I haven't seen this discussed but even so it might bear repeating.

The Harbor Freight $3 magnesium fire starter blocks have magnesium that cannot be lit!

I saw a demo on You Tube last weekend and decided to test for myself.

I used a file to create very fine shavings off the block. I had a nice little pile the size of a quarter.

They could not be started with sparks either from the HF block or from the mil-spec Doan block I also have.

So to all intents and purposes, the alleged magnesium of the HF block is just a means of holding the firesteel.

I'll be swapping out the HF products in my get home bag immediately.

Also of note- using the mag block to actually get a fire going isn't as easy as one would think from the directions. I've been practicing this recently and it's almos more trouble than it's worth to scrape the magnesium flakes off the block. Other good tinder in your kit would be easier to use.

Even if you got the magnesium shavings to ignite, they are a flash tinder which means you need a secondary tinder that burns longer so that you can ignite your fuel. I gave up on the mag bars years ago; you are right most of them are no better than ferro rod holders and 1/2 the time they don't even do that properly. Its a small ferro rod that is glued into place and has been know to get lost -- one of my Coughlans mag bars did that.

Yup, they're hard to use ... I made magnesium dust and it stuck all over my hands ... the sparks are also hard to aim/throw... I couldn't make it work with provided scraper
But I bought one to make a jumbo sparklite

Which one did you buy? I got the shinier one

slightly smaller slightly darker 69457
slightly bigger slightly shinier 66560

▶ Harbor Freight Magnesium Bar Fire Starter - louisianahiker
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junglecrafty firesteels-are-they-overrated
woodtrekker Ferro Rod vs. BIC Lighter

Thanks for the warning. I happened to have impulse-bought a HF Mg block displayed at checkout not too long ago, so I'll put it to the test.

Years ago, I found that scraping off shavings with a blade worked better for me than a rasp. I also found that scraping onto a flattened loop of sticky-side-out duct tape reduced scrapings being blown away and seemed to support combustion.

I'll readily admit it could be my lack of technique but even the better mag starters are useless to me. Mg burns very hot but you need to get the shavings fairly fine to light them, and then they burn near-instantaneously. I have never managed to get a fire going with it even in good conditions. And while I know it can be done, the question for me is why I'd ever try it when there are much better options that take about the same space.

Interesting to see that I'm not the only one who's has little luck with magnesium block fire starters. I always thought the basic concept was sound but for some reason it just doesn't seem to be working in real life. Unless you have good tinder in the first place the magnesium shavings don't help much at all. I can get a fire going much faster with a good ferro rod and decent tinder.

The secrets to using a magnesium for tinder is edges or fine powder.

"Chunks" don't catch sparks well. When you "shave" a block with a sharp edge (e.g. knife), you tend to get fine edges which can catch a spark. Alternatively, you need very fine powder.

Not my favorite tinder....

As others here have noted, using some duct tape to catch and hold the shavings works better. And, as noted, you better have some good secondary tinder to be lit by the flash fire from the magnesium. Finally, however much you think you need, shave off 3X more.

My magnesium block gadgets are quietly gathering dust deep in my storage area and probably thereby degrading their effectiveness, such as it is. I am comfortable with the tinder I have been able to gather in the woods and/or dryer lint/vaseline, ignited by good dry matches or a Bic lighter. If fire is really critical, I will carry some variety or another of petro fuel and stove, with redundant ignition methods.

I was making up some wax-soaked cotton balls for fire starting, so I also picked up some flat, round cotton disks that were meant for make-up wipes and were on the store shelf next to the cotton balls, and soaked those in wax, too. A stack of them stores neatly in a cleaned out cat food can.

The Harbor Freight one wouldn't even light.Not sure of the stock number as I disposed of the packaging. I consider the HF product to be gross misrepresentation (thus my warning).

The Doan brand I've been playing with the mag flakes scraped by knife would light but of course had the other problems of being so light as to want to blow away. I've been working on techniques for getting the most out of them. (like using pine resin blobs and dry grass tinder on a piece of bark)

Of course real tinder like cotton balls in vaseline and crumpled paper and so forth work much better.

I also carry waterproof matches with tinder as well as a butane lighter when I'm hiking. When you really, really need a fire there is no payback for style points.