# Fire Piston



## Paddle (Jan 20, 2008)

Has anyone made one of these?

 If so, how long do they last?

 If you haven't seen or heard of them here's a link:

http://www.firepistons.com/


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## matthewsman (Jan 20, 2008)

*I'll have to do some looking around for where I saw it...*

If I remember right,maybe it was indo-china?They make them of bammboo and a plunger wrapped sort of like the ones on the website...

Looks like it would all last a while,fairly simple parts,but may have to be re-wrapped to maintain the compression needed ...


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## Paddle (Jan 20, 2008)

I've seen all kinds on the internet made out of everthing from wood to plastic. 

 You can order a kit for around $40. A finished one goes for $60 and up.

 I was wondering how fast the plunger end would wear.


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## GAnaturalist (Jan 21, 2008)

The gasket wears out first, just like the stupid head gaskets in my truck. 

You have to keep the piston head/gasket lubed, fat, tallow, etc.


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## Nugefan (Jan 21, 2008)

haven't ever used em ....

give me my flint n' steel any day .....


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## Derek Edge (Jan 21, 2008)

Nugefan said:


> haven't ever used em ....
> 
> give me my flint n' steel any day .....



Yeah, after seeing how easy it was for you to make a fire at the rendezvous, with your flint and steel, kind of seems crazy to be toting a "fire piston" around in ya pocket.  My son keeps begging me to make him a fire that way, I just havn't gotten around to making the char cloth.  I also got to look for a piece of good steel.


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## Nugefan (Jan 22, 2008)

Derek Edge said:


> Yeah, after seeing how easy it was for you to make a fire at the rendezvous, with your flint and steel, kind of seems crazy to be toting a "fire piston" around in ya pocket.  My son keeps begging me to make him a fire that way, I just havn't gotten around to making the char cloth.  I also got to look for a piece of good steel.



shoot me a PM with your addy .... I gotcha covered on the charcloth ....


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## dawg2 (Jan 22, 2008)

That is pretty impressive.  Never heard of that before.


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## Confederate_Jay (Jan 28, 2008)

This is all very interesting- Where do you get or how do you make charcloth- also what kind of wood is "punk" wood ( show in some the video on the piston site). 

Making fire is something I'd like to master myself just for grins. What is the best kind of wood to use for the drill method?

Thanks, Jay


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## Confederate_Jay (Jan 28, 2008)

Confederate_Jay said:


> This is all very interesting- Where do you get or how do you make charcloth- also what kind of wood is "punk" wood ( show in some the video on the piston site).
> 
> Making fire is something I'd like to master myself just for grins. What is the best kind of wood to use for the drill method?
> 
> Thanks, Jay





Nevermind I saw Nic's thread a little further down- Great stuff


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## dawg2 (Jan 28, 2008)

you guys are killing me.....I have a fire piston coming...now I just have to find some Birch Fungus....I wonder if fat-lighter pieces will work...


I don't know why, or how, but in all my years of playing around "outside" and had never heard of a fire piston before.  I've done flint/steel, magnesium, 0000steel wool, etc.  But never heard of a piston....I bet I can make some money on some bets with that


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## Nugefan (Jan 29, 2008)

dawg2 said:


> .....I have a fire piston coming...



cheater , cheater , cheater .........

didn't I make fire fer ya'll at Chehaw ....


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## dawg2 (Jan 29, 2008)

Nugefan said:


> cheater , cheater , cheater .........
> 
> didn't I make fire fer ya'll at Chehaw ....



But I haven't done one with a piston yet


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## Nugefan (Jan 29, 2008)

dawg2 said:


> But I haven't done one with a piston yet



Ok , Ok , I'll let ya slide then ....


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## dawg2 (Jan 29, 2008)

Nugefan said:


> Ok , Ok , I'll let ya slide then ....



Probably easie rto carry a Bic.


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## Nugefan (Jan 31, 2008)

Markcoooooooooooo ...

you get that fire piston yet ...............


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## dawg2 (Jan 31, 2008)

Nugefan said:


> Markcoooooooooooo ...
> 
> you get that fire piston yet ...............



It must be coming straight from southeast asia!  UPS/FEDEX runs around 2-3 pm, hopefully today

Need to find some tinder fungus....I am going to try a piece of fat lighter first though...and keep a bucket of water handy


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## dawg2 (Feb 4, 2008)

FINALLY HERE!!!!!

I just tried the firepiston.  It came with charcloth, extra string, instructions and a bill

I loaded it and I got the charcloth going on the 2nd try

I even started a little fire, just to say that it works.  If you like primitive stuff, this is a cool toy.  I got mine from "Wilderness Solutions"  I bought the plain old coco bolo, cheapest they had...the quarter in the pic is just for reference


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## Nugefan (Feb 6, 2008)

just caught up ......

show us some pix of how she works ....

I love the wood , sure is purty ..... 

start a new thread with pix to show us ......


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## GT Whitetail (Feb 9, 2008)

Awesome thread.. I was about to post the same question because I was procrastinating from the books and watched a survivor show in which a fire piston was used. Let us all know how well it works.
Thanks
GT


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