A useful product to use in wind or rain are the magnesium bars with strikers. Magnesuim burns at 5000+ degrees and cannot be put with water. Well, technically it can be extinguished by water but fire departments do not feel they have enough water to extinguish magnesium with multiple fire hydrants. They use a special purpose fire extinguisher, Class D. But I digress....<br><br>You can get the magnesium bars at the Mart stores for about $5 in the camping section. A dull gray bar about 3 inchs long x 1 inch wide x 1/4 inch. Get a hack saw blade and break it off the same length as the bar. Most bars come with a chain attached. You can connect the hack saw blade via the chain so you don't lose it.<br><br>Take the saw blade and scrape the bar with the teeth side of the saw blade. Make a pile of magnesium shavings. The package directs to make a pile about the size of a quarter. Make the pile of shavings on top of your tinder. Now scrape the artifical flint on the side of the magnesium with the saw blade. It will throw white hot sparks. Aim the sparks at the pile of shavngs. They will catch fire and burn extremely hot. <br><br>The package recommends using your knife to make the shavings. Yes, thats right. Cut and scrape your nice sharp knife against metal. Then it recommends you scrape your (now dulled) knife agaist the metal artificial flint. That will work. New hack saw blades are $1. They are thin, lightweight and designed to cut metal. If you are going to carry around this hunk of magneisum, adding a piece of hack saw blade 3 inchs long is not an inconvience, it is a necessity to make the magnesium a vivable firestarter.<br><br>I put the shavings on a leaf or piece of bark so that I can transfer the pile of burning metal easily. Put your other tinder on the leaf/bark tray and then make your pile of shavings on top of the tinder. That way you can pick up the whole mess to blow gently and then stuff inside your tepee or log cabin of twigs.<br><br>For windy conditions, build a wind break around you fire area to limit the problems. Remember, building a fire is mostly about prepartion. Things like clearing your site from fuel which could start forest fires, collecting a large pile of fuel to burn in all the sizes you will need before you even start, breaking and correctly sizing your twigs, sticks, tinder, etc. before you start, placing it all within arms reach. Making the spark or striking the match is the last part of making a fire. <br><br><br>