I bought a cheap fire starter from wal mart and at first I lit acouple fires with it. the flake easily shaved off. but after that i coudn't get any thing to cut off. after hours i still didn't have enough to lite a fire. are there better brands that work really well? I swithched to parafin blocks and like them. has any body tried both and have a preference?

I have heard using an old hack saw blade works great at getting shavings, I have yet to try it, but using a knife doesn't work good with me.

I have one from wally world that has worked fine. Like WhichDawg said try a high carbon hack saw blade. Use the teeth edge to shave, and the smooth edge on the flint to get a nice spark.

Hack saw blades work better than a knife as it will dull your knife rather quickly. The pro is once you get a nice pile of shavings your get a darn good little burst of flame. The con is that the wind can make getting that neat pile of shavings a bit of a pain. I usually scrape the shavings on to a piece of tape when I use that method of fire starting. This helps to keep the shavings in place. I have used about 4 different makers version of mag sticks and I have not noticed any difference between them.

Trying to collect these tiny shawings during strong wind is pretty frustrating. The thin rod attached on one side wears down quickly. I'd rather use firesteel with prepared dry tinder.

greens,
what is fire steel? is it flint basically?
i do prefer my flint and parafin blocks but would like to learn new methods

thanks for the input guys

Firesteel is a metal rod of varying size composed of ferrocerium, an alloy of iron and mischmetal. Mischmetal is an alloy primarily of cerium that will generate sparks when struck. Iron is added to improve the strength of the rods. Swedish firesteels are very popular, check em online.

yes, thank you. I do have a couple already and like the amount of sparks thay generate. thanks.

OK guy's I know your going to frown and say that I'm crazy... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> and your right in a lot of ways I am... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Anyway, once you learn how to make a friction fire using natural materials you don't usually have to worry about some of the issues and difficulties of the Mag sticks. And yes it is harder at first to learn and has it's own set of problems, but the cool thing is once you've learned it, you know that the materials are always available somewhere close by. Even if there's no Wally world for miles... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

I do carry a mag stick myself as a backup though, and I too have found all the ones I've used to be about the same. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

OK, let the friction fire bashing begin... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I agree RainWalker, to have the skill of friction fire would make me feel so much more safer and confident. To be able to make fire anywhere with just about any wood would be the fire bomb! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

You do and it is!

You'll see once you get it, and when you do... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> WOW!!