Gunco Forums banner

Fire starters.

3K views 27 replies 13 participants last post by  sjohnson 
#1 ·
Anyone ever start a fire with a magnifying glass? I have seen it on T.V. but never tried it.
Weather conditions permitting. I bet it would work. When it gets a little sunnier here in Florida. I am going too try it.
I bet it might work under the rite conditions. ?
If not. What is the best fire starter you guys have used?
 
#2 ·
I've done it. It's pretty easy. I've even seen where folks use ice carved into a lens to start fire! Or use the bottom of a coke can, polished with a Hershey bar, as a mirror to start a fire. I've done the fire bow, and flint and steel is pretty easy if you practice. Primitive fire-building is something we try to teach scouts. They don't always listen...
 
#4 ·
This here is the lens you want to start a fire. Fresnel parabolic Lens these things start fires in seconds! This guy in down your way also. Check out this vid

[video=youtube;eZx4XRk6rI8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZx4XRk6rI8&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - New Generation of Solar Fresnel Lens[/video]

Here is another vid of him boiling water with a Parabolic Mirror
[video=youtube;e4iU9kbn1wI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4iU9kbn1wI&feature=related]YouTube - FRESNEL LENS BOIL WATER WITH SOLAR POWER[/video]
 
#5 ·
A very effective fire starter is potassium permanganate (used in green sand water filters and sold by Ace Hardware) and glycerin (used as skin moisturizer and sold at any drug store) keep them stored in 35 film containers, mixed together; they ignite in about 30 seconds and will easily ignite tinder
 
#6 ·
The key for me is making fire without any pre-prepared stuff. Sort of like Tom Hanks on the island in Castaway. It's one of those things that you need to practice a bit; if you never practice, you'll never know how to do it if you really need it.

A couple of sites on primitive fire-building...
Primitive Outdoor Skills
Primitive Fire Starting
Wilderness Survival: Firecraft - How to Light a Fire

And the one I think is best (lots of info besides firemaking)
Primitive Technology, Traditional Skills and Hand-Made Tools
 
#7 ·
The magnifying glass works pretty good. I've heard of using the same technique with water in the corner of a plastic ziplock bag. I've only tried the water in the bag once but didn't work for me because the sun was too low in the sky. I had dug a snow cave after last years blizzard and by the time I finished it was almost sundown. Admittedly I used a zippo that time.
Potassium perm also works w/ antifreeze. Don't breath the smoke.
Pool shock and brake fluid, same thing. Don't breath the smoke. (chlorine gas)
Bowdrills are very reliable w/ lots of practice.
All my vehicles have one of the 'light my fire' firesteels hanging on the turn signal lever. It's a good place to start if you want to learn some easy to master alternative skills.
Steel wool or homemade charcloth will catch a spark quickly.
In fact, try rubbing some fine steel wool across the top of a 9 volt battery. Fire is easy to make,,,,when ya don't need it.
Start off with the easier ones and work your way into primitive.
 
#8 ·
Yeah I have not had luck doing the magnifying lens with a CHEAP lens, or on a cloudy day. Always good luck with a GOOD lens, like a reading lens as you would find on the small magnifying lenses sold at drug stores like Rite Aid, etc. in the same area where the pill boxes and other 'elderly' things are sold.

FYI, I bought a 3-pack of flints from Sportsmans Guide for something like $3/each and they work really well. Stepson uses them to start fires in our outside fire pit all summer long! I taught him how to start a fire without matches and he thinks it is the coolest thing ever. :)
 
#9 ·
Like othes have said, with a cheap lens it's a pain. I have a magnum lens made of glass I took out of a projector that is crazy. Last week I brought it out to clean it and try it out in the winter. Even with the sun low (Michigan) in the sky it makes flames on a 2X4 at the focal point. The flames only stay lit when the point is on the wood, it goes out as soon as I move the lens, but it's easy to get tinder going.
 
#11 ·
If you notice, water bottles now have ridges and stuff in them instead of being smooth cylinders. The reason is that there were several cases where a bottle of water in a car at the right angle and position focused the suns rays and started a fire. With the ridges and other texturing, it's far less likely. But a smooth cylinder of water CAN be an improvised lens.

As I said, the trick is to try out a lot of unconventional things so when you need it, you know you can start a fire.
 
#12 ·
What about those "fire pistons"? I just started making one out of aluminum today at work. A very cool idea from way back in the day (apparently).
 
#13 ·
What is it ashhoe? I never heard of a "fire piston."
Lot of great ideas on fire starting. Thank you..
One of you guys with mechanical ability, I have none. :frown: Might want too look into making a reduced version of the solar fire starter Gunco Bob showed.
I see money in that products future.
 
#15 ·
Here's a decent looking video.
[video=youtube;zzZyFUSgHTY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzZyFUSgHTY&feature=watch_response]YouTube - Modern Fire Piston[/video]
Just google or youtube "fire piston", you'll see all kinds of crazy stuff.
 
#17 ·
I have used all kinds of things to make fire , from Bow and drills , to flint and steel , and of course magnifying glasses. However the most fun that I ever had was using ruined headlights to light up stuff, it is amazing how much heat an old car headlight will focus. I will next be building a fire piston, they look like a blast to me.

The Firepiston

First Fire Piston in Fire Making Forum
 
#19 ·
I think the fire piston will be next for me too. Never used one, never even seen one in fact, looks simple enough to make though.
RB, you should be proud of that young man of yours, most kids his age can't do anything that does not involve a frikkin cell phone or game controller. Good on ya bro!
 
#21 ·
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.
 
#22 ·
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...
 
#25 ·
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.
 
#26 ·
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.
 
#27 ·
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.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top