The Friendly Swede Magnesium Flint Fire Starter - 3 Pack - Survival Fire Steel Blocks with Striker Camping Emergency Equipment (3-p)

I previously reviewed one of the blocks provided with these kits but in a pack with a single block plus a paracord lanyard and a serrated washer striker. That worked extremely well but I have just bought another of the 3 block packs and since strikers can make a lot of difference to the performance of these fire starters and this one has a different striker to those on both the single block and my last 3 pack, I thought another review was appropriate. The blocks from the new 3 pack look identical to the one I recently tested from the single block on paracord and there is no reason they would differ in the materials used but it is good practice to test things as they come so I used one of the new ones. I don’t like waste and I get through enough of these things before they deteriorate – which most will over several years after you remove the protective coating – but if you rarely use yours then that is something to bear in mind. I haven’t yet been using the items from The Friendly Swede for enough years to check their full longevity but I’ve seen plenty of previous makes fall apart so I’m watchful of it. The chains that come with these blocks are serviceable. They are not long enough for most people to wear comfortably as a neck chain with the block and striker under their shirt or jacket but plenty long enough to allow you to link the block and striker and use them effectively while still connected. The strikers are flat metal with a concave indentation at one end. This indentation is ridged but the straight edges of the striker bar are flat. I’m not sure of the purpose of the indentation because both the instructions and the associated pictures recommend using the flat edge of the bar for removing the protective coatings, scraping shavings of tinder from the block and striking sparks from the bar. That worked far better for me than trying to use the serrated indent so …? There is a lanyard hole, a bottle opener, a 50mm ruler on one side, and a 5km measurer for 1.100,000 scale maps on the other. Use that as 2mm or 2 divisions per 100m for 6 figure readings on our standard 1.50,000 OS maps. I started by using the edge of the provided striker to remove the coating from both the block and sparker rod and then for both building a pile of flash tinder and for making sparks to ignite it. Much as I liked the washer provided with the single block kit, and its serrated edge is great for making feather sticks, I must admit that the striker bar with these kits is faster for creating the pile of magnesium scrapings and it strikes bigger sparks. On my 3, the mm scale edge of the strikers is distinctly sharper than the other side, probably due to the way the steel pressing is formed. I don’t know why some reviewers found they needed to use a knife for any of those tasks or that it took them a long time; I had a bigger-than-recommended pile of scrapings in 3 minutes (timed), out of doors on a damp and blustery day, and it only took 2 strokes of the sparker bar to have them alight. Yes, I had positioned myself and the other tinder and fuel to keep the wind from the clay pigeon I was using to collect the scrapings, but that is basic fire-lighting technique when using any spark and tinder method. Pay attention to what you are doing and practise plenty before you need to do this in a bad situation and you will be fine. The magnesium burned fast and hot, as always, and quickly ignited the dry moss and dead sticks I was using for tinder and kindling. In conclusion then: imo this is another winner from The Friendly Swede. The 3 blocks in the pack give you enough for a couple of kits and 1 to practise with, at a very reasonable price.

This is ideal for bushcraft and camping Although there's a wide range of of wet and dry fire lighters this is an ideal item to keep in your winter/emergency survival box in your car with a small bag of tinder in a waterproof container and just a few little pieces of kindling if you find yourself stuck in a situation you can light a small fire sticker Billy can of water on there and make yourself a warm drink while waiting for any form of rescue I cannot express enough off the need for a relatively basic survival kit in a car all year round especially in winter months people ignore the news reports go out driving on snow and ice that they do not have a clue on how to survive if they end up stuck or even in the summer if you're out somewhere you have an accident breakdown etc you never know what conditions you will be in this puts emergency services at extreme strain but if you can look after yourself for a few hours it can make all the difference between finding you you safe and sound or dead

Off course you could just use a lighter...but if you do buy these you will understand why the lighter is only the backup on our camping/hiking expeditions. Anyway, I am really pleased with these fire starters. Reasons why; 1.they are really good quality. 2.they have a bit of weight to them and are a decent size. 3.the price I paid for 3 I feel represents great value. 4.the magnesium block looks like it'll last me ages, and I've got 3! 5.magnesium catches the sparks great and looks cool as. 6.I really like the brand, it feels like they really care and for me that's evident in the detail they put into their products. Finally I really think that using these fire starters to start a campfire is just great fun (great addition to anyone's survival/bugout/zombie apocalypse kits) :)

Excellent product, matches the advertised description perfectly. I took one with me on a two night wild camp and used this product exclusively for my fire starting. If you have appropriate kindling, they work perfectly. Two tips. The product comes with a fine coating on it that need a few seconds to scrape off. Once the coating is off, you will get an excellent spark and the magnesium bursts into a super hot flame. Second, keep out of the wind when scraping off shards of magnesium, it tends to get blown about quite easily. I found that if I scraped the magnesium into my kindling bundle ( on this occasion I used the inside of some dry birch bark from which I'd scraped off some fine particles and also used some dry pine needles ) and then sparked the ferro rod, everything went fine. Delivery of the item was super fast and I now have one of these in my Every Day Carry tin. Excellent value and a very reasonable price. Kudos to The Friendly Swede for an excellent product.

I delayed commenting until I had a chance to try out these fire-starters in practice. Each fire starter consists of a chunk of magnesium alloy with a slot grooved in one side which has a length of ferro-rod glued into it, along with a thin "striker plate" which is about the thickness of a hacksaw blade. The two elements of each striker set are held together loosely with some chain that resembles the type of chains used on sink plugs. My package included enough items to make four sets of fire starters. After initially thinking that the notch cut into the flat plate was to be used with the ferro-rod side of the mag alloy chunks I finally realised that it's probably a bottle opener, and to strike a spark I just used the plain side of the plates. My only minor gripe is that the length of the chains seem quite short and I ended up dismantling the connection in order to use it. I guess you could join two of the chains together to get extra length. After scraping off a bunch of filings from the mag alloy block using the serrated circular end of the striker plate, it was easy to strike a spark with the ferro rod and then catch the wood shavings I had gathered. Overall seem very good value for money and you get a lot of material in the kit.

These are totally brilliant for beginners as the thin ferro rod and block to hold is much easier to use and get sparks for beginners compared to normal ferro rod kits. We run a traditional Baden-Powell Scout Group and do a lot of outdoor and bushcraft camps. We also run forest school sessions at a Primary school and these present no problems for children aged 8 and up to get sparks and light fires FIRST TIME. We don't even bother with the magnesium block part as it makes an easy thing to hold. Great stepping stone to normal ferro rods.

If your going to get any of these then these are the ones to go for. With an improved scraper they are so easy to use and very effective wheather they are wet or dry. There are so many out there that it is hard to choose the best, I saw a review for these on You Tube and so bought some. Glad I did as they are excellent quality and the price is good. What more can I say? I have recommended these to many of my friends and hope they take my advice. Thank you so much to Lig and all at The Friendly Swede.

Took one out of the packet for a play. First off the scrapers supplied are rubbish for scraping shavings - use a good knife, one with a saw edge is good. Work on the edges and turn the block as you create a flat point. Tinder - a good tinder is the filtered fibers from a tumble drier filter, burns really easily,but for longevity impregnate it with a vasoline type petroleum product - burns far longer (or vaporub also burns for ages which is a little scary). The scraper is adequate to light the shavings but be prepare for how fast they burn - it lights up and burns in a fraction of a second. With good tinder a fire is almost a certainty. Caution - if you were using this in a genuine emergency, making enough scrapings to start a fire you'd probably not make it. It took me nearly 30 minutes to scrape HALF the recommended amount to make a fire. Do your work in advance and put the scrapings in small ziplock bag. About a pile the size of a £2 coin is recommended. Less is workable in conditions of no wind. Much more if it is windy. Plenty of tinder is a good idea.. Prepare first is my advice

Oerhört svårt nästan omöjligt att starta en eld med dessa block. För att få magnesium spåner så det går tända får man använda en fil för denna skrapa är bara pinsam. Nej jag kan tyvärr inte rekomendera dessa för man hinner "frysa" ihjäl innan man får någon eld. :-((

J'ai toujours un allume feu dans mon sac de Trek. C'est le second fois que j'achète ceux-ci, qui fonctionnent parfaitement. Le magnésium se gratte facilement et les étincelles sont denses. Impossible de rater son coup. Excellent rapport qualité-prix, je recommande

Die Feuersteinblöcke kamen schnell an. Zuerst die Legierung abgekratzt, was beim Abschaben fast schon automatisch ging, dann das Feuer anzünden. Das war mein erster Versuch mit Feuerstahl. Und nach einigen Versuchen hat das super funktioniert. Der Block ist finde ich nicht zu hart um die Späne abzuschaben, und nicht zu weich als das es Nachgeben würde. Was sicherlich auch unvorteilhaft wäre. Für meine ersten Versuche klappte es super. Funken schlagen ging fast von selbst. Und mit den Spänen hat man es nach ein paar Versuchen auch raus, zb. wieviel man braucht etc. Und da man immer etwas davon wegschabt, sieht man die Nutzung an dem Block. Aber die Blöcke werden lange halten, denke dass da der fest angebrachte Feuerstahl vorher abgenutzt sein wird. Worüber ich mir jedoch keine Gedanken mache, da das sicherlich auch eine Ewigkeit halten wird. Und da hier gleich drei Blöcke geliefert werden, kann fröhlich gekratzt und gefunkt werden! Die Feuerstähle lassen sich sonst auch günstig nachkaufen. Funken schlagen bei jedem Wetter, und durch das Magnesium ein guter Funkenschlag und Feuerstart. Ich kann den Kauf nur empfehlen.

Tag i! lite liten men visst funkar

El producto llegó antes del día señalado,y llegó perfectamente embalado y en buenas condiciones.Son tres placas de magnesio,cada una con su ferrocerio incorporado,rascador (para sacar las virutas de magnesio raspando) y una cadenita para transportar.Precisamente lo probé al día siguiente y todo bien,pude hacer fuego.Tenía la yesca un poco húmeda,pero con papel higiénico y virutas de magnesio prendió bien.Para los que no están muy iniciados en el tema,tener la yesca bien seca,y el magnesio a ser posible entremezclado con la yesca,porque el magnesio prende muy fácilmente pero también se consume más rápido aún si cabe.Contento y satisfecho por la compra.