Mischmetal is a mixture of a some rare earth metals, mostly cerium and lanthanum. The cerium, when finely divided, is pyrophoric - it burns.
When you mix mischmetal with some iron and magnesium oxides, it's a lot more brittle, and you can chip off little flakes, which give sparks. That's your lighter flint.
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Very interesting. How does this compare with traditional flint and steel?
The "Forever Match;" another reason why Homeland Severity is an ass.
Is it just the natural LREE mix, or do they actually seperate the metals and then remix them to a specific formula?