Fire Piston - I

C

CanDo

Joined
Mar 10, 2006
Messages
913
Hey guys,
Do any of you own a fire piston? (information here: http://www.onagocag.com/piston.htm) It's a small tube made of metal/wood/horn/hard plastic that a piston is pushed into. The air is compressed, thus heated, and the tinder inside the plunger ignites.

I just made one out of 3" of 5/16" brass tubing, and it works awesome. You can use it to ignite anything such as char cloth, tinder fungus, or milkweed. I will have pics and complete instructions/video up within six days. What's your experience?

~CanDo
 
I have two, A beautiful primitive one from Darrel Aune and a more modern, less pretty, but equally as awesome piston from EBPrimitives. I love fire pistons, Im surprised more people don't know about them. They are easy and reliable.
 
I've considered trying to make one,but don't have a lathe handy. What did you use to seal yours? O-ring or waxed string?

TWBryan
 
I have a cocobolo one from Darrel Aune as well. Very nice craftsmanship. I also have made them out of brass tubing with an aluminum shaft and have had a tutorial on my blog for a while now.
 
And if you can get one of the ones in the thread richard j mentioned, they are awesome. I can't think of a more durable one out there. Michael's pistons also work better than any others I have tried.
 
Do they wear out over time with usage? I mean does it lose "airtightness" or do they last a long time? I think these things are pretty neat and want one. Educate me.
 
The ones with rubber o-rings will last longer than the traditional pistons with a string wrapped sealing area. Both will wear out over time and will need replacing under heavy use and both will last a good long while. There is also a need for lubricants on the seals PJ or chapstick works best and saliva will work also.

I have come to realize that they are an expensive novelty item that "spark" a lot of interest, but I wouldn't feel safe using one as my primary fire starting devise.
 
I bought a wilderness solutions buffalo horn piston last week and posted it back for a refund within 48 hours as soon as the novelty wore off and reality set in. It was quite bulky, and appeared to be very limited in the types, quality and quantity of tinder it would ignite. Compared against bow drills, firesticks or flints, or even matches or lighters it seemed a pretty poor solution and not worth it's weight :thumbdn:. Just my opinion.
 
Darkaz said:
I bought a wilderness solutions buffalo horn piston last week and posted it back for a refund within 48 hours as soon as the novelty wore off and reality set in. It was quite bulky, and appeared to be very limited in the types, quality and quantity of tinder it would ignite. Compared against bow drills, firesticks or flints, or even matches or lighters it seemed a pretty poor solution and not worth it's weight :thumbdn:. Just my opinion.
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Interesting. I appreciate your honesty. How many of us have impulsively purchased items only to go "what was I thinking?"
 
I have a plexiglass one that will start tinder fungus after 3 or 4 tries, I'm not real impressed. I haven't tried char cloth yet.
 
Darkaz said:
I bought a wilderness solutions buffalo horn piston last week and posted it back for a refund within 48 hours as soon as the novelty wore off and reality set in. It was quite bulky, and appeared to be very limited in the types, quality and quantity of tinder it would ignite. Compared against bow drills, firesticks or flints, or even matches or lighters it seemed a pretty poor solution and not worth it's weight :thumbdn:. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

I feel the exact opposite about them. My Darrel Aune piston is a bit on the heavy side, but the EBprimitives piston I have is small and light and extremely dependable.
 
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