>>1271936the magnesium block is solid fuel. you would shave or scrape metal off of the main block, then flip it over and light the pile of shavings with the striker rod. the metal shavings and powder itself burns super hot, igniting whatever tinder and kindling you've got set up. the striker rod throws off sparks, but they need to land in tinder to catch. various companies have proprietary mixtures of metals in their striker rods, and most have some percentage of magnesium.
if you only want one get the striker rod and supply your own tinder as per the situation. what you should do if you believe in building skills is get both and practice lighting fires with each.
