I use dryer lint from that mesh collecter thing as a fire tender. It works well and its pretty much free.<br><br>

I carry dryer lint in my fanny pack for fire starting, even in non-survival situations. :-) It's light, easy to use and cheap!<br><br>FYI, For a matchless start, I'll scrape magnesium filings onto the lint using my multi-tool's file. That's a lot easier and faster than using a sharp edge. It's also easier to control where the filings land. I then turn the magnesium bar over and use my multi-tool's phillips screwdriver. The tang on the screw driver is square near the base and the 45 degree angle of the edge produces nice sparks. I prefer this over a knife edge becasue I don't have to worry about dulling my knife or scaring it with black soot from the sparks.<br><br>I also recommend that folks make a point in testing their gear before they need it, even for the simplist items. I tossed the bar into my fanny pack when I bought it. It was several months before I decided to try it out. Much to my surprise, the small pocket knife I also carry in the pack would not produce sparks! I would have been in sad shape if I had to rely upon that knife in a true emergency situation.<br><br>Willie Vannerson<br>McHenry, IL

Most of the magneisum fire starters have a beaded chain. Go to the local hardware store and buy a hack saw blade for $1. Break it off the same length as the MFS and attach to the MFS with the chain. Teeth size of the saw blade is not particularly important but I choose the largest teeth to make generating shavings easier.<br><br>Use the teeth side of the saw blade to scrape a pile of shavings. Then you can use the smooth side of the saw blade to scrape the "flint". You will have to scrape the paint off the back edge of the saw blade to make metal to metal connection when scraping the flint. This will save your knife and ensure that the MFS is a complete kit by itself.<br><br>I also recommend you coat the MFS with fingernail polish or laquer to keep it from oxidizing. The oxygen in the air will being to oxidize the magneisum and make whiteish spots on the MFS. This will rub off on your other gear making a mess. There is enough MFS that loss of MFS through oxidation is not really a concern.<br><br>You might think about adding a bit of vaseline to the dryer lint. Dryer lint tends to burn very fast. The vaseline will act like the wax porition of a candle while the lint acts as the wick. This help the lint to burn slower and give you more time to get your spark into your tinder and fire materials. A used film canister makes a decent container for this combination. An alternate would be to use cotton balls with some vasoline. Don't compeletely soak the lint/cotton ball. The lint/cotton will catch the spark so you need some that is NOT coated with vasoline.<br><br>

Bill, is your small knife Stainless Steel? In an older post I passed on some information. For firemaking with natural stones, the knife is actually the ignition source,or to be precise the carbon in the metal. A high rockwell of 59-60 is also required. I too,went the hacksaw route with my 4" metal match from Exploration Products. <br><br>

Could you use the hacksaw blade in your survival kit? not just for MFS's but you could cut 1 down to fit into your kit and wrap it with ducktape for a handle. maybe take a file to the teeth where you want the handle to be. could cut the end of the blade like a tanto and sharped it. My kit uses the container of a sewing kit. Its plastic and its a bit smaller than an altoids tin. The only draw back is that its plastic so i cant use it to signal with. it fits into my pocket nicley and doesnt weigh much. My other kit uses a small fishing tackle box.<br><br>

How about cat fur? There's enough around our house to build another cat. Or even a fire or two.<br><br>

After reading about dryer lint I tried it. I took my striker on my mag bar and the lint caught a spark and burned by itself. I have a cheapo $2.00 Knife, about 2" long, attached to my mag bar. It scrapes well and I get a good spark each time. However, I like the idea of the saw blade for multi functions.<br><br>

I agree. Dryer lint will ignite from the smallest spark. I carry a small plastic tylenol tube with 6 to 8 strike anywhere matches, 2 trick birthday candles and dryer lint to fill in as packing. You don't even know it's in your pocket. You could even add a small sliver of flint and mag. at the expense of a few matches. The mag. shavings work very well to ignite the candles. Then you have five to ten minutes of fire depending on conditions. The candles can be put out and re-used if needed.<br><br>