Magnifying glass fire

[abo4ster]

Making a good tinder bundle is KEY to being successful in making a fire when your ignition source is not a lighter or match unless your tinder is fluff.

As pict stated what he did with a sliver; he got a coal and then blew it into a flame. This is also the case when doing the bow drill, hand drill, and in some cases even with magnesium shavings and flint. Most of my fresnel lens fires have to be blown to flame from a coal too.

We all focus on ignition (heat) and forget about the fuel and oxygen. Its a pain, but you got to practice making tinder bundles as much as you practice ignition.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Fire with a SAK. It was a hot day last year and I used True Tinder fungus (Inonotus obliquus) for the tinder.

Doc

 

[martensite]

that sak-with-magnifying-glass looks like it would be handier to carry than the ~ 8x11 fresnel lenses I bought at 'Big Lots'.

 

[Myal]

I cheat , I suck at using little lenses , so I bough a magnify glass about the size of the palm of my hand .

It lights stuff up easy enough , paper , leaves etc , no worries .

Yeah , it weighs more than a plastic lense of credit card size , but my reasoning is that if I need a fire , Im not likely to have the patience needed to spark it up from something tiny ... Ill go the quick easy route .

the lense weighs a bit more than a credit card sized plastic job ind is physicaly bigger , but it lights a fire even with light cloud cover so its a trade off of sorts as I see it .

the only draw back with relying on it for a fire is that I have to light it up before the sun goes down

 

[lotoblades]

Although I have had some success with different lenses, I've never been able to do it with a SAK magnifier. Anybody get a SAK lens to work?

Still lights charcloth nice, I havn't had much luck with the sak lens on grass or shredded bark but I have lit really dry,rotten pine with it.

 

[Critter]

I have one of those frensel magnifying sheets, the size of a credit card. I decided to test it, its in the doug ritter survival pack, and I couldn't get a fire going.

I got a fire going today. I took my dozier and scraped it perpendicular to a cedar tree. It was on a south facing slope so it was pretty dry. Got nice fuzzy cedar bark tinder, about the size of a golf ball. I put some slivers of birch bark in this little "nest" . I reclined down next to this and focused the rays on the cedar bark. A coal started to grow, I gave it some air, and suddenly, FIRE.

This little frensel thing is pretty good for its size. I might go get a magnifying glass to compare it to.

Glad to hear you got it to work. The Fresnel lens is primarily there to help read the small print in the Survival Instructions. Some of us need that help if we lose glasses. The primary firestarter in the PSP is the Spark-Lite and its tinder. There's likely to be little real need in an actual emergency to use the magnifier to start a fire, but you can do so under the right conditions.

As you have confirmed, it will work, but it isn't a trivial task like it is with a larger Fresnel magnifier or a conventional solid lens As you discovered, the type of tinder used will make a huge difference. You must use very effective tinder. As has been noted in this thread, dark works best, but mostly it has to be very, very flammable. But, that's only half the difficulty.

Beyond really good tinder, the other key is stabilizing the lens. Because it is flexible, you have to both manipulate it so it gives you a very small and hot pinpoint of light and you then have to steadily maintain it in that position. My experience is that it works best to comfortably brace yourself against something solid. Even better if you can support it without having to hold it.

There is no question that it is far easier to start a fire using a solid lens magnifier than a small flexible Fresnel lens magnifier, but it can be done, as you confirmed. Hopefully, these tips will make it easier for anyone who wants to try themselves. However, having said all this, far better to have other reliable means to start the fire. This is back-up to my back-up.

 

[DOC-CANADA]

The Fresnel lens is primarily there to help read the small print in the Survival Instructions. Some of us need that help if we lose glasses.

Although true, it still made me laugh out loud. I've noticed the last few years, printed instructions are getting smaller and smaller. Must be the new technology?

Doc

 

[digispam]

I have investigated this in detail starting last winter until now.


Like all magnifiers, there are different magnification powers available. The best I have seen and used is 4x (as claimed on the packaging). I have seen 6x and more advertised, but I don’t believe it. I can start a fire with the 4x, but not with the 2x Wal-mart brand.

I have also tried to stack them to multiply the magnification, but with total failure. Even kept in clamps to keep them steady I have never been able to do it.

Just thought I’d mention the different magnification power aspect of the issue since I haven’t seen it mentioned yet.