Max Knives MKFSA — Magnesium fire starter, 107 mm, compass and striker

Overview

The MKFSA belongs to the camp-kit family: a magnesium fire starter that lives in a side pocket of the pack and comes out when it is time to set up for the night. It measures 107 mm and weighs 65 g, making it the fuller-bodied of the two fire starters in this selection. An aluminium finish dresses the body, and a compass sits on the tool itself. The striker needed to use it ships with it, so the whole thing travels as one piece with nothing else to remember.

Making a flame from magnesium

A magnesium fire starter works in two movements. First you scrape the bar with the back of the striker to gather a small pile of shavings on your tinder or on a piece of dry bark. Then you turn the tool round and run the striker down the bar at an angle: friction throws a shower of very hot sparks onto the shavings, which catch and pass the flame to the fire lay. The appeal of the method is that it depends on no gas cartridge and no wick, and a single bar lasts for a great many fires.

Technical specifications

Magnesium fire starter, overall length 107 mm, weight 65 g. Aluminium finish on the body of the tool. Compass built into the piece, to give you north when a direction has to be chosen. Striker included, needed both to raise the shavings and to produce the spark. The format is aimed at hiking, camping and outdoor activities in general. It is the bulkier of the two magnesium models in the catalogue, the other one, the MKFSP, coming in at 101 mm and 24 g with a whistle.

Care

Nothing demanding: wipe the bar and the striker after use, and store the pair dry inside the pack rather than at the bottom of a damp pocket. Magnesium shavings that stay stuck to the body come away with a dry cloth. Keep the striker together with the bar, since neither is much use without the other. Now and again, check that the compass needle turns freely and settles, and keep it away from magnets and strongly magnetic objects.