ever started a fire with a SAK glass?

S

stevedenver

Joined
Feb 12, 2007
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i have always presumed the SAK magnifying glass was for the purpose of fire -not simply magnification

on the hottest sunniest colorado days, ive never had luck-simply not enough glass to gather enough rays

anyone ?
 
I have never tried but if I can i will let you know.I always assumed that was its primary function also.
 
stevedenver said:
i have always presumed the SAK magnifying glass was for the purpose of fire -not simply magnification

on the hottest sunniest colorado days, ive never had luck-simply not enough glass to gather enough rays

anyone ?
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Never worked for me, either, but I don't think magnification is the issue. The Vic magnifier looks like 8X enlargement. I use it often to examine photographic negatives and slides, mostly because at the color lab I patronize the loupe for customers is missing half the time. For what it is, the Vic magnifier is optically pretty good, although I hope to never depend on it as a fire starter.

I don't know the physics involved, but it seems that size is the important factor. As a kid, I used a magnifying glass successfully to start fires, or heat up my unsuspecting brother's toe. It was lower magnification than the Vic, but the glass was much larger. Even on a bright sunny day, the Vic magnifier was a big disappointment, not that it matters anymore. My brother lives in another city now and is a prosecuting attorney.
 
I don't own a vic with a magnifing glass but I have used some lenses about the same size.I would think that charcloth or charred wood should work.If using natural tender try to(if you can get smoke)char an area a few times as large as the focused dot,just by moving the dot around in a circle slowly.

I don't know if that made sense,but it has worked for me with small lenses.
 
lotoblades said:
I don't own a vic with a magnifing glass but I have used some lenses about the same size.I would think that charcloth or charred wood should work.If using natural tender try to(if you can get smoke)char an area a few times as large as the focused dot,just by moving the dot around in a circle slowly.

I don't know if that made sense,but it has worked for me with small lenses.
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Maybe that's the answer. Comes better weather I'll give it a try. I was always disappointed the magnifier didn't seem to work as a fire starter, not that I ever needed it. But it is always nice to have additional capabilities. :)
 
Realistically, starting a SAK glass fire would probably never happen in a real world situation. I'm quite certain that under IDEAL conditions you could do it. High noon, in July, with perfect tinder,and A LOT of patience, etc. In a survival situation though, I doubt you would be lucky enough for all of the pieces to come together and create fire with one.
 
Damn, one of the reason i got the Vic SwissChamp was because of the mag-glass. Sheesh, guess I have to mod a fire starter into the device just in case if I need to start fire.
 
You would think it would work.
Many Bushfires are attributed to either Lightning or started by a clear glass bottle magnifying the suns rays to start combustion in Australia.
 
Hmmm my swisschamp has a magnifier so this will be something else i will have to try come spring. I'm on a firestarting kick, I just bought one of those firesteels and did up a bunch of those vaseline cottonball firestarters (they work great!).
You would think the magnifier would work with the right tinder.
Heck i've seen a few survival sites show how to polish the bottom of an aluminum pop can so you can use it as reflective firestarter!
Damn I can't wait til spring!
We just had 4+ FEET of snow dumped on us last night!
Anybody here as sick of winter as me?
 
I tried the small magnifier on my Swisschamp on some dry leaves. Then I just picked one leaf and I was able to burn holes and create smoke, but I didn't have the patience after quite awhile to see if it could start a real fire (that and my concern for safety). I eventually was able to burn smiley faces into some leaves.:)

I imagine with the right conditions and materials to burn, you could make a decent fire, given the right patience.
Jim
 
Even though I have used a larger magnifying glass to start a fire, I never thought of using the one on my Swisschamp for that purpose. I tried about 4:00 the other day and I wasn't able to make a piece of paper smoke. Maybe I could at high noon.

I always thought of the magnifying glass as a tool for removing splinters (along with the SAK straight pin) and a last ditch way of reading a map if I should lose my glasses.

By the way, the straight pin on the Swisschamp is NOT your typical common pin. If you look at it with high-magnification, it has a perfect precise point. Your everyday common pin usually has a very jagged crude point. If you lose your straight pin, get another Vic. one.
 
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