Just curious is anyone thinks there is any reason to carry a firesteel rather than the magnesium bars with built-in misch metal. Seems having the magnesium despite it's drawbacks still beats having to create shavings from dry wood or search for other tinder to catch flame from firesteel. any thoughts? thanks in advance.

It's the same flint either way.

A lot of people don't like mag blocks- I like them, but I always have a file on me to.

BIC

A magnesium bar still requires tinder. Given that such a critical item and skill takes up so little space, I am amazed people go brain dead for the next step. We have jelly impregnated cotton balls, SPARKLITE tinder tabs, birthday candles, potassium permanganate, charcloth and magnesium. None of these are exactly sufficient to roast that pig from LORD OF THE FLIES. People should carry, at minimum, a few sticks of Fatwood. I say Fatwood, not that overpriced sawdust called Mayawood. I have yet to fail lighting a tinder tab with a Sparklite. I have also yet to fail ingniting a fatwood stick off the tab. FIRE + TINDER + KINDLING + MAINFUEL= warmth and survival. Think about which step most people are weakest at.

The guide to mag blocks from Dougs Gear section is copied below. Yes I know it's sad how we all keep asking questions when we should simply look at the 'FAQ's. I wrote a quiz for one newsgroup, based on the FAQ's and one chap was amazed how much was in the FAQ's; and he'd written then!
Simon

The magnesium block by Doan (1 x 3 x 3/8 in.) with an integral 3/16 in. flint rod glued on top (also manufactured for other companies and for the military) is still popular, at least in part because it is widely available at the consumer level. Unfortunately, the magnesium is not necessarily as effective a tinder as you may be led to believe. While the flame from the magnesium shavings is extremely hot, this flame is also relatively short lived. Additionally, the magnesium scraping/shavings can be difficult to use as tinder in some circumstances because they are so light they tend to blow away with the slightest breeze. Moreover, scraping together a small pile can be difficult at times. So, the bottom line is that they work, but the magnesium tinder has some limitations that must be understood and dealt with.

Other fire starters incorporating flint and magnesium are made by Mag/Flint Firestarters, World Survival Institute and others.

The World Survival Institute (WSI) fire starters include slim rods of flint and magnesium glued end to end on top of a length of hardwood and come in a variety of sizes, all relatively small. A leather thong a hardened steep scraper/striker (a piece of a hacksaw blade). The wood can also serve as tinder. This is a more versatile design, but the wood must be kept dry to be of much use as tinder. While the flints are smaller, they will still give you thousands of strikes. There is a lot less magnesium than the block style offers, but it will do for plenty of fires, certainly enough for any typical survival situation.

Mag/Flint and others sell flint and magnesium fire starters with large rods of magnesium and a small flint attached with a handle affixed to the end, usually made of antler or wood. These are often seen at fairs and primitive survival gatherings. With the exception of the fancy handle, they are no different than the block style, with all the same advantages and disadvantages. The handle can make it easier to work with, but the difference isn't all that great. The handle tends to raise the price and size quite a bit.

I carry just the flint - a BSA Hot Spark, on my knife with a small aluminum pill fob filled with a couple cotton/petroleum balls. That's in addition to the ubiquitous Zippo.

I agree with you, I guess I was wondering why one would choose the firesteel only over the magnesium version. The firesteel seems very popular here (I own and experiment with both). I don't believe my question was necessarily answered by reading FAQ's, because I understand how to use both.

It takes very little magnesium scraped off (hacksaw blade) with a little strip of birch bark on the edge to get flame. without the magnesium one needs the tinderquick, cotton balls etc. If the choice was one or the other, would not the added benefit of the magnesium make it a no brainer? Even if you carry tinderquick and cotton balls as well; the magnesium and a hacksaw blade would have you making fires long after your tinderquick or cottonballs were gone (assuming a longer term survival situation). anyway, thanks for the reply.

A firesteel is about a 1000x easier to use and is a lot faster as you don't need to shave/file magnesium bits. Also those little bits have a nasty way of blowing away in the breeze.

Of all the methods to start a fire, the magnesium bar is WAY down on the my list - sits right above the "rub two sticks together" method for ease of use.

Windproof Lighter
Bic Lighter
Stormproof matches
Strike anywhere matches
Firesteel
Kitchen matches
Book matches
Spark-lite
Battery/steel wool
.
.
Magnesium bar
"Rub two sticks together"

I've never tried a blast match, primitive bow drill or plow method so I can't rank those.

Your mileage may vary.

The "flint" part of the magnesium block is idential material to the firesteel - you get the same sparks from either one. How can it be considered so inferior - even if you never use the magnesium?

If space were not at a premium I would happily carry the mag bar. But it is, so I don't. I agree with the others that you are much better off using the extra space for Wetfire, Tinderquick, or treated cotton balls than relying solely on the mag shavings.

That said, the last mag bar I carried I cut about 2/3 of the magnesium portion off with a hacksaw. That left enough magnesium to still be useful while saving a bunch of space. A cut-down mag bar plus some other tinder would give you the option of using either one.