at all times!

Quote from gigaboom : Please, guys. These are not steel, they're not flint, and they're not magnesium. They're called ferro-cerium rods (ferrocerium), they're used in industrial ignitors, and they're the same compound used in Zippo and Bic lighter "flints", which aren't flint either, which is one source of confusion. They work very well, with a few minutes practice you can create showers of sparks, and you can scrape dust off of them and ignite the dust to help start a fire, although that bit doesn't work as well as the military magnesium bar type. The striker on the magnesium bar type is another ferrocerium rod, which is another source of confusion. A third is that they are marketed as "Swedish Firesteels". I've got a lot exactly like this, that I bought for 69 cents to $1.50 each shipped, one just yesterday. On the other hand, a "Swedish Firesteel" in your outdoor store might easily cost $18, so $2 each is not exactly a ripoff.

Ferro-cerium rods, ferro-rods, flint rods, flint sticks (whatever you want to call them)...are all commonly known as the same thing. Main distinction here is that the ones the OP posted are NOT magnesium. Magnesium fire starters are what you want, which have both magnesium and a flint rod (ferro-rod).