The Friendly Swede Magnesium Fire Starter Kit, Firestarter, Flint and Steel Fire Starter Kit, Flint Fire Starter Survival Tool, Camping Fire Starter, Fire Steel, Flint Striker, Fire Striker (3 Pack)

This pack comes with three magnesium blocks each with a thin built-in firesteel, three scrapers/strikers and three relative long clipped chains (long enough to use the magnesium block and scraper without needing to open the chain to separate them), and for only $ 18.00 ($ 6.00 each)! I however think that a pack of a pair of them would be sufficient for most people for a very long time.The magnesium blocks are coated with a rough black paint which is assumed to protect the magnesium against oxidation, but which really needs to be removed since it slightly inhibits fire starting so as to get only the pure magnesium scrapingas/shavings.Pure magnesium is relatively soft as a metal, and thus easy to get scrapings/shavings using the accompanying scrapers. These new semi-circular toothed scrapers tend to shave off very small magnesium powder-like fillings, so I also tend to use the straight edge which has a very convenient ridge on the lower edge (under side of the 1:100000 0-5 kilometers (km) scale) to get larger scrapings/shavings, or using a knife. I have found that it is best to have a mixture of both powder (really fine fillings/powder) and small scrapings/shavings which together should be made into a small pile about the size of a US penny for starting the fire. This pile of magnesium can then be ignited with only one spark from the firesteel with a little bit of practice. N.B. The light from burning magnesium is very bright!It is important to know that many magnesium blocks on the market DO NOT contain high enough high grade magnesium, and therefore are very difficult to prepare shavings from and which do not start fires, even when ignited with a burning match!! Thus, Buyers Beware! Both The Friendly Swede (Finland) and the DOAN (USA) are however very useful for making fires, many people swear by the use of magnesium for fire-starting, but this still requires a bit of practice to consistently prepare the shavings, start the fire and build the fire up with kindling wood to useable size using large pieces wood, etc. which can even be performed in wet conditions! As such, it is really advisable for the beginners to repeatedly practice before they go to travelling in remote areas if they will be dependent upon this method of fire starting. Doan Magnesium Fire Starter Tool As an inexpensive alternative, I highly rate the acquisition and use of the tried and tested Army 12,000 strike Light My Fire firesteel and striker coupled with the inexpensive Coglans tinder (10 for $ 5.00) which can easily be started with one strike of the firesteel , when this tinder is teased out and will burn for 5 to 7 minutes, which is ample time to get a pile of twigs burning well even in the wet!! If you want to save money, you can even make your own by dipping cotton wool in liquid vaseline (obtained from any local drug store/pharmacy). These firestarters should last forever when sealed in bags. Light My Fire Original Swedish FireSteel Army 12,000 Strike Fire Starter Light My Fire Swedish FireSteel 2.0 Army 12,000 Strike Fire Starter with Emergency Whistle Coghlans Emergency Tinder Replacement 10 Pack Thus, I believe that these magnesium blocks are very useful but require preparing the magnesium powder/scrapings/shavings, these blocks will last forever and you can even start fires with them in wet conditions with a bit of practice, as can also be performed using the Light My Fire Scraper/Striker and Tinder fire-starting combination!Readers may also wish to look at the 12,000 strike firesteel, a magnesium block/rod, and a scraper/striker combination for only $ 11.00: Fire Starter - "Alpha Encender" Fire Starter with Magnesium Rod By Aspen Ridge Sports, Used for Emergency Fire Starter Like Firesteel, Aurora Fire Starter, Bear Grylls Firestarter Good for 12,000 Strike In conclusion, I rate the 3-pack of Friendly Swede magnesium blocks and scrapers/strikers as a 4 star since they are very good value, but you need to practice to consistently build the fire from the magnesium flames to a usably acceptable wood fire. I gave the DOAN magnesium block a 3 star rating because it was more expensive as a single magnesium block ($ 8.50) compared with each of the blocks ($ 6.00 each and with a scrper) in The Friendly Swede, and it was not supplied with a scraper/striker!The author apologises to any readers who believe that the descriptions of the fire-lighting methods described in review were in too basic terms! I highly suggest reading a good survival guide for more details such as the really excellent SAS survival guide by John 'Lofty' Wiseman which has been my principal survival GUIDE for 25 years:Large Size: SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere Small Size: SAS Survival Guide 2E (Collins Gem): For any climate, for any situation P.S. The author would like to thank L.J. for his constructive suggestions in his Comments to this review, which I have attempted to address and include in this new version of this review, and which I hope has now improved its quality.The author declares that NO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST EXIST in the review of this product or any other product mentioned in this review.

As ever with magnesium block fire starters, these aren't really meant to replace lighters or matches, but to serve as a safe and always-there camping or survival pack item. For example, it really isn't safe to leave a butane lighter in a pack (because they can leak) or vehicle (because they can leak or overheat). It also takes time and practice to get magnesium fire starters to work properly.First of all, for those who think these fire starters from the Friendly Swede don't work, note that you DO need to scrape off the protective coating from both the flint (before it'll spark at all) and the magnesium block (before you'll be able to get a decent amount of shavings off it). Striking a spark also takes a little practice to get the right angle and pressure. Second, do have all your fire-making materials on hand before you attempt to spark a fire. You might be able to light small twigs with a good 25-cent coin sized pile of shavings, but anything bigger and you really need to build up to it. Pine duff, bark shavings, wood shavings, dried moss, crumbly rotten (but dry) wood -- all of these make for good kindling, as does paper.Secondly, you don't HAVE to use the little included tool if you happen to have something better or easier to use. A good sharp knife can be used to get shavings and to strike a spark (but do be careful not to cut yourself). But the handy thing about having the tool is it's there in case you don't have a knife or other larger implement handy.Finally, while a lighter or matches might be more convenient, sometimes they just don't work or the flame doesn't last long enough or burn hot enough, and it's often hard to get marginal burning materials going. A double-sized pile of magnesium shavings will not only burn for a while, it burns very, very hot, which can overcome damp kindling or inclement conditions. My recommendation is to go outside somewhere on a non-windy day, gather some kindling and small pieces of wood, and take a practice run at starting a fire using the fire starter. Yes, the block won't be pristine anymore, but you'll have a better sense of what to expect and how to do it, which is generally a better way to go than to wait until you're stuck in a snowstorm with numb fingers and try to figure it out then from memory. The fire starter will be just fine and won't go bad or anything just because the flint and magnesium are exposed.This particular product, the Friendly Swede's emergency fire starter, is inexpensive plus it comes with three complete blocks, tools, and chains. I took one for myself, gave one to my spouse, and the third one is going into our truck's little first aid / survival kit. I am not in any way affiliated with The Friendly Swede, but I love their products and always keep an eye out for them, especially when they come out with something new. The last thing I bought from them was one of their carabiner grenade survival mini-kits, which is also in our truck now.

3枚のすべてのストライカーのエッジが逆についており、普通に使うと火花が出ませんでした。他社の同じ形のストライカーを使うと、よく火花が出ますので、他社のストライカーで使用しています。

見た目で買いました。所有欲は満たされます。かっこいいです。使いやすいかと言われれば、微妙です。圧倒的にスティックタイプのやつが使いやすいです。

わずかの衝撃でマグネットバーが外れてしまい残念です。

使いにくいですね