I recently received two MagFire ferrocerium rods for test and review from Martin Focazio of MagFire USA...



MagFire products are made and marketed by ProGear, Finland. The test model is their standard version, listed as capable of delivering 3,000 strikes. Overall length is approximately 3.25", with a 1/4" x 1 7/8" sparking rod. There is also a Pro model available, listed as capable of delivering 12,000 strikes.

Opening the package when they arrived, I was immediately impressed by the quality. The MagFire ferrocerium rod, which they refer to as a "magnesium firestarter", is firmly seated in a beautifully moulded bright red polymer handle. Attached via a piece of black nylon lanyard material is a striker, similar to the old style striker from another major European manufacturer.
Fit and finish spoke quality, so it added to the excitement to get a test underway. Enlisting both SBRaider and my very own Care as photographers, it was time to let the games begin.

First test was sparking ability with different strikers:

Fallkniven U2 Spine Performance:



Vic SAK Pioneer Awl Performance:



Other really notable performers included the spine of my AL Mar S2K, the spine of my Vic SAK Farmer's saw blade and the spine of a Craftsman jigsaw blade. I'm sad to say that while the issued striker produced a spark, the sparks were significantly less than depicted above. If purchasing a MagFire, or any other ferro rod for PSK or BOB use, I'd really recommend ditching the issued striker for a piece of broken hacksaw blade or other saw blade.

MagFire claims a unique blend of metals to include magnesium in the manufacture of their sparking rod. I noted that the MagFire sparking rod seems significantly harder than most ferro rods I currently own. The outer coating was definitely harder to strike and the performance improved as the coating was scraped away. I also noted that, in comparing the MagFire to several other manufacturer's products under a strong magnifying glass, the MagFire sparking rod appears less porous. Being less porous should provide more sparking material as well as a higher level of corrosion resistance. Construction aside, when properly struck the MagFires throw a huge shower of 5,500 degree sparks...

On birchbark -


Admittedly, my birch bark was a little moist and it took some work to get it going - but it took quickly when dry and broken down properly.

On fatwood shavings -


Fatwood shavings took a spark rapidly and burned long and hot.

On a vaseline impregnated cotton ball -


The vaseline impregnated cotton ball took off almost explosively when subjected to the sparks.
Here's a shot of what I mean - spark with simultaneous ignition -



Needless to say, I'm sufficiently impressed by MagFire products. I've been EDC'ing the test models and I've already ordered a Pro model.
To protect the sparking rod for EDC, I slipped the rod into a piece of 1/4" inside diameter x 3/8" outside diameter vinyl tubing from the hardware. Doing so not only provides protection for the rod, but it also allows me to insert the rod into ferro rod holders on some of my BRKT sheaths and into kydex ferro rod loops made by On/Scene Tactical and Allan Blade...





The MagFire currently costs around $14 USD plus an extremely reasonable shipping rate, while the Pro model costs $20 USD plus an extremely reasonable shipping rate. Magfire's and more info on MagFire's is available here: http://www.magfireusa.com/index.html

I highly recommend MagFire products and MagFire USA...

M

Thanks for the test info. Looks like a through test and great pics too. I appreciate you taking the time to put the test data together for us! Cheers!

Wow...
Nice thorough review, SgtMike!

Thanks for the info!

Is this better than the DOAN® MAGNESIUM FIRESTARTER BAR that many of us have had for years?
Do we need the magfire if we have this?

By far and away better than the Doan Tool...

M

Over at swampratknifeworks.com, there's a SAR guy who swears by the mag block / flint. His main point seems to be that the magnesium block (which is really acting as a tinder, not a spark source) will get a fire started with damp or wet fuel nothing else short of a match or lighter will ignite. If you can manage to get a big enough pile of Mg shavings together, you have a very hot fire for a few seconds.

Seems to me, the Mg block and the Magfire firesteel are complimentary. The Magfire is a better firesteel for those times that a fire steel makes sense. View the Mg block as a special purpose tinder, maybe.

does material, i.e., magnesium, actually come off this firesteel, or does it just basically generate sparks to get a fire started?

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.



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

I used the DOAN for a lone time and over time found this technique to work really well on damp wood, or any wood. Naturally, I would prepare a shaved bundle of the driest tinder I could find first, then I would use a dry cotton ball, shave some magnesium into the ball and use the strker to ignite the magnesium which in turn would instantly ignite the cotton ball. Which I then used to ignite a piece of wax paper, wadded into a ball and that usually will burn hot and long. I never had any trouble lighting a stubborn fire with the wax paper.
The story behind that technique, is that a friend and I decided to go up to the rim, to the forest and campout and brush up on our survival skills. We left the vehicle a ways off and set up a tarp shelter in a small meadow. It had been raining off and on all week and was drizzling while we were there most of the weekend. We hiked around some and just studied the area before returning to our tarp shellter. When dinnertime arrived, we planned to cook without a stove (left it in the car) and proceeded to gather materials. We had each brought all the magic "firestarters" and miracle "tinders" that we had gathered over the years. We had some of the old Tinder Dry, Trioxaine tablets, compressed wood shavings bonded in some miracle chemical and of course the original metal match, a DOAN, commercial type and matches which had been wax impregnated. Lucky for us, we had a BIC as well.
We tried each product on the damp wood, most would not light themselves, let alone ignite the natural tinder! We tried everything! The matches from my Boy Scout safe which had been coated in wax, would not light at all. The strikers would make sparks but nothing we had would ignite. All the commercial products which were supposed to be magical survival firestarters would not light, even with the BIC! They had dried out, or lost their chemical properties, or perhaps never worked to begin with. Even after we finally got a good fire going, some of the products would not even burn!
Anyway, I had brought a large bag of Starburst candies with me and we had both been eating them all day, each had a little waxed paper wrapper which went into our pockets. After looking for some pocket lint to try to ignite with the metal match, we piled up the wrappers on the ground. Well, after exhausting all means to start that fire, with no success, I took a Starburst wrapper, one mind you, lit it with the BIC and it burned really well! So, I took 3 or 4 of the wrappers and balled them together and lit that, put in into our semi-damp tinder and within a few minutes we had a nice fire to cook on! We were getting hungry by then.
So, after that trip I came home and tired various techniques and products until I found something reliable, that will not deteriorate over time in storage and will light a fire in dire conditions. Worked ever since. So in my kit I carry a 35mm film canister with about 5 dry cotton balls and 5 balls of plain old wax paper. The wax paper balls are made from a 6" x 12" piece wadded up and crammed into the cansiter, alternating with a cotton ball. I can ignite the cotton balls with a DOAN, Hot Spark, Metal Match or Firesteel, or MagFire (if I had one). I can then ignite the wax paper ball and I am on my way to a warm fire. I do unball the wax paper a bit to make it easier to ignite and to cover more area in the tinder bundle.
I also keep a roll of wax paper in my 4WD emergency kit along with some cotton balls and a spark source.

Agreed.

A good tinder is probably more important than a good source of sparks. A good source of sparks (magfire) will light marginal tinder.

Here's why I'm still not ready to give up on the mag block, though. And I admit this could just be my lack of outdoor experience. Dunno. It was surprising, and somewhat frustrating. Also, before I get into this, I want to make it clear this was NOT the fault of the Magfire. I couldn't get this to work with any of the three or four types of fire steels I have.

I get my magfire in the mail. I'm all excited. I grab some packing paper (light brown, about the weight of two sheets of news print. If you've ever moved, you know the stuff I'm talking about) and ran outside.

I tried every way I could think of to get the stuff to light. Flat. Wadded up. Shredded. Rubbed on the rough concrete to raise some fuzz. Ripped to (try to) create some fuzz. Nothing. One big problem was that the darn stuff refuses to fuzz. Just rips clean. Would not catch a spark. It's paper fer cryin' out loud. Dry too.

I go get the mag block. Use the file on the Leatherman to quickly pile up a nickel size pile of shavings (about a minute). Strike a spark from the magfire. WHOOSH. It's lit now. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

All I'm sayin' is, for the size and weight, why not throw a piece of magnesium in your kit. Sure, it's not the first choice, probably not even the second or third. But if you have to work with found materials for some reason, it might light stuff where fire steels (alone) won't. YMMV.