Starting a fire with a magnesium fire starter is quite simple. Using the striker or scraper that comes with your fire starter, you shave off some slivers from the magnesium rod into a small pile. You then add some tinder to this pile. The tinder can be sawdust, paper, dry grass or leaves. Basically anything that can quickly catch on fire can be used as tinder. Once you have a small pile of tinder and magnesium slivers, you apply the striker in quick, sharp strokes to produce sparks. Once these sparks make contact with the pile, you should see the first signs of your fire starting.\r