After reading about the Blast Match and similar products this morning I decided to try my hand at making fire without matches or a lighter ( How hard could it be?). So, off to to the fireplace I went with my military type flint and magnesium firestarter and the 3' bit of hacksaw blade I keep taped to it. <br> To start with I shaved off some wood slivers from a piece of kindling and made a neat little pile abount 2 inches in diameter. Next, I grated off some magnesium from the fire starter with my hacksaw blade until I could see the tiny metal speckles on the wood. At this point I stood back and swept the blade down the flint rod towards the wood/metal mixture expecting it to erupt into an inferno. Well, this didn't happen! There were a lot of bright flashes from the flint and magnesium but no residual flame or even glowing embers.<br> I continued experimenting for about 45 more minutes before I achieved some success. The key things I discovered were: 1. I needed a pile of magnesium shavings that was about 3/8" in diameter and 1/8" high. 2. The wood shavings needed to be about as thick as a toothpick and there needs to be a lot of them. 3. Once you manage to get the wood to light you need to start gently blowing on the flame and embers as you add larger pieces of wood.<br> Keep in mind that while I was eventually successful I was also indoors with no wind and was using seasoned kindling. On the other hand, I also didn't use any tinder such as paper or candle wax which may have made things easier.<br> The lessons learned here were that I need to practice this skill and hopefully improve my ability, and to investigate better equipment for the job.<br><br>Chris