[Camoxjeep]

Havent been on here in a while but was going over the thread about a fire piston and just thought I'd share mine with my fire starting kit....

Starting top left and working around: Flint and Steel, Fire Piston, Char Cloth with shoe polish tin to make it, magnifying glass, steel wool and 9volt battery, bottom of soda can polished, tinder kit I had from a while back, bag of cotton balls covered in petroleum jelly, magnesium with small leather-man and LED light, and of course the ol' BIC lighter..........only thing I need now is a hand drill and find some tree fungus for a coal extender.

Heres some close up of the fire piston. I plan on taking the large ends and creating "cups" with screw on lids on each end. One end for Vaseline and the other for char cloth. I made two o-ring grooves at the end to help with compression. Also, made one at the other end for a spare. Came up with that after I first made it and the o-ring got pinched and had to replace it.

Mostly got my kit together to start teaching our Webelos Scouts different ways to start fires. I have been practicing here and there with all of them.

 

[determu]

What's the bottom of a soda can for ?

Where did you get your fire piston at?

 

[leftyz]

What's the bottom of a soda can for ?

Reflecting the sun's rays to a point which can be used to start a fire.

 

[determu]

wouldn't a dedicated lens be stronger and more effective?

i put a hole in my cotton balls and just squirt the petroleum jelly inside of it. i got tired of my fire starting gear getting greasy. ( i use a small cheap cake batter bag to do it)

what type of container do you put everything in?

i use a Altoids tin. than i put the tin in one of pouches i bought from victor23 which i added some water repellent spray. and i super glued a thick plastic bag onto the inside top part of the pouch.

Edit I see a magnifying glass

 

[leftyz]

He said he's got a magnifying lens... If he is trying to teach all different ways to improvise and make fire, looks like a good kit

 

[kevinthenurse]

Only change I would make would be swap the can bottom for a solar cigarette lighter. Kinda the same principle but is more reflective and even has a little grip to hold the tinder/cigarette.

just my .02

 

[New_Pollution1086]

Add a bowdrill setup. always a fun thing to play with.

T

 

[SamboRoberts]

Good idea on the placement of the spare O ring for the fire piston.

 

[Optimist]

That is a very neat fire piston.

 

[223shootersc]

sweet setup

 

[Camoxjeep]

Thanks everyone, I made the fire piston at work, I do machine work and can sometimes do "government work" during breaks. I also plan on getting a bowdrill setup in the future. For now I just have all of this stuff in a small bag. Somehow I dont think everyone reads an entire post, just skim and assume LOL I am using this kit to teach young scouts (Webelos 9-11 yr olds) different ways to start fires using basic/different methods. I am also self teaching myself back to the basic fire starting. Plan on building upon my skills from the military and scouting to start doing some outings without all the bells and whistles. I am more of an outdoors-man than anything and would love to do some "roughing it" type camping/hiking. Me and my son have one more year in Cub Scouts before we move up to Boy Scouts. The Troop were looking at going to have a couple leaders that teach survival skills to their scouts. Thats where I got a few of the ideas for my kit. Thanks again for the comments.

 

[Camoxjeep]

That is a very neat fire piston.

thanks, first one I made I had the ends to small and hurt my hands while using it. I made the ends on this one bigger and more round and its a lot easier on the hands now. Like I said in first post I plan on adding caps to the ends and putting Vaseline in one end and char cloth in the other end. that way its all one package. Def have a spare oring or two as I found out that they can get pinched and if you dont have a spare no fire LOL

 

[SamboRoberts]

Def have a spare oring or two as I found out that they can get pinched and if you dont have a spare no fire LOL

Some cotton thread will do in a pinch. Give it a go, you'll be surprised.

 

[Camoxjeep]

Some cotton thread will do in a pinch. Give it a go, you'll be surprised.

funny you say that as we've used that method before in the military......

 

[Jeffrey]

How about swapping the coke can bottom for a signal mirror? Dual purpose ya know...

Where are the matches and swiss steel?

 

[Camoxjeep]

How about swapping the coke can bottom for a signal mirror? Dual purpose ya know...

Where are the matches and swiss steel?

Because a signal mirror doesnt focus the beam to a focal point, its just that....a mirror. Thats where you need a concave surface..i.e. magnifying glass, soda can bottom, eye glass lens and so forth. And I'm not using the soda can bottom to teach signaling, I'm using it as another means to start a fire.

Ya, I need some different type matches but I already have a magnesium starter that has a sparker, same as the swiss steel.

 

[Hubb]

That's a pretty big fire starter kit. I don't think you will have a problem starting a fire. Personally, though, I think it's a little TOO big. For example, why do you need PJ balls + charcloth + tinder fungus? I just carry the PJ balls and rubber innertube strips, and I've been able to light a fire under any conditions so far (never tried snow 'cause it don't snow where I live).

And why do you need so many ways of creating a spark? You got flint and steel, fire piston, electricity, magnesium bar, and a magnifier, then you got a lighter. It's always good to multiple ways of making a fire, but I think this is overkill. I've got a ferro rod and a lighter in my kit and they have yet to fail on me. If they ever do, I also have a magnesium bar, which will just about light a fire under water.

Don't think I'm trying to be critical of your choices. I'm just trying to help you out. I'm sorta big on saving space and weight and I think this kit is a little big for what it is.

 

[leftyz]

Another "post first, read never" kinda guy, huh?

 

[cleatis]

O.K, just set the record straight, thats not a fire starting kit. Its a fire starting walmart. Nice job.

 

[Camoxjeep]

Another "post first, read never" kinda guy, huh?

:thumb::thumb::thumb:
x100 FOR YOU ALL THAT ARE NOT READING THIS POST.........................THIS IS NOT A KIT I TAKE WITH ME........ITS A KIT I PUT TOGETHER TO TEACH YOUNG SCOUTS DIFFERENT WAYS TO START A FIRE...................

On a side note, I took out the soda can bottom yesterday and started a piece of char cloth in about 10-15 seconds. Just to see the difference i also started a piece of char cloth with the magnifying lense in about the same time. Never would have known you could use a soda can to help start a fire. Video to come when I get a few seconds.