Fire Starting Via the Fire Piston...

Normark

Normark

Joined
Nov 7, 1999
Messages
6,651
Hey Guys...

Anyone ever tried making fire with a Fire Piston ?

A friend of mine just sent me one of his models made from Arcylic and is it ever cool...

This was the first fire piston that I've ever used and I got ignition on the second attempt using Char Cloth...

What a rush I had seeing the flash at the bottom of the tube and then pulling the piston out to find a strong glowing ember..
Very impressive to say the least...

I've had the piston for a few days now, and showed a bunch of people,,who were all amazed to see what this little sucker could do..

I'm going to try and talk him out of a few more for me as I think they'll make excellent gifts for a couple of people who are Pyros,,just like me...LOL

It Definately has found a place in my kit as a decent reliable source of hot smoldering ember...:)Prim technology never goes out of fashion as far as I'm concerned...:)

Anyone lese interested or use Fire Pistons ???

ttyle

Eric...
 
I'd be VERY interested. Isn't this what gave Rudolph Diesel his idea for the diesel engine?

I thought that I read that he saw these used on a trip to Africa, and applied the idea...
 
Hey Swede....

As far as the Diesel goes,, I don't know,, but anything is possible...

I'm quite impressed how this has been working...Played with it all day while I was working, Definately getting better at getting ignition almost everrytime now...

I think it's how you put the char cloth into the piston,,not to high,not too deep,and just the right amount....
It's neat to see the Flash in the tube as it ignites...

Speaking of ignitions..LOL

I ran out of char cloth this afternoon,,so decided to make more...
Cut up an old pair of jeans,,stacked them into a can and put it on a small propane stove to cook....

Well when it was done,, I took it off,,let it cool on the wet pavement for a few minutes til it was only warm to the touch,then took it downstairs into the shop...

Opened the lid and started to pick the stack apart to check for quality...
While I was holding a nice stack,it started getting warm,,then hot...
Well the entire container started burning..I quickly picked it apart and rescued what I could,,but easily lost half the container....

Really goes to show you,to let that puppy cool down completely before you open it...

Anyway,, this thing has been alot of fun,,people and kids get a kick out of it,,and in all actuality,,it's a pretty serious tool for starting fires with...Other than the O rings that seal it,,and a little lubrication, there isn't much to go wrong with this thing..Success is probably around 75-80% for me right now,,but it's getting better the more I use it..Most of the time it the way I've put the char in,,and definately the power of thrust I give the piston...

ttyle

Eric....
 
Hey Ed...

You can get one through me ,,Hopefully in a couple of weeks..
I just placed an order for a dozen of them,,but 6 are mine..:)
fairly limited supply right now( 4 are sold already and I don't even have them yet),,but will probably get more shortly within a week or so..

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures yet as this happened so quick,,within the last couple of days,,but I assure you they are well made,,by a Master machinist who teaches machining at the University level...

You know if I back a product it's gonna be bullet proof...:)

Drop me a e-mail Ed..

ttyle

Eric...
 
We show the fire piston in our firemaking video.

It is a neat gadget but should not be confused with a survival firemaking tool. There is much than can go wrong. The spark is delicate and can easily lose it's heat. This is especially true in cold-wet environments. The shaft is relatively fragile, even with acrylic, and if it is hit at any sort of an angle, can break. I've busted mine twice in two years.

Most of these "spark only" firestarters pre-suppose that the user has excellent firemaking skills and materials. Tinder must be dry, fuel must be ready and the entire affair must be kept from the elements throughout the process. If you don't believe me, try making fire in a rainstorm with a ferrocerium rod starting with local materials only. The Ferrocerium rod is orders of magnitude ahead of the fire piston in reliability. Some might argue that they carry charcloth, the sparker (Piston,rod,blastflash, flint and steel etc)with them at all times. Wonderful. Look at the volume and the weight of that material then compare it to a BIC lighter and a candle or fuel pellet. The BIC can start thousands of fires and each will begin with a FLAME. There is a reason the military includes lighters and/or matches and a fuel pellet in kits.

If you want a piston for practice and the "Gee whiz" factor... get one. If you want to survive in a nasty environment... get something that makes a flame.

ROn
 
Hey Ron...

I'll agree with you on that...

I reread my last couple of posts..

Although it is a "Serious" Fun way of making a fire,,it should not be relied upon as a primary nor secondary way of making fire...

Under the right conditions it's alot of fun making fire this way...

As far as breaking them goes,, yaa theres definately the possiility of anything going wrong...These ones are built pretty much heavy duty..Thick walled acrylic barrel with a one piece Delrin piston,double O-ring seals....

When I get my order,I'll shoot you one down Ron..

Under the worst of conditions,,it Definately wouldn't be the first thing I pull out...Wind Rain,snow would make it very difficault to start any type of fire with a piston,flint steel,char cloth and natural material Only...

These types of conditions for sure need highly reliable,foolproof methods..Triox or Hex tabs would be a wise choice..

However it does make a nice addition to Any fire kit as does flint and steel,ferro rod, Doan tool,char cloth,flint/steel, steel wool and a pile of other tools, although it does require you to carry char cloth,or suitable tinder and a form of lubrication...

In my survival kits, I carry several different methods, and yes it does or can get bulky..:)

For fun though,,as a gadget and to get a little WoW factor out of firemaking,, this thing is the cats ass...:)


ttyle

Eric...
 
Have you updated your videos? you stated that you show a fire piston in the firemaking video. What number video is it? Which videos have you updated,When? Thanks,Frediver<><
 
i checked out the link somebody posted.

how does the device work?

eric, how cumbersome/heavy is the one you've ordered?

rob
 
frediver,

We updated volume 1 "Spark based Firemaking" added about 12 new minutes to it, cleaned up the editing and graphics and gave it a better overall flow. We are working on the other videos as well. We are preparing for the DVD processing we will undertake in the next 6 months or so. Most recent videos will go first.

ROn
 
Hey Tackleberry...

The Fire Piston consists of several parts...

The barrel a thick walled acrylic cylinder. A piston, that slides into the barrel and has tight tolerences with the cylinder. Double O-rings provide the seal...

The Fire Piston works on the diesel principle.

A small piece of char cloth is stuffed into a tiny hole at the end of the fire piston and inserted into the barrel or cylinder.

A sharp hard stroke is given to the piston with your hand, or slammed against a hard surface.

As the piston compresses the air in the cylinder, the char cloth combusts and ignites.The piston is then extracted from the cylinder and the small coal forming on the char cloth is picked out, and introduced to a larger piece of char cloth or an awaiting tinder bundle..I prefer to transfer to another larger piece of char,as this coal is very delicate...

The larger coal is then blown into fire using grasses,,jute or what have you...Mouse Houses work really well for this...

Thats basically how it works...Pretty cool way of doing it I guess..

Any questions,,drop me a note Anytime..

ttyle

Eric...
 
I have built one "for display purposes only," which just means that it doesn't work :rolleyes:

It's been an ongoing project that I leave and then come back to. It'll be fun to get a working model.

My prototype is made from 1/2" diameter acrylic tubing. I suspect that 3/8" might be better, because there is less volume of gas to compress, making it easier to get to ignition temperatures. I have other engineering issues with it that will get worked out over time.

Mike
 
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