[haha49]

I saw this thing on survirman when he was in alaska and though hey that would be cool to have but then i found out they like 100 bucks for one and i was wondering if anyone use them?

 

[Smudge]

Liked the first one more than the second, the most basic and easiest to follow instructions Ive seen regarding firepistons (then Ive never looked too much into it) after seeing those however I just might. :thumb:

 

[drs64]

I might just have to try that

 

[haha49]

i made one works well.. used dry lint light easy.. cost me like 6 bucks to make too..

 

[commoguy]

i saw that one when i was home on leave pretty interesting watching him eating that fish he found. honestly from the looks of the fire piston though i dont think it would be too difficult to make yourself a fire piston.

 

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

I own 2 of them they are quite nice you can find them for 40 usd on up http://www.fire-pistons.com/explorermodel.html these are beutifull and reasonable http://www.wildersol.com/files/FirePistons.html heres a few links to some I llike the best

 

[Straight Razor]

I have a nice rosewood one... they work well... the hard part is finding suitable tinder if you're out of char cloth.

 

[haha49]

i was watching survoir man and he just used dry grass and wood chips

 

[Straight Razor]

i was watching survoir man and he just used dry grass and wood chips

Let me try this again: Dry grass and wood chips cannot go IN the fire piston. You need a small about of a very combustible material to go into the fire piston. Some places that can be fugus et cetera.... that is the liability of the piston, something to make an ember with.

 

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

the absolute best is chaga or tinder fungus, second best is false tinder fungus also called horse hoof I believe, then char cloth both are great but must be kept quite dry to work. 1 oz of chaga will last a long long time its available all over the internet, its a fungus that mostly grows on Birch trees that are wounded.

 

[Straight Razor]

the absolute best is chaga or tinder fungus, second best is false tinder fungus also called horse hoof I believe, then char cloth both are great but must be kept quite dry to work. 1 oz of chaga will last a long long time its available all over the internet, its a fungus that mostly grows on Birch trees that are wounded.

I think if you can find something local and common to use a fire piston is excellent. Otherwise it is an affectation not a tool.

 

[haha49]

Let me try this again: Dry grass and wood chips cannot go IN the fire piston. You need a small about of a very combustible material to go into the fire piston. Some places that can be fugus et cetera.... that is the liability of the piston, something to make an ember with.

yes you can put wood ships in there you just break them down smaller.. almost anything will light just it takes a few more pass to generate enoff heat to turn it into an ember you can use bark grass wood and stuff like that just if its wet takes lots more work to get started been expermenting with diffrent stuff and most of it i got to light the problem is it takes longer with diffrent material and more work have to push on it harder and faster ect but you can stick anthing that will fit in it and it has potential to work just loads more work to get it started i used wet grass to see if it would work took 15 mins i think most of the time it was helping it dry out but it would light after some hard work

 

[practicalsurvivor]

We built several pistons and should have a small article written soon. (will post pics this evening) My experience is that the fungus works pretty well. Other tinder I have tried includes punk wood, dandelion clock, dry grass, shredded bark. From my personal experience, I would not want to count on this tool under adverse weather.

Everyone has their preference and mine is a ferrocerium rod. It is lightweight, virtually unbreakable, and inexpensive. If you compare the price of a piston from most suppliers, you could purchase twenty ferro rods.

It is a neat tool to learn but in my humble opinion it is not prudent or maybe I should say efficient. I learned to use one in case of an emergency. Building a fire piston in the woods would be extremely difficult. I guess I look at everything from the point of, weight, cost, reliability.

The ferrocerium rod costs less, is lighter and is more reliable. I have been able to start fires minutes after a rainstorm with the rod.

I have a few pictures of the prototypes we built until we finally got the working model.

 

[SAND HILLS TRACKER]

Making and collecting fire pistons!!!!

Hi all!, of course im the new guy,but wanna say i love this topic as i collect and make {made3} fire pistons..just bought 4 more,1 from california,2 from rose mountain,and a rosewood fire piston from mauger_1{<??},,,oh --razor,,how do you like your rosewood piston??,did you get it the same place?? What are dimensions??,etc,.. I have one on its way,and i have never used on of those,tho they look good..i have used about everyone else's tho,,...as far as making them??---not as easy as one might think! I made them out of cpvc,and they fire the first try almost every time{2 of them,one i took apart} one is pocket sized,,one is long..when making them out of brass or aluminum,etc..--not so easy,,atleast it did'nt used to be,,,but now its a little easier w/ copper stub-outs,,and other material that is pre-designed for other things,but,work as piston parts perfectly!!...i will try to post some pics. Of my ever growing collection..if anyone wants to chat about pistons,,kim always looking for individual makers w/ not so commonly found pistons..thanks--rob

 

[skab0311]

I used the first video's instructions and built one, took about an hour and had all the materals at home so really didnt cost me a thing, At first I wasnt getting it to work, but then figured out that I didnt have the end cap tight enough. I have been using char cloth with great results

 

[Smith]

The o-ring is the weak link and will wear out at some point in time.

 

[bulldog]

ebay has the one like les stroud used (same maker)for $25 SHIPPED

 

[haha49]

The o-ring is the weak link and will wear out at some point in time.

you can use waxed string its wears out faster then an oring but works well i made one took me like less then 1 miniter its cool to play with and see what will light and what wont yes useing stuff you find wet on the ground can work but its not easy takes more trys because it has to dry out for example i took a branch from a tree cut it off cut the center out then cut it to a small peice and it took me 15 trys to get it to light use char cloth you can do it in like 1 so it depends on what you put in there then i tried it with gas just fumes that was cool shoots it out like in a real car..

 

[practicalsurvivor]

Put this one together, works with changa, and charred cloth. I would still prefer to carry a large ferro rod.

Has anyone been able to ignite punk wood ?

 

[J.R.]

Have cotton clothing/socks/etc. on you and use the lint from them as tinder for the fire piston. Of course, if everything is wet you're kinda out of luck.