Fire Piston And How To Use It

Here is one of my fire pistons and how to use it.

 

I don't think it would work char cloth milk weed pods tinder fungus charge all work try Amazon you can make one the trick is it has to have a air tight seal and if you use wood it has to be polished so no air goes into the pores of the wood

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Fire-Piston/

There are several builds for making a fire piston on instructables. This one looks like it is the simplest and cheapest.

 

They still make and sell them. I have several. Best of all they still cost very little. They also make peanut lighters. That is like a little round zippo about the size of a peanut shell with two nuts in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Etopstech-Su...6493301&sr=8-1&keywords=forever+match+lighter

You can get them on ebay one at a time for a couple of bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/Blabroge-Sur...id=1516493401&sr=1-18&keywords=peanut+lighter

I get thesde off ebay for a couple of bucks too.

 

I always wanted to try one of these ..as the principle on which they work is very interesting...diesel.

But never did.

I keep a magnifying glass in my daily BOB...several disposable lighters and a small packet of cotton balls and a jar of Vaseline.

I suppose I should try it and learn how it is done...as it certainly is interesting...if you can get the dry tinder and such.

Interesting and different in how it works.

Thanks,
Watcherchris

 

The thing about some of the more esoteric ways of starting a fire is that they are all totally dependent on tinder that is massively flammable. The fire piston is a little like traditional flint and steel or even the magnifying glass and works best if you have some char cloth or other similarly flammable substance on hand. The various ways of rubbing sticks together is a little bit like a magic trick and is hard to duplicate from scratch. If you are going to carry a bow drill and board you might just as well carry a few hundred matches or lighters.

I have seen people that I know are good with the bow drill and board technique fail miserably when confronted with making a new set of tools for this from wood found in a natural forest. Where I live bone dry wood is scarce and a lot of the mosses and fungi that others use just don't exist here. My portable tinder is jute cord. I can braid it into a lot of useful things than then use it to get a start with a ferrocerium rod. Toilet paper, cotton balls and dryer lint work as well but the jute is the most portable and useful for other purposes.

I like making char stuff. I make the char cloth out of old blue jeans and also make char rope out of heavy cotton cord. Both will catch a spark and turn it into a small coal that will get you going if you have the right stuff prepared.

My go to for fire is the ferrocerium rod. You can buy them on Ebay for very little and can then make all of them you want for a couple dollars each. I have one that I use for camping that is made from a 1/2" X 6" piece that I put on an elk horn. I attached a piece of 3/8 tool steel to it for a scraper and it will start thousands of fires for generations.

For survival fire making you need things that are waterproof, small, light and that can be used over and over in most any conditions.