Fire starters.

[ashhoe]

I whipped one up at work yesterday out of aluminum and a brass rod. I was almost shocked when it sparked up a glowing ember. The only problem was I spent the rest of the evening giving demonstrations and explaining how it works, you'd have thought it was my idea and it was brain surgery. Cool toy and one more way of making fire I can add to my list of "done that"s.

[sovblocgunfan]

I used a magnifying glass once when I was a kid. I unintentionally started a very small grass fire-like others have said, easy to start when you don't want it to.

Just for convenience, I have coated cotton balls in Vaseline and stored them in baggies for camping. Pull one out, drop it where you want your fire, and apply spark an kindling. Works pretty good...

[tanvil]

Originally Posted by ashhoe

I whipped one up at work yesterday out of aluminum and a brass rod. I was almost shocked when it sparked up a glowing ember. The only problem was I spent the rest of the evening giving demonstrations and explaining how it works, you'd have thought it was my idea and it was brain surgery. Cool toy and one more way of making fire I can add to my list of "done that"s.

Take a pic and start a thread on it if you can. I have a couple questions and don't want to derail 4th's thread too much.

[hcpookie]

Are those pistons the "diesel engine" fire starters?

[nkluksda]

Originally Posted by hcpookie

Are those pistons the "diesel engine" fire starters?

Yup. And the concept goes way back in southeast Asia (IIRC).

As to the cotton balls & vaseline, that's one way. Another that our scout troop uses is to put some dryer lint in the pockets of an egg carton (the cardboard type), then pour melted used crayons on them. They'll start ANY fire, any time, even in the rain. They burn forever, too, and are relatively small and lightweight. Plus, they're waterproof, so they don't need special storage.

[hcpookie]

How would you light the lint/crayon starter? That sounds like a good idea actually... my store-bought waterproof fire starters actually went bad after a while - I guess it was some sort of grease-based coating on sawdust.

[nkluksda]

Originally Posted by hcpookie

How would you light the lint/crayon starter? That sounds like a good idea actually... my store-bought waterproof fire starters actually went bad after a while - I guess it was some sort of grease-based coating on sawdust.

Most guys use a waterproof match. I use a 'blastmatch' or flint and steel on a bit of the 'dry' lint; it catches the spark, and with a little blowing, the ember catches the wax on fire. Instant flame. The guys think I try to do things the hard way. I prefer to think of it as the challenging way.

[sjohnson]

Drier lint is free, burns almost as hot as fine steel wool & easy to light.