Posted by: norad45
Magfire Pro observations - 12/20/05 04:08 PM
Having received my Magfire Pro I had a chance to play with it a little bit over the weekend. No earth shattering revelations but I did find out a few things. When they say 12,000 strikes I think they might be a little conservative. This thing is robust. I have not decided whether to EDC it or opt instead for buying one of the smaller, standard Magfires. One or the other will be replacing the Countycomm metal match (MM) I have been carrying.
I compared it to the MM as well as the big ferro rod I salvaged out of a broken Blastmatch. The MM is 1/4 dia. while the Mag Pro is 3/8” and the rod from the Blastmatch is 1/2”.
As far as strikers go, the MM and the Blastmatch rod both preferred the saw blade from my Leatherman KF4 juice while the Magfire Pro favored the edge of the metal file (on my Juice the diamond side of the file does not continue over the edge but the metal side does.) The MM produces significantly fewer sparks than the other two. The Magfire seems to produce a larger shower of sparks than the Blastmatch rod, but interestingly enough, one or two of the sparks from the Blastmatch would frequently continue to burn for a second or two after hitting the ground. This is no doubt due to the softer composition than that of the Magfire. The saw blade tends to dig out larger chunks from the softer Blastmatch than the file does from the harder Magfire. These chunks then continue to burn on for a bit. Although this could conceivably be an advantage, given proper tinder I would much rather have the larger shower of sparks that the Magfire provides. Add to that the comfortable, generous handle of the Mag Pro vs. almost none for the Blastmatch rod and the choice becomes pretty easy.
All in all I am very happy with the Magfire Pro, and can highly recommend it for anyone looking for something a little bigger than the standard size.
Regards, Vince
I compared it to the MM as well as the big ferro rod I salvaged out of a broken Blastmatch. The MM is 1/4 dia. while the Mag Pro is 3/8” and the rod from the Blastmatch is 1/2”.
As far as strikers go, the MM and the Blastmatch rod both preferred the saw blade from my Leatherman KF4 juice while the Magfire Pro favored the edge of the metal file (on my Juice the diamond side of the file does not continue over the edge but the metal side does.) The MM produces significantly fewer sparks than the other two. The Magfire seems to produce a larger shower of sparks than the Blastmatch rod, but interestingly enough, one or two of the sparks from the Blastmatch would frequently continue to burn for a second or two after hitting the ground. This is no doubt due to the softer composition than that of the Magfire. The saw blade tends to dig out larger chunks from the softer Blastmatch than the file does from the harder Magfire. These chunks then continue to burn on for a bit. Although this could conceivably be an advantage, given proper tinder I would much rather have the larger shower of sparks that the Magfire provides. Add to that the comfortable, generous handle of the Mag Pro vs. almost none for the Blastmatch rod and the choice becomes pretty easy.
All in all I am very happy with the Magfire Pro, and can highly recommend it for anyone looking for something a little bigger than the standard size.
Regards, Vince