Can anyone explain?

Are magnesium shavings more flammable than magnesium in solid form? Is it unsafe to carry shavings?

(A couple of us are rying to resolve an arguement ;-) I was pretty sure I rememberd my scouting manual saying never to shave your mag. until you're ready to start the fire, for safety reasons.

There is no more danger in carrying magnesium shavings than a disposable lighter ( if not less. ) They will not spontaneously combust through self friction like a strike anywhere match or direct heat less than a full spark,flame or intense heat like a liquid fuel lighter. I once owned magnesium framed military snowshoes. I inadvertently left one lying directly in a fire made AFTER an unsuccessfull attempt with mag shavings. It wouldn't burn either <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

solid magnesium has a to small surfase area to ignite, by normal flames, it might burn wenn you put a blowtorch on it, but i doubt that would happen exidentally !
shavings ignite eayer because of the much larger surfase area. Carry shaving should be fine, if it is in a closed container. Don't forget that shavings oxideze easyer if exposed to air.

Hmmmm.....*wonders if Chris was a pyromaniac in a past life* Actually, in my long-past Boy Scout days, we hardly ever used the magnesium shavings method to start a fire because it was so labor intensive. It was, however, one of the few alternatives when every other form of tinder was wet!

The brightest thing I've ever seen was a General Purpose (GP) tent full of magnesium snowshoes burn to the ground in the high Sierras. The year was 1983 and I remember it like it was yesterday. We were at least 200 yards away watching it, but it still felt like our skin was burning. It also seemed brighter than the sun. It probably started because of the M1940 Yukon Stove; they were famous for burning tents down. Like Chris, I've seen those snoeshoes laying in a fire with no results; throw in some diesel fuel and some canvas... now that's another story.

Semper Fi, George