Lighting A Candle With A Ferro Rod

Lighting A Candle With A Ferro Rod:
Don't Miss These Other Micro 10 C's Kit Items In Action: Don't Miss the other Micro 10 C's Testing Posts:  (Pocket 10 C's Kit; Gorilla Tape Tinder Bundle-LINK; Gorilla Tape Container- LINK; Gorilla Tape Cordage-LINK; Produce Water Bag- LINK; Micro 10 C's Testing: Wire Saw- LINK; Mylar Space Blanet Testing- LINK

So my I was helping a friend rearrange his kit the other day and what do I find in the it: candles, a magnesium bar and a ferro rod (among other items) I also have a much smaller version in my Micro 10 C's Kit (LINK HERE). While I'm not a big fan of the cheap magnesium bars they are somewhat functional when you have a sharp scraping tool (please don't sacrifice your primary blade to scrape away material for the scraper we used an old multi-tool that had a very sharp can opener on it that wore perfectly). For those of you who are not familiar with using a magnesium fire starter you simply scrape off the material into a pile and strike a ferro rod into said pile which will create a super heated flash flame (and when I say flash I mean just that it will be out in the blink of an eye). So how can you actually make use of this fire starter in a meaningful manner? Enter the standard birthday candle or any other candle for that matter. In the video below I have the process of lighting the candle for you so you can see just how easy it is to get flame from one of those cheap little magnesium bars from Wal-Mart.

 

For Those Of You Who Would Rather Have Written Directions:

1) Gather your materials: Candle of your choice, magnesium bar and a ferro rod (if you don't want to use the one on your magnesium bar). I brought out my old magnesium rod (right) in-case he couldn't get enough scrapings off the magnesium bar. 

2) Gather your scraper of choice (a 90 degree spine on a knife will work for the softer magnesium rods)

3) For the harder Chinese blocks you would find at Wal-Mart you will need to find something that has a sharper scraping surface like this multi-use can opener.

4) Scrape about a dime size pile of magnesium onto a flat surface that is capable of handling temperatures up to 2000 degrees. Then expose as much of the wick as possible and place it on top of the pile of magnesium.

 5) Use your ferro rod (or flint and steel kit) to strike sparks into your magnesium pile

 6) Assuming all goes well you should have a flame post magnesium flash.

 7) You then have a a durable flame with which you are able to light even the most marginal or tinder bundles. 

Conclusions:

If for some reason your are stuck with an Altoids tin kit (See My 10 C's Kit) that has a magnesium bar and a candle in it this would be a quick and viable means to have a durable flame. You then utilize this durable flame to light a tinder bundle (no matter how marginal it may be) or several feather sticks. So get that micro kit out and practice!

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