Some facts about Magnesium

Magnesium burns at 5,400 degree F. It'll burn clear down to your bones.

Magnesium is still used in weapons manufacturing such as HEAT rounds. High Explosive Anti Tank shells upon detonation the core of the shell burns through the armor plate spewing melted magnesium inside the vehicle. Nasty way to die.

Magnesium burns SUPER fast, i.e., it is not long lasting compared to a high quality match.

I worked at a sweltering plant in Central California at that time it was just one of a handful of plants in America that produced Magesium and Aluminum Powder. The Magnesium powder was stored in 55-gallon barrels, of which there were thousands in a warehouse over a football field long, and the Aluminum powder is used in rocket fuel. We were told that if our plant ever blew up it would level one forth of my home city which at that time had a population of 100,000+.

A by-product of the process in manufacturing Magnesium powder was called Draco powder which was incrediably votatile = just blowing on this stuff it would explode. The company did not have a secure plan to dispose of it properly nor safely. There was a mowed down, open field on company grounds where 10-Lb plastic bags of this Draco powder would be just left in the open. Myself and another employee carried a bag of this *^#*& out to that field when the rest of the plant was on temporary shutdown and everyone was pulled back to the farthest point of the property. We set this bag down on the ground and while walking back we got about 15-feet away, hearing a sound of POOF!

The bag somehow tore open, my production Foreman yelled to us at the top of his lungs RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN, we booked running literally for our lives, hardhats flying, we got about 80-yards away when the ground shook violently like we were experiencing a serious earthquake and then we saw a mushroom cloud go a few hundred feet in the air. It was unbelieveable just how close I had come to being blown up and killed.

Did I mention I made $4.75 an hour?

FYI - The best Fire Starters I've used are home made.

Get a dry ex. cardboard egg carton, cutting it into twelve individual sockets. Over your kitchen stove on low heat take a 16-ounce empty metal can (ex Vegetable can or whatever) and slowly melt wax in it until the wax is totally liqued. Then using metal tongs dip each egg carton socket into the wax, making sure each one gets totally submerged in the wax.

Carefully place each socket away from the stove on say some sheets of paper towels to let dry. When they are cool and dry toss 4 to 6 each in a one liter Ziplock bag with a mini Bic lighter. Each Fire Starter socket will burn at least 5-minutes straight by itself when lit. The reason you submerge them in melted wax is it makes each totally waterproof and burnable.

For an eXtra boost of Fire you can dip a cotton ball in Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) and insert one of these into each of your egg carton sockets. I have some of both, the latter each socket with Vaseline will burn over 15-minutes straight even in a snowbank!

In the bottom of each of my Packs, I have a Ziplock Fire Starter kit for just in case.