Review by B. Beach:

I bought both this and the Swedish Firesteel (Army model) because I like to compare inexpensive tools I will depend on to save my life. I prefer this tool to the Firesteel because it will ignite tinder easier due to the magnesium shavings (but the Firesteel would be a rugged alternative in areas where you could easily get tinder – see my review on that tool). Regardless, I had immediate success with both tools.

I believe other reviewers that gave this less than five stars were using this tool incorrectly. These are points of use I believe important:

1. You do not need (or want to use) a sharp knife. I use a basic metal jigsaw blade attached to a cord I put on this starter instead of the little chain. A short or broken hacksaw blade may be even better because it has a hole you can thread a cord through.

2. SCRAPE the magnesium into a pile, don’t CARVE it. I bet the people who try to carve the magnesium (to make the pile of shavings) were butchering their knives.

3. You do NOT need to scrape it for ten minutes to make a pile (unless you are using a wet sponge for tinder ). With good tinder and a piece of paper I made a pile smaller than a dime and got a fire going in under a minute. In fact, I bet with really good tinder you could just use the flint and start a fire. Experiment at home to see how little a pile you can make of magnesium and still start a fire. The key is to keep the pile together so you must obviously have some shelter from the wind. I do not reccomend making a fire in very high wind unless you have the means to put out a forest fire (dig a pit or camp dark or FIND SHELTER!!!). It really helps to have something to collect the shavings on like a piece of plastic or paper, then you can funnel them into a little pile on a piece of bark or rock. If you keep scattering the shavings try not to rest the end of the magnesium bar on the paper/plastic/coat/whatever or get a bigger piece and let them scatter then funnel them into a pile. EXPERIMENT!

4. SCRAPE the flint rod, don’t WHACK it like they do in the movies with older means (like in Jeremiah Johnson). It’s a little rod and if you give it to kids without instruction they will probably whack it and break the rod.

5. As per the instructions given with the tool hold it steady and scrape shavings of magnesium or sparks from flint. You could probably hold the scraper still and move the magnesium, but this seems silly (although I will try it). Slow steady pressure scraping the flint seems to work well. Note that when you are trying to ignite the magnesium shavings you shouldn’t place the end of magnesium bar on the surface holding the shavings as the vibrations will scatter them. You must hold it firm and steady and near the shavings. Practice a little, it shouldn’t be too tough.

I wrote this long thing because I was confused by all the negative reviews before I bought and tried this. It seems for evey product there is at least one bad review. Remember there are also bad reviewers. This is a very good basic tool that is easy to use if you take the short time to learn how to use it correctly. It is meant as a backup survival option to matches/lighter (which are your normal means for firestarting). Also carry good tinder (I like cotton mushed with vaseline – cheap and effective).

Review by John P. Thiel:

Even mountain biking, where you plan to be in the woods for only a few hours, things happen. You break a leg or taco a wheel and you’re stranded miles and miles from the closest food and shelter. Sometimes you just get spun around or bonk and the best thing to do is lay down, call for help if you can and weren’t so dumb as to not bring a cell phone, and do your best to keep comfortable until help arrives. And of course, this is all more so the truth when you’re hiking, camping, or even taking a little day trip in an national forest area.

If you have a knife, some kind of water container, and this fire starter, you’re set to make it through all but an absolute catastrophe–and even then you’re better off than you would be without it. Fire is the first and foremost feature of civilization, which is where you ultimately want to be.

Magnesium lights up at roughly 1000 F, so this will start a fire on the first attempt if you’ve got the shavings in a nice little pile amongst some kindling. If you mess it up, no problem; you’ve still got a few hundred chances worth more of magnesium to fumble with. This is also a product that’s been on the market likely longer than you’ve been alive, so don’t think you got the last one they’ll ever make.

With this, you just take your knife (the back works as well as the blade really) scrap off some magnesium in a little pile, put your little wads of bark or other hairy kindling (or pine cones, bits of cloth, or whatever you can scrap up as you can anywhere) along with your regular kindling, strike the flint side of the fire starter with the back of your blade or anything made of steel, and make sure to look away when it starts because the light is bright white like a halogen lamp on full.

If I had to compare it to anything, it’s like setting off a flare.

The sparks from the magenesium catching fire don’t go flying, so no worries about one shooting up into your face, but also don’t be under the impression that you or your friend can hold the magesium and kindling while shooting sparks at it so that you can immediately blow on it. When it lights, it lights instantly, and it’s so hot that it will burn right through to the bone if you light it on skin. If you’ve ever seen sugar on fire, this is far more serious, but it’s safe so long as you don’t do anything stupid.

Bottom Line: It’s so small it can go on your keychain or be thrown in your backpack as one of those things you always have just in case, but forget about until you really need it. Its of negligible weight for you weight weenies out there. And it’s so just plain cool that you’ll find yourself using it not just for that moment when you’re in trouble and panicking about the fact that everything they taught you in Boy Scouts was entirely wrong, but when you’re ‘out there’ and there’s absolutely nothing wrong.

If nothing else, it’s a neat bit of science (kids go crazy for this stuff) that just might end up saving your caboose some day. It’s small, cheap, light, and effective–which is something we can rarely say about anything truly useful these days.

Review by Sir Charles Panther:

This is a really nice piece of camping kit, as it “clips” with the magnet to any part of your tent in seconds. (It’s got a pretty strong magnet bar, which goes on the outside of your tent, and the metal bracket of the light anchors it on the inside.) At first I wondered if the tight contact of the light would cause the tent to leak, and so far the answer has been a very clear and dry no.

The light is incandescent, inside a more or less traditional sealed bulb. I have had no problem with the light or bulb in the 2+ years I’ve owned this light. The lens diffuses the light nicely, so if you put this light at the crown of your tent, you will have light throughout.

My only problem with this unit is that it’s kind of big and bulky. It’s not that heavy, even with the four AA batteries installed, but it’s kind of large. In a camping world in which we’ve got wind-up LED systems and increasingly smaller lights which provide more and more light, I would think that an up-tech’d version of this light could be smaller and throw out more light. If you’re doing backwoods trekking where every ounce counts, this is probably not the solution you need. But if you’re doing family camping, car camping, or going to camps that have existing tents (summer camps, scout camps), then this is a really fantastic piece of gear.

———-

Update, 24 July 08

Now about a year on, here are additional comments on this piece:

It continues to function just fine, but I have one complaint. I do not store this unit with batteries in it, so each time I go camping I open the case to install and then later remove the batteries.

(The case opens by way of gently pinching the two sides together at the lamp’s waist, between the on/off switch and the lower magnetic housing. There are no locks, screws, springs or mechanical latches; the two parts of the lamp are kept together only by the flex of the upper lamp housing itself.)

After a year of easy and careful use the upper plastic housing around the pinch points has started to crack. The unit still works just fine (I just got back from a week in the woods), but it’s only a matter of time now until the housing splits or a large chunk of the plastic comes off, preventing the unit from coming together and thereby ruining it.

—————-

Update, 26 May 09

The cracks at the waist are slightly bigger, and slowly growing. The light still works fine, and just served me well on yet another campout, but the day is coming when that plastic housing breaks permanently, and this light will be finished.

Review by J.M:

I love,love,love,this light.Take my word for it buy this and you will not regret it.I bought this becuase,i’m going backpacking across europe this summer.I took out my gear for a test run this weekend and fell in love with this light.The light really lit up my tent and is easy use.You can put it anywhere in tent or anywhere you need an extra light.This light runs off 4 AA batteries and takes up little space in your bag.

Review by R. L. Rodriguez:

I attempted to use this item on my camping trip and it proved to not be usefull at all. The sides of the wash basin do not stay up so you can wash the dishes and keep all of your water in. When we used it the sides were always colapsing whether there was a lot or a little water in the basin. I will not be using this item again. most likely throw it away.

Review by N. Jennings:

My husband used this when camping. After the hot water was poured in, the basin became very soft and pliable. After about half way through washing dishes the first time, a hole came in the rinse side. He did not get one whole load of dishes washed. He expected better from Coleman. VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS PRODUCT!!

Review by Jackie:

Very nice, complete camping dining set. Good quality. Will make your outdoor dining experience by the camp fire a lot classier than just using paper plates. The flatware comes in a nice nylon wraparound holder with compartments for each piece. It would be nice if Coleman also offered some kind of backpack or duffle bag designed to hold the dishes and mugs, that would make a really nice kit or gift set.

Review by D. D. waters:

this speckled enamelware set is functional and works with my “shabby” decor.

Review by Mark S. Williams:

took two towel pack up in the mountains for a week. One lasted the entire week. Much stronger than I expected. dried quickly. Will buy more in the future.

Review by Traveler:

Not as thick as I expected, but nice when you’re in a pinch. They dry within an hour. Great for clean up, a wash cloth, face towel etc.