Anyone here make fire pistons?

[jsheyn]

Does anyone on this site make fire pistons? I would like to get a couple for gifts.

[snuffy]

WTH is a fire piston???¿¿¿:???:

[jcwit]

Here you go.

http://www.campmor.com/scout-pro-fire-piston.shtml?source=CI&ci_sku=50394&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=

[waksupi]

Do a search, I remember a couple topics on them. I have one I made, but don't have access to a lathe to turn a good one at the time. I think we had a member making them, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDK2BTV-31w

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I use to get "wilderness way" magazine, it's last publication was in 2009.
anyway, they would advertise them in there made of fancy wood.

Here is a DYI with great illustrations.
http://www.primitiveways.com/Fire%20Piston%20using%20commercial%20materials.htm l

[Four-Sixty]

I recently took a hunters safety course. They mentioned using steel wool to start a fire in the exam. I thought it was a typo. I tried doing it at home and sure enough, it would work. I lit some 0000 steel wool with a match and boy, it burns hot!

[jsheyn]

I know there are comercial pistons available...I was hoping to give the business to a community resident.

I quit carying steel wool in the backpack after a really dumb mistake when i put the wookl and a 9 volt in the same ziplock...Yep I got all new bakcpacking gear out of it.

[Rangefinder]

I have a couple fire pistons, but am not a big fan of them. They do work, BUT... it's more of a novelty in my experience. A fire steel is so much more practical in genuine emergency/survival conditions.

If it helps, here's a review I did of a fire piston a while back for my wilderness survival page.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/north-american-survival-and-wilderness-education/the-fire-piston/418881131501426

[snuffy]

Good grief, I can just imagine a man freezing to death trying to fiddle with that contraption! Just one of many ways to start a fire. That would NOT work in a downpour, that "ember" would get drowned by one drop of rain.

I have 2 different types of storm matches, waterproof, can be struck in the rain, they burn hot and for a long time.

I also have a magnesium/flint fire starter, kept inside a heavy duty plastic bag with quite a bit of cotton tinder.

Survivor man used a magnesium with flint starter on one of his shows. I forget which situation he was in, but it worked beautifully.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

i just use a Bic :bigsmyl2:

[Rangefinder]

i just use a Bic :bigsmyl2:
Not to get finicky, but a bic has its own set of issues. Wet=worthless. Sub-zero=gas won't flow. Jam it in a pocket for a day's worth of hiking=button gets stuck down and leaks all the butane out. Hold it on angle while trying to get wet tinder to ignite=the plastic tabs holding the striker melt and the spring pushing the flint against the striker launches the flint to who-knows-where... Need I go on? I had one of my classes interrupted last fall for a S&R call-out. The guy was found late afternoon of his second day with serious hypothermia and a Bic that wouldn't light for one of the above-mentioned reasons. ;)

[Artful]

Zippo beats your bic and you can refill it out on the trail

[jsheyn]

Guys I use an old school flint steel for backpacking... I and the people who are getting these for gifts enjoy the science behind how a fire piston works.... As some one posted above they are, at least in this case, a novelty.

I know there are a lot of metal and wood workers on this forum and I'd rather give my cash to someone here then to some online store.

[tommag]

Oops, just read your second post, guess you don't need advice. I have no idea which one of us was selling them here.

[Swamp Man]

Zippo beats your bic and you can refill it out on the trail

Yes Sir give me a Zippo any day.

[BruceB]

Having lived for decades in the REALLY cold country of the Arctic (Northwest Territories) it was routine , around September each year, to put a winter survival kit in each vehicle. We lived 20 miles from town on a little-traveled gravel road, and drove back and forth both day and night.

This kit included the sleeping bag, some candles etc (a candle will keep you alive in a disabled vehicle even at forty-below zero). After some trial-and error, we finalized on those oily-smelling white blocks used for barbecue-starting, as our fire-starters.

For one thing, they burn for a LONG time..... long enough to actually dry wet fuel to the point it will burn. They also burn long enough to ignite a spare tire, which is REALLY the ultimate cold-weather survival heat source in a vehicle. be VERY CERTAIN that the tire is deflated before lighting it afire....otherwise you may well DIE before you planned it!

Those white blocks are light, compact, and will even ignite when wet. Cheap, too. Leave them in their packaging until needed, and they will store for a very long time. You still need matches or a lighter, but the fire part is sure easy!

[Rangefinder]

All right, I'm gonna suggest we take this over to the outdoor section. The OP already stated his needs and purpose, how about we find someone to make a piston here and we talk survival in a fresh thread? Fun topic, but not helpful for the OP's purposes.