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.