As you can see from the pics above, the MagFire generates a huge shower of very hot sparks, sufficient to ignite most properly prepared man made and natural tinders.

Quote:
If you can manage to get a big enough pile of Mg shavings together, you have a very hot fire for a few seconds.


The keyword in the aforementioned is, "If." Magnesium takes a lot of scraping to create even a quarter sized pile of shavings. If you're working in less than ideal conditions and you're cold and/or wet, preparing magnesium shavings may be nearly impossible. Add in any interference from wind and the problem is compounded many times over.

Yes; if you can get a sufficient pile of magnesium shavings, once ignited, they will burn very hot "for a few seconds" . The small piles of birchbark, fatwood shavings, and the vaseline impregnated cotton ball shown above burned hot for up to three and a half minutes .
"A few seconds" of very high heat may not be sufficient to ignite even slightly damp tinder, whereas several minutes of flame stands a much better chance of creating the desired effect...

M
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By failing to prepare, you're preparing to fail." B. Franklin