This method uses a plastic wrap material suspended in an embroidery frame with water poured onto it. The weight of the water causes the plastic wrap to stretch in a shallow parabola that creates a water lens. As with any lens there is a focal point where you would focus the sunbeam to a small point that when focused onto some tinder is hot enough to ignite it.

I had to elevate my lens high enough to focus the sunlight so I used various items to support the frame, in this case two plastic buckets, two boards, and two bricks. Water lenses need to be undisturbed by wind or by it’s support system so a windless day with a steady support system is crucial. My conditions were perfect and in short order smoke began to appear on my tinder and after an ember formed I let it grow while I blew air lightly on it. Then I placed the ember into a tinder bird’s nest and continued to nurture it into a flame.

I’ve done all sorts of optical fire methods and learned about the nature of each one but now I can mark this one off of my list and look forward to trying the next one. Experience is the best teacher so I invite you to try this method out for yourself.

A friend of mine, and fellow firecrafter, was demonstrating a method of blowing that can be done from a distance while the bundle rests on the ground, thus avoiding the heat and smoke normally associated with the hand-held method. He used his fingers to direct his breath in a focused manner, enabling him to grow the ember from a distance.

As shown in the top photo the tips of both thumbs and forefingers are held together thus forming a small diamond-shaped hole where they touch. Your lips are placed over the top and bottom of the thumbs and fingers while you blow through the hole and the resulting channel of wind can be focused on the coal in the bird’s nest. Properly done there is no sound produced when blowing. Your cheeks act like a bellows to gather air while blowing through the hole. You can practice aiming your breath while blowing over dry dirt or blades of grass to see where the air stream hits.

He mentioned that by tradition the name of the “diamond” method is prefaced by the State where you learned it as long as it is outside of the State that you were born in and so this method and tradition is passed on to the next firecrafter. He also encouraged me to use this method to blow out the candles on my next birthday cake and “wow” the crowd in attendance.

• materials need close proximity to transfer heat while enabling sufficient air flow
• white material is difficult to ignite while dark material lights easily
• the focus from the lens/mirror needs a flat surface to ignite vs. fuzz

So I began to prepare the paper hand towel for lighting.

These paper towels come as tri-fold sheets enabling it to be dispensed successively so after I removed a sheet I proceeded to refolded it into it’s long rectangular shape. I ripped it in the middle and then ripped each half in the middle. I stacked these parts together and rolled them into a rather tight cylinder. This combination of concentric sheets allowed airflow while providing close proximity. I needed something dark upon which to focus so I found a dark dry leaf that I broke down and placed in the core at the end. I later used a black felt-tip pen to darken the outer edge on a subsequent effort that worked great!

Once I began to focus the light from the sun onto the priming leaf, smoke appeared quickly and I have learned that it pays to “wobble” the focus around a bit in an ever-widening spiral because once the initial material is ignited and consumed by the burning light it doesn’t provide on-going ignition so this practice provides an ever-widening area of what I call a critical mass of heat. Blowing on this area while focusing the light from the sun will build and sustain this growing ember. Once the ember is established It helps to hold the tinder bundle above eye level with the ember at the bottom so that as you blow on the ember it preheats the rest of the material and accelerates the process.

These paper towel rolls can be somewhat stubborn to produce a flame in themselves but can be placed within additional surrounding sheets of paper or in a pile of tinder like dry leaves and coaxed into a successful flame that can be built into a campfire.

As always, I encourage you to practice using this method to prepare you for it’s use in an emergency situation.

In the past I have used a Pine Needle Tinder Bundle that required a flat cut across the top end to provide a surface upon which to focus the lens. I figured that the nearby tall dead grass stalks could be used in the same way. After I gathered the straw material I broke it into six inch lengths and used a full length of grass to wrap it together, then cut one end flat. After focusing the lens on the straw material I found that it was too coarse to hold an ember so I decided to modify the bundle for better results.

Most folks have heard of a “birds nest” tinder bundle where fine tinder is placed within a wad of material surrounding it and in this manner I realized that I needed finer tinder at the core of this bundle of straw so I collected dry leaves and crumbled them in my fist into tiny bits and used them to fill the core of my straw bundle. The leaf bits were dark which is effective in retaining heat and the closeness of the bits was effective for transferring heat within the core.

It happened to be quite windy that day so at first I had to shield the bundle slightly to prevent heat loss until the embers began to ignite. As the coal began to grow I exposed it to the wind that helped to accelerate the process and with an added breath a flame was born. During this process I was able to handle the bundle much like an ice-cream cone but had to tilt it to the side once embers began to fall.

It would be simple to set this down beneath a campfire lay that had been prepared ahead of time but at this point I just extinguished the bundle as I had been successful in this technique and continued on my walk along the river. I encourage you to try making a solar fire this way because it is effective in using the native material at hand when you find yourself outdoors and need a fire.

The solar cigarette lighter uses a parabolic mirror to direct the sun’s rays to a point of focus where the tip of a cigarette is held in place by a retractable arm or bracket. These lighters are produced in metal or silverized plastic. The cigarette holding arm can be a hinged bracket or a spring mounted wire (as shown in the photo). In lieu of using the lighter as it’s manufactures intended, alternate tinders to start a fire can be lit by moving the bracket to the side while holding the tinder by hand at the point of focus.

 
The flint-less lighter uses a hair-thin platinum wire or grid of wires to ignite it’s fuel. Platinum wire when exposed to methyl alcohol fumes and other flammable gases creates an exothermic reaction that causes it to glow red-hot thus causing ignition. These lighters can come as a wand for stove burners or lipstick style canisters as shown in the photo. It’s quite a phenomenon to behold. If you acquire either style, you may need to pass the filament through a flame or touch it to a lit cigarette to burn off any residue in order for it to be activated more easily.
 
 
 
The “Shepard’s lighter” or “trench lighter” is a flame-less lighter that uses a charred cotton cord to catch sparks from a flintwheel striker. Where a modern lighter uses lighter fluid with a wick or a nozzle for butane gas, a cotton cord that is charred at the end is similarly positioned to catch the sparks produced when the flintwheel is struck. The result is an ember that is enhanced by blowing on it and then touched to a cigarette. It was used during WWII to light cigarettes without a flame, thus reducing visibility to the enemy when lit.

There are more lighters on my “to-get” list. During WWII Japanese soldiers had a brass fire piston that they used as a lighter. Dunhill made a flint-lock lighter with an actual fire pan for gun powder. There are also battery powered lighters, the most recent model having the appearance of a thumb-drive that is charged via USB port. In the interest if obtaining more specimens for my collection I would enjoy receiving any comments regarding your favorite lighters and how they work.

Reflective Solar Fire Method

The mirrored surface of a headlight reflector is described as “concave” in shape, similar to the interior surface of a rounded cup. It reflects light from a light-bulb that is mounted inside it and shines outward. Some of the newer headlights use a “convex” lens that transmits light through it. It is fashioned from a solid material such as glass or plastic that focuses the light from a light-bulb outward as well.

Refractive Solar Fire Method

One of the most convenient ways to make a “slow Match” in my area is with cattail heads. By igniting the tip of the cattail head, it will slowly burn downwards for an hour or more. By carrying a few more heads, you can ignite each one successively as the previous one expires, thus sustaining a live coal. In transit, remember to monitor your bundle for slight smoke that is produced by the coal to assure that it has enough oxygen to stay alive.

Fire pistons were originally made out of bamboo, bone, and horn. The gasket was made of string fiber and lubricated with dog fat. Different tinders include true tinder fungus, mullein pith, milkweed pod ovum, milkweed down, cattail fluff, poplar cotton, and wood punk. The tinder is placed in the end of the piston which in turn is inserted into the cylinder. By striking the piston down briskly, the tinder is ignited by the heat of compression, instantly becoming a glowing ember. The ember is then transferred to a waiting bundle of tinder which is coaxed into a flame.

I bought my first fire piston about 8 years ago and had fun until the wood grain separated, thus creating a leak – causing a lack of compression. As a reproduction of a centuries old fire making device, the string gasket fire piston is a treasure. But for unequaled performance, the 2nd Generation fire piston is now being produced that consists of a brass cylinder and piston that are incorporated into the traditional wood materials so that the look and feel are the same, but the durability is unlimited. It also uses a rubber “O”-ring that is consistent and replaceable. In addition, it has a patent-pending pressure-relief valve that allows easy stowage of the piston within the cylinder.

The fire pistons in the photo illustrate the difference in construction between the old and new technologies. I have enjoyed using both of them. You can order your own fire piston from the Survivaltek Store. Each kit comes with charcloth and instructions.