How to Start a Fire Using Magnesium Flint

You are in the the middle of the jungle and you need to light a fire but your lighter is wet and does not work? Dark is coming and you start to feel cold. Well, if you had a fire flint, this could make the difference in a survival situation.

Learning how to start a fire using flint is very useful and can save your life. Unlike matches and lighters, you can use a flint any time, any where and in any situation, without to have to worry about your flint being ruined or getting wet.

Here are 5 steps to teach you how to start a fire using a fire flint.

1. Materials

Here is a list of what you need to light a fire using a flint:

1. A Magnesium Flint Stone Fire
2. A pocket knife (In the case your flint does not have a scraping tool).
3. Some tinder to ignite your fire (paper, cardboard, dry grass, small dry twigs, char cloth...).
4. Larger fuel to keep your fire going (sticks and logs, once your fire gets big enough).

2. Build your "Nest"

Before you start the fire, you need to make sure that everything is ready.

1. First, check that you are in an open area. Nothing (especially trees) should be directly above you.
2. Next, grab your tinder and build a little "nest" (with dry grass for example) for the flint shavings to go in later. You will need small stuff first, this is why dry grass works well (the "nest" also keeps your shavings from being blown away).
3. Put the "nest" on some smaller twigs and have other pieces ready to put on the fire. The magnesium shavings and dry grass will ignite quickly, so be ready!

3. Flint Shaving

1. Take the flint, and the scraping tool (or the pocket knife), and scrape some of the magnesium flint off of one side (If you see sparks, flip it over, you're using the wrong side).
2. Make a little pile of magnesium flint shavings in the "nest" of dry grass about the size of a nickel. You can always add more if needed.
3. Now you're ready to light it.

4. Light the Fire

1. Use the other side of the flint (the side that makes sparks). Hold the flint down next to the "nest" with an angle so the sparks fall into the "nest."
2. Take the scraper (or pocket knife), and scrape down the flint towards the "nest." You should be able to see sparks. If not, keep scraping. This can take a few swipes.
3. Once a spark hits the magnesium flint shavings, it should ignite the rest of the "nest."
4. As soon as you have a small flame, put some of the smaller twigs on the "nest".
5. Once the fire is going, continue to add increasingly larger pieces of fuel.
6. Don't add too much fuel too fast. The fire may go out, you must control your fire.
7. That's it, you made fire with flint!

5. Troubleshooting

Here are some tips or questions that you may raise:

1. Is your wood and tinder dry? 
2. Is too much wind getting to the embers?
3. Do you have enough magnesium flint shavings?
4. If the fire ignites but doesn't keep going, blow gently on the glowing pieces (fire needs air and oxygen).

Buy your Magnesium Flint Stone Fire Now!

We recommend our Magnesium Flint Stone Fire in our store.