Magnesium Fire Starter

The item sold by Trail Explorers is indeed a genuine Doan Machinery Inc magnesium firestarter. The item came packed just like the military ones - heavier gauge plastic baggie with an illustrated instruction sheet. Having owned and used genuine military Doan firestarters for years, I can verify this item is the real deal just minus the military NSN number and patent data.The US military now issues the "Spark-Lite" firestarter and a packet of wetfire tinder since it can be used more easily one-handed - an important consideration for aircrew in particular who do often suffer injury bailing out or ejecting from a damaged aircraft. With practice, the magnesium firestarter can be used one handed (well, one hand plus a knee or a foot) but it's not easy.Despite the requirement for a sharp knife and a second hand, the Doan firestarter is an excellent choice - a ferro rod with a built-in source of waterproof and wind resistant tinder. Magnesium shavings are an effective means of starting a fire in poor conditions, but in windy areas, the shavings must be protected and sheltered lest they blow away. The same conditions will make any traditional tinder more difficult to light, so personal skill, experience at fire making and common-sense comes into play.There are reviews from other purchasers who are having trouble with the Doan firestarters. For them, here are the rules for using a Doan magnesium firestarter. Follow them and it will work every time:1. You need a quarter-sized pile of shavings. This will almost guarantee that your other tinder and your kindling will burn.2. To ignite the shavings you need to hold the "sparking insert" at a 45 degree angle to the surface you're resting it on.3. The bottom of the insert must be within about 1 inch of the pile of shavings.4. Your knife must be sharp.5. Drag the blade down the WHOLE length of the sparking insert. This will be necessary to get a good shower of sparks onto your magnesium shavings in poor conditions.A note on the use of knives with these tools -These firestarters are a military item designed to be used with the EDGE of the blade of an Ontario "Jet Pilot" USAF survival knife. Most modern ferro-rod firesteels are designed to spark from the back of the blade, but this item is an exception to that rule. It may work with the back of the blade, but probably not first-time. This may be a little controversial, but in an emergency and you're under stress, use the lower portion of the sharp edge of your blade - not the back.If your $300 bushcraft or combat knife's edge is worth more to you than fire in a survival situation, then for you it may be a good idea to prepare a piece of carbon steel hacksaw blade and attach it to the firestarter with the included length of beaded chain or some gutted 550 cord. Or alternately, you can take a grinder or Dremel tool to the spine of said overpriced knife to create a decent sparking surface.For the record, I use my Doan firestarter with my Leatherman Sidekick since the back edge of the saw blade is kind of sharp and unfinished. It can be used to shave the magnesium as well as strike the sparking insert and do it all while the Leatherman is closed up.In conclusion, it's a great item, but it can take some prior practice for it to be used effectively. The one sold by Trail Explorers is a genuine Doan firestarter - just without military markings since they aren't manufactured for the US military anymore.Five stars from me.

I received the Doan Original as shown, via "ACME Approved". It arrived in a padded shipping envelope, in a Ziploc baggie without retail packaging. I mention this since it appears others have received the wrong item. Mine is 3" Long x 1" Tall x 3/8" Thick. It weighs 1.5 oz. on my digital scale, with the small chain attached, 1.4 oz. without the chain. It comes with a small sheet of instructions.This fire starter is a very long lasting piece of equipment you'll be able to count on for the rest of your life. The magnesium portion of this starter will make thousands of fires. The sparker works well and generates sparks that easily light the Magnesium. I've used mine to light several fires, the sparks quickly light the magnesium pile. It burns very hot and easily lights your kindling.I strongly recommend building a small "birds nest" of kindling and then placing your Magnesium shavings inside of that nest. This is easiest to do by scrapping your magnesium filings onto a piece of paper which can then be manipulated to get them into the birds nest kindling pile. Surround your kindling by larger wood and your fire will quickly grow.Using this with my pocket knife quickly dulls the blade, so consider either keeping an older knife around for this purpose, or attaching a piece of old hack saw or similar piece of metal to use as a scraper. To get the shavings off the bar easiest, hold your knife/tool at a 90 degree angle to the metal and draw it down slowly. You're not trying to carve it but use an edge to scrape off small shavings. They blow around easily so do your best to get out of the wind while gathering your shavings.Since I plan to have this for a lifetime, and IF I ever actually need it in a survival situation, I want to know I can count on it. I felt it was worth the few extra dollars to get the US made brand name version of known quality.5 stars, it's a great tool, great to keep in a grab and go kit.

Well the package arrived rather swiftly. The magnesium bar and striker were fully intact. Its a sturdy handy little mag starter that i look forward to using while camping. The pictures posted by the company are exactly what i received. I would highly recommend this mag bar over most of the other similar products on amazon. The bar scrapes well and the striker sends out a good deal of sparks. Make sure you have a sturdy sharp knife because the scraping action will dull a blade pretty fast. But over all i would highly recommend this product.