Nice fire starter engineering

Just stumbled upon this little wonder: http://www.survivaldepot.co.uk/product/protool_mag-na-fire But you need to watch the video to the end to see all the tricks it could handle. The price is plain crazy, no doubt, but I think it has a good potential for DIY replication.

Quite a nice little package. The price is just plain crazy.

Its an exotic import, from america, $60.45$54.97

People will buy it. LOL. However, they should figure out how to get the price down. They could sell a lot more. I can't believe that's the right price point for maximum profit.

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Total sum of perhaps 7 dollars.

I have a heavy duty construction pencil sharpener from Home Depot in my fire kit. No built in ferro rod but it was only $5 and sits next to my Gobspark Armageddon.

Yep. Kum makes a very nice, compact, two sized Mg alloy pencil sharpener for about five bucks on Amazon. I forget where I learned the pencil sharpener trick for making tinder, probably right here, but its a good one.

Because the US Military having knives is just too dangerous and politically incorrect.

Are you meant to scrape the Magnesium with the pointy stick?

I like the metal body on that pencil sharpener. Mine is a plain old plastic model I use for the same purpose; makes great tinder.

Just plain silly.

I recently bought five Bic lighters for $1.80 to renew my stock. Just plain old kitchen matches, kept in a variety of waterproof containers, have worked for me for decades, occasionally in very trying and critical circumstances.

Also for decades, when going out in dicey weather, I have picked up the habit of carrying some sort of stove. This makes a lot of sense, especially if you have enough fuel.....

Even a small amount of fuel can buy you time while the wood you picked up is drying. Building a nice fire with wet wood while it's 40 deg F and raining is not a fun time. Then again, if you happen to be in SOCAL, building a fire when it's tinder dry isn't necessarily a good idea either...

For those who had no chance to watch the video: It's not just a firestarter with a pencil sharpener, but also a bullet puller, wood scraper, small knife, and a whistle. All in that small brick, not in a pile of pieces. I loved the thorough engineering approach to making that thing. Just a little attention to the side slopes and you've got a whistle and a scraper. Just a right lanyard hole diameter and placement and you have a bullet puller, use a screw with a slit matching the scraper - and you have a detachable micro knife...

A problem here is that I would have so little confidence in this thing that I would have to carry all of my more trusted stuff anyway. So, ironically, this thing becomes unnecessary weight, instead of saved weight.

A lot of that stuff he's doing would be difficult even in ideal conditions. Forget about that whistle for a real emergency where I'm tired, weak, and desperate, and it requires two hands. My real whistle is louder, requires zero hands, requires less breath, and is plastic. The tinder prepping he's doing with that tiny blade, I can forget about that too. I'm just not that skilled. I have difficulty getting my charcoal grill going in my comfortable backyard if it's too wind outside. I know my limitations.

Bashing the neck of the cartridge with a rock would be a better "bullet puller".

They seem to have taken several reasonable ideas, combined them into that miniature little thing, and in doing so made each good idea into a marginally useful (or even useless) shell of it's former self. That itty bitty ferrocium rod and micro scraper? Taking apart a pencil sharpener and calling what's left "a blade"? Labeling the right angle edge of the thing "a scraper"?

Looks more like something you'd find in a Cracker Jack box to me.

I agree with all of the above - prepare better to your skills. However, if that's the only thing you can effectively hide from a search or left after losing everything - it's multifunctionality comes in handy. Many PSKs come with a scalpel blade for the knife substitute, which is way more awkward to work with. And I'd make that sharpener blade larger. The typical right angle machining on the pocket things is usually quite rounded on purpose. I doubt you can scrap anything with your typical magnesium block. The rod, despite its size, works fine on the video. Also I would never rock pound a cartridge as it doesn't sound safe at all (depends on the propellant).

I am in total agreement , - not a fun time which is why I pack a decent stove in challenging conditions. If liquid fueled, and the stove malfunctions, you can employ "Boy Scout firestarter." A whole lot of us like to pare our gear down to critical essentials. Even with that in mind, redundancy in firestarters and tinder seems to be very common, and for good reason.

The flip side is the doofus who starts a fire when conditions are wrong. Some of our most recent worst fires were ignited in that manner.

Sounds like a novel idea at first but it's not something I'd consider buying personally, let alone rely on in any sort of "situation".

You can buy a decent Mora knife and an excellent ferro rod for less. I'm confident that combo will work far better even under highly adverse conditions, and you'll still have a few $ left to spend on a whistle and button compass to complete your survival kit.

Anyway, what the heck is one really supposed to do with that "bullet puller"? Pounding a cartridge with a rock, why not. I knew a guy who could remove a bullet from its case with his teeth. Rambo does it too when he has to cauterize a flesh wound.

Ok, I'm getting off topic but seriously, I can think of safer ways to start a fire. Maybe the product is well made but it just looks like a gimmick.

Calling theirhole-in-the-block a "bullet puller" seems exaggerated. I have always used more subtle methods. Of course, the hole does make the piece a bit lighter - It's supposed to be a lighter, right?

Very true, and even if one can't afford to carry a gas or liquid fuel stove there are decent pocket sized alternatives available. E.g. trangia or esbit stove.

Well, it seems the more I consider this thing, the more it appears they are charging for "Rube Goldberg" style engineering. Pretty hard to justify paying that much moolah for something that, if deconstructed, would be 1/10th the cost for the same functionality.

Not exactly what I'd call frugal investment. But at least it does appear to work. Buying survival equipment/supplies that don't perform as advertised would be worse, no matter how inexpensive they might be.

The price for the Army pencil sharpener at £145 ($223) is quite ridiculous!

You can get a Boker Plus Vox F3 Frame Lock Knife in Titanium ($140), a LMF Army Ferrocerium fire starter ($15), a Doan Magnesium bar ($10) and a Thrunite Titanium T10T Neutral White Torch ($55) for that and still have enough for a pint at the pub!

Here is another unusual fire starter masquerading as a bicycle, quite rare now, and I nearly did buy one all those years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdU8j5ydVuI

I'd never heard of a "bullet puller" before. I'm wondering if a Leatherman or Swiss Army can opener would do something similar. I wouldn't want to try it for fear of breaking off the blade.

In the end, money is certainly better spent on one of Doug's Personal Survival Pak's ($30 on Amazon.com) and just about any knife (for compactness I like Doug's CRKT Mk5 for just $17 on Amazon.com).

I like to see videos of ideas like this one. Helps me think out of the box. Bet the ultra-light folks might derive the most benefit out of this little gizmo. Hard to justify buying two when the price of one is pretty exorbitant for most, however.

Not certain if the SurvivalResources site sells those magnesium pencil sharpeners but it might be fun to tinker around with one to come up with a DIY version.

I don't carry around a huge ferrocerium rod and striker because I don't have that much call for starting a fire going to the grocery store but after practicing a bit, I know that the little Exotac I carry would work if I needed it. Never know when an old gal might have to McGuyver something... BTW,I'm always ready with my upgraded Doug Ritter pouch, too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is no one size fits all, all of the time, some ideas are for more folks, some for less folks. Everyone has to evaluate their anticipated needs and think through what they may need, though it might not fit the needs and skills of more experienced members.

I love hearing from all the different members in their diverse circumstances and what equipment/ideas they employ; single folks, soldiers/sailors, vacationers, pilots, BacPacJac, Blast, ( I still miss Old Bald Guy, too.) I really appreciate learning from the folks, here, even though I rarely have anything to contribute. Oh, it doesn't hurt to love gizmos and gadgets, either.

"People will buy it. . "

No doubt, especially if it has Bear Grylls name and some orange on it. . .

(Couldn't resist. . .sorry)

I may be a sucker, and I have no idea what a bullet puller is, nor do I think I need one, but I'd buy it - if the price point was a whole lot less. It's a nifty bit of engineering. Looks like a nice little package to carry a few last ditch fire starting options.

Remember our Tuxedo/Evening Gown EDC discussions? This could be a good option for some.

I don't fly, but I wonder if it's TSA approved?

A bullet puller is a device to help remove a bullet from a round. You stick the bullet in the hole and start levering with the case unil the bullet comes loose. With a .223 rifle round you will get gunpowder in the vicinity of 30 grs.
If you want to buy something like that, you might try sharpeners for bigger pencils or a cone shaper for arrows with wooden shafts. That´s much cheaper even if you need to buy and glue on a ferrocerium rod.

This toy just proves that not all useless gadgets are cheap. Some are outrageously expensive, even though they are not likely to perform as well as much cheaper, better performing options.