Starting a fire - matches, lighter, ferro rod, and magnesium

Lighters are constructed of plastic which means that after their short life they become waste pollution. I also found that the gas lighter facilitates a laziness in finding the most easley igniting material in the area. I end up using more lighter fuel than is  necessary. Finally, the sparker mechanism at the top tends to be a delicate device for outdoor use, along with materials that tend to rust.

A ferro rod can be hard to support in your hand if its a small one; this difficulty is exacerbated when your hands are not in easy operating conditions such as in cold weather. Additionally, the ferro rod used on its own requires a very fine easley igniting material which is typically not readily available in the wild. I have carried a small water tight container with cotton batting mixed with some tallow. Both a small ferro rod and the cotton batting, have a limit which does not outnumber the ignitions of the following solution. 

When paired with pure magnesium filings, the mag/ferro rod can be a great first or near second primary fire igniter source. The magnesium comes usually as a small brick with a small ferro rod glued to it. I suggest just buying each separately and keeping them as a close pair in a pouch. Shave magnesium up close to the easily starting source of dry plant material, like shavings of birch bark. Have a few more shavings of birch near by and a couple hand fulls of dry spruce sticks (found near the base of the tree). Throw a spark from the ferro rod into the magnesium pile of magnesium and birch shavings, then add the extra birch shavings on the starting fire; then, carefully add the spuce twigs.

A handful or dry grass with magnesium shaving to take a spark with a ton of pine or spruce shavings scattered on the whole pile is sure to start a cook fire.

Make sure to hone on a sharp 90 degree angle to the spine of your knife so you can shave the magnesium and throw the spark from the ferro rod; if its not 90 degrees it can just be jagged or otherwise aggressive (in a pintch, just rough it on a rock). Honing on this angle to the spine is done by running your knife spine over the hone at a 90 degree angle by holding the handle with one hand and the blade in the other  (CARFULLY). Hone until the spine edge develops a sharp corner on both sides.

The magnesium ferro rod combination has many benefits like needing no plastic, it’s simple, it’s light, and they are entirely water proof on their own. Use the back of the knife to slowly and firmly peel off filings of magnesium in stead of vigorously scraping them off. Typically, find a leaf or birch bark sliver, ready a handful of dry grass and small, thin sticks. Put the sticks on top of the loose dry grass bundle. On the leaf, file both large filings of magnesium and small shavings. Throw a spark with the ferro rod until the magnesium has lit. Hover the ready handful of dry kindle until the dry grass has lit and then lower onto the burning leaf.

You may find it useful to implant the blade or just the tip into wood while you use the back of the knife to carve fero or magnesium, but it just hold both in my hand.

My back up method is to use standard, strike anywhere matches (RedBird brand). I cut the match in half to save space, as I don’t need the added length, and fill a small water tight container with them; this container is held in a small pouch and hung around my neck. I do add a small amount of the striker strip to the case—you will save matches this way as rock strikes often fail.

Look for the thinnest, bark bare, lower twigs, from a spruce tree. Collect and form a bundle; then use your match with the striker pad to light. Rocks will light the sixth match you dont break.

When using a strike anywhere match on something other than the striker strip, its important to lay the match, in preparation for the flick or drag such that both head colors are touching the abrasive material; this is so that both compounds mix to ignite and increase the surface contacting the abrasive surface. If on  the first strike, the match fails to light, dont strike again on the same spot; twist the match slightly to increase the chance of the match catching on the second attempt. Use your index finger placed firmly behind the head to support the wood on the gentle but firm strike. 

There are other primitive and simple ways of starting a fire that have many of the advantages that I value, like being water proof and simple in nature, like the steel striker, but they take much practice to become reliable and in the case of the striker, greatly benefit from carrying something additional , that is not water proof, like char cloth. 

Also, keep in mind that it’s important to be able to reliably start a fire in minus thirty Celsius, and this quality I find in the matches and also the magnesium and ferro rod combination.

An interesting final note: high pitch woods burn longer than low pitch woods, but make more smoke.