Coal Mice, Flares, Home Made Mice

Hi,

My dealer sells mice and they work best to light my stove. However, the people who work there are *&%%& so I chose to do everything possible not to give them my business. When I had a problem with my stove they gave me a hard time. Anyway, I was mail ordering homemade mice that worked well but the company doesn't seem to fill orders anymore or even answer email. I was wondering a few things.

1. Is their a mailorder source for mice? Still the easiest and less stinky way to light a stove.

2. Does anyone have a recipe for a homemade mice that doesn't include lighter fluid and charcoal.

3. What about cutting up road flares?

Frank be careful as those mice can be dangerous. Magnesium oxide can spotaniously combust under the right conditions. It must be kept in a climate and ventilation controlled room or atleast should be, when it is in it's pure state. It is an oxidizer so you can't send it through the regular mail it must be shipped by hazardous container shipping. Road flares use the chemical with various stablization buffer materials. The magnesium supposedly started alaska's fire.

http://www.spiegl.org/rocket/flare/flare.html

http://www.totalflare.com/safety.html

Go to your grocery store and buy yourself a bag of matchlight charcoal...10 pieces in a pile and light it, sprinkle on some coal and crack a beer!!! no need to kiss anyones anything!!! Have a great heating season!!

I have used Match Light and Lump Coal. For me the lump coal works best but both are smelly and they don't always light on the first try. The Mice works best, as I said, but they can also be unreliable. I've had mice then didn't light. Anyway, I didn't know about the spontanous combustion thing. Do you know anyone who had this happen? Thanks

Not with the mice themselves but the raw magnesium will under the right conditions

I was reading my HO policy the other day - I'm sure there is a provision that doesn't over fires started by Mice (: I just switched companies because I had a 5% inurance deductible for hurricanes. My new company seems to have lots of exclusions but no deductible for hurricanes or wind damage.

Just soak the charcoal in lighter fluid or diesel fuel. Lights easier, & gets the fire going quicker than anything. Simple & cheap. I've been doing it for years.

firewoodman wrote:Go to your grocery store and buy yourself a bag of matchlight charcoal...10 pieces in a pile and light it, sprinkle on some coal and crack a beer!!!

I agree. If you really need pyrotechnics to light a coal fire, you probably should be using a conventional heating appliance.

I see them available on ebay.

Cowboy charcoal.. Just fired mine up and used it for the 1st time, Hit it with a torch,watch it glow, shut the door and turn her on, wala 15 minutes later coals a burn'n. I used the mice for years, have to say I like the charcoal already more than the mice..