Has anyone ever tried to use magnesium ribbon to make improvised signal flares?

When I was a kid we had a roll of magnesium ribbon. My brother was quite fond of lighting lengths of it on fire. I remember the light output was incredible.

I was thinking that several lengths of it could be included in a pocket size survival kit for use as night signal flares. The trick would be to devise some compact way to get it lit fast enough. Two feet of magnesium ribbon wound up or folded and laid flat wouldn’t take up much space.

Just an idea. Mac