Aurora Fire Starter 440C Black

Everything the 5 Star reviewers say is correct. This is a great device, well made, and without having to file a separate pile of magnesium it is easy, but still burns HOT.The self contained aspect is very nice, but nothing that a $4 flint & steel and a ziploc bag can't handle.After about 30 seconds of learning how to use it, I was able to produce a great spark that lit kindling no problem.4 stars because this is nothing I could not have done with my tried and true flint & steel. I have canoed and kayaked on camping trips, I have camped in the rain, and I have never had a problem with wet flint.I also have a slight problem with the magnesium and flint in the same rod. Traditionally you file some magnesium into a neat pile in your kindling and then strike the flint over the pile. With this design you are flinging CRAZY hot sparks that continue to burn longer than traditional flint. Just make sure your sleeves are pulled up!Lastly I compared the spark from the "440C" and the spark produced by the back of my trusty pocket knife and the knife won out by a long shot. Granted I am used to sparking with my knife and not with the "440C". And this design saves the back of your knife, if saving the back of your knife is your goal.All in all, it is sexy, and if you don't mind spending 5 times the money for this fire starter, you will not be disappointed. But remember; "sexy" doesn't start fires.Happy Camping

To start with, I don't know very much about magnesium or other fire-starters, so my review here might be moot for those more experienced.But if you've never really owned one and are curious what a first timer's experience is, read on.I received these just a few days ago (I purchased two for bug out bags).In terms of a flint creating a spark, my only other reference are lighters and I can definitely see that compared to a lighter, this thing produces a lot more sparks. As a birthday gift, I receive the Zippo flint and tinder that is in an orange zippo case. That solution works just fine and I love the all in one solution it provides, but the Magnesium fire starter is much more effective at producing sparks.I've tested three methods for starting fires over the past few days, all using the aurora, and while some methods are more efficient than others, they all work, proving that these kinds of sparking tools are effective, and with 4K strikes, will last a long time and more importantly, have an indefinite shelf life as far as I can tell. Something that is of critical importance to me.For those experience with starting fires, my efforts may seem trivial, but such as they are:- cotton smeared with vaseline: 1-5 strike (less than 10 seconds to get a fire going, last about 4 minutes)- twine soaked and dried in parafin wax: 10-20 strikes (about a minute to get a fire going, last about 2 minutes)- super light hair-like dried weed tinder: 20-50 strikes (about 5 minutes to get a fire going, last about a minute)- thin branch tinder: 100+ strikes (about 15 minutes to get a fire going, last about 2 minutes)I'm sure with practice, I'll improve those times for naturally found tinder, but in either case, this magnesium starter does work effectively.Some descriptors:- The long cap holds the metal striker blade in an idiot proof bracket- There is an o-ring to protect the magnesium portion from getting wet....why I dunno, it works when wet- It's heavier than another magnesium starter i held in hand at a retail store- The metal cap is largely unnecessary, making me think this is stylistic more than functional- The price is expensive compared to others, but I think it's because of that metal cap.A cheaper one would do just fine.- I you don't mind a premium for that style, I have to admit, it does look good.- There is an initial coating that you have to get through before striking produces any sparks, but just a few strikes and you're through that layer.I really believe, though, that you need a lot of practice with this striker, setting up tinder, and building up fires to really make firestarting effective in a real world environment. So if you get one, try to practice building fires every once in a while. Like grilling great steaks, driving a manual shift, or doing basic tricks on a bicycle, no practice makes you rusty. And rusty in a real world mission critical scenario could get you into trouble.

When I stumbled upon fire starters I just had to have one. Since they're relatively inexpensive and I couldn't narrow it down to one particular product, I got two of them. I figured if I didn't care for one of them I would give it away as a gift. As it turns out that's exactly what I'm going to do. Anyway, I got this one, the Black Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter 440C Blade. The other one I got is the Ultimate Survival Technologies StrikeForce Fire Started Orange. I'll call them "Black" and "Orange." The Orange appealed to me because of it's overall size and the diameter of it's flint (neither too small). It also has a little hollow portion inside the top to keep some flammable material. In addition the top is tethered to the bottom so they don't get separated. All excellent features. The advertising and description of the Black convinced me to give it a try. Maybe the word "Magnesium" or "440C" helped. Although there are far harder steels than 440C. The Black is also advertised with a 1/4" diameter flint, not all that wide. Overall a lot smaller than the Orange. In the case of fire starters, it's a matter of individual preference if size matters. Now for the most important part. How do they perform? I love Amazon. Price, service, shipping, guarantee, etc. Not necessarily in that order. I've bought a lot from Amazon including these two fire starters. More than I like to think about. Thousands! My purchases are heavily based upon reviews unless it's a relatively new product. Some reviews read like Consumers Report. That's fine. This isn't one of them. I tried starting a fire with something a little more challenging than a cotton ball. A tissue. I practiced with both fire starters so I knew what I was doing. Something I highly recommend. I first used the Orange. After about 10 or 12 healthy strokes on the flint producing good sparks the tissue would NOT ignite. I'm pretty sure if I continued it would have caught fire. I really wanted the Orange to work. I was routing for it. I decided to stop and go back inside the house and get the Black. On the second stroke the Black started the tissue burning. Not the results I was expecting. My own little insignificant test makes the Black Aurora Magnesium Fire Started the winner. There's a lot of other fire starters out there. Perhaps it's the Magnesium that makes the difference. Watching the sparks produced by both fire starters I would definitely say the Black produced a much more intense and hotter ignition. There you have it.

Efficace

Does the job. Larger than I expected. Probably too large for my keychain. Time with tell.

tres bon produit meme pour des personnes qui n'ont pas l,habitude de ce genre de materielfacilité d'emploi, embrasement rapide du combustible !!!un des meilleurs pour moi !!

O meglio, per suo marito (regalo), esteticamente molto semplice, anche se personalmente l'avrei preferito con un po' più di personalità.Sul funzionamento, seppur visto in azione solo una volta, niente da dire.