# Fire piston?



## SELFBOW (Jan 22, 2011)

Is it to modern to discuss around here? I have watched a ton of videos on it and it seems to be an easy fire starter.

Opinions


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## 3CB (Jan 22, 2011)

Not modern at all! Been around thousands of years in the pacific islands!


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## dawg2 (Jan 22, 2011)

3CB said:


> Not modern at all! Been around thousands of years in the pacific islands!



What he said.  I have two and they work great.


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## SELFBOW (Jan 22, 2011)

dawg2 said:


> What he said.  I have two and they work great.



Did you make them or purchase them? pics?


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## T.P. (Jan 22, 2011)

Quite interesting...


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## dawg2 (Jan 22, 2011)

buckbacks said:


> Did you make them or purchase them? pics?



I bought them.  I am planning on making one, just have to find the time.    I got mine here  http://www.wildersol.com/

Mine is a first generation coco bolo, solid wood plunger (no brass on the end) and is a cotton cord gasket, not an o-ring.


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## SELFBOW (Jan 22, 2011)

I found the old threads on here. Should have looked first for them. I was outside trying a bowdrill today and came in to watch some you tube and that is when I found the fire piston to be very interesting.


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## dawg2 (Jan 22, 2011)

buckbacks said:


> I found the old threads on here. Should have looked first for them. I was outside trying a bowdrill today and came in to watch some you tube and that is when I found the fire piston to be very interesting.



They are very interesting.  I have one in my office.  It raises eyebrows when you slam a dowel in a tube and start a fire that way


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## jcinpc (Jan 23, 2011)

I traded a box of top shelf cooked knapping coral for my coco bola and antler piston and a couple of pounds of chaga. I love this thing .So far I have found chaga to work the best .plus is makes an awesome tea and smells good as an incense


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## dawg2 (Jan 23, 2011)

jcinpc said:


> I traded a box of top shelf cooked knapping coral for my coco bola and antler piston and a couple of pounds of chaga. I love this thing .So far I have found chaga to work the best .plus is makes an awesome tea and smells good as an incense



Very nice.  That is a style I would like to make.


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## caveman168 (Jan 25, 2011)

I tried making one out of copper tubing, a dowel rod , and an o-ring and had no luck. I will try again one day, just not enough hours in the day now.


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## dawg2 (Jan 25, 2011)

caveman168 said:


> I tried making one out of copper tubing, a dowel rod , and an o-ring and had no luck. I will try again one day, just not enough hours in the day now.



I am with you on the time problem  I do know it has to be TIGHT.  I have no idea who figured this out in a primitive culture nor how they made these without modern drill presses and materials.


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## jcinpc (Jan 25, 2011)

I found a most awesome on youtube awhile back on fire pistons, some island guy using a large knife , a screwdriver and 2 blocks of wood. Get on youtube and find it, it will inspire you,lol


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## Papa Steve (Jan 29, 2011)

I read history book years ago that fire pistons were like matches are today for starting fires to cook, light candles and lanterns. The invention of matches caused the disappearance of the fire piston. It was very common tool even into the 1900's. Every house had at least one.


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## Swampthang2 (Mar 4, 2011)

Make some they work great! I use altoids or...a small candy tin to make my char cloth...and all the materials to make a fire piston are available at hardware stores.


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## arkie1 (Mar 6, 2011)

saw bear grylls use one the other day it was interesting and looked real easy


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## Slingblade (Mar 6, 2011)

The fire pistons of the pacific islanders were supposedly the inspiration for Rudolf Diesel to create the diesel engine.  I've got one and use both char cloth and chaga, both ignite easily and the chaga does smell nice when it is smoldering.


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## RBM (Jul 10, 2011)

*metal fire piston & pvc fire piston*

Howdy folks,

I am new to this forum so this is my first post. I do a lot of bushcraft or primitive skills and while I would not really call a fire piston bushcraft or primitive skills nor would I stake my life on one out in the woods, I do like to play with fire pistons simply because they are a novelty. Great household novelty to use when needed and cheaper to use than butane lighters and even matches once one is built. I noticed that there is a lot of discussion on building one. I have two kinds and both work and both are not difficult to build. I will post the site links for the builds below.

This one is my four inch metal fire piston and built from the link below.





http://www.burghscouts.com/Flyers/FirePiston.pdf

The other one is a CPVC fire piston and while it does work, the metal piston clearly has the advantage in size for ease of carry.

Model "T" Fire Piston

Hope this helps out.


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## SELFBOW (Jul 11, 2011)

Thanks I'm gonna make a metal one...


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## dawg2 (Jul 11, 2011)

RBM said:


> Howdy folks,
> 
> I am new to this forum so this is my first post. I do a lot of bushcraft or primitive skills and while I would not really call a fire piston bushcraft or primitive skills nor would I stake my life on one out in the woods, I do like to play with fire pistons simply because they are a novelty. Great household novelty to use when needed and cheaper to use than butane lighters and even matches once one is built. I noticed that there is a lot of discussion on building one. I have two kinds and both work and both are not difficult to build. I will post the site links for the builds below.
> 
> ...



Are you using chapstick for the lube?


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## longbowdave1 (Jul 11, 2011)

Cool Stuff!! I know places like three rivers sell these and they are expensive! Didn't know you could build them.


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## RBM (Jul 11, 2011)

dawg2 said:
			
		

> Are you using chapstick for the lube?



Yes. Any petroleum based product will do. Lip balm works. Just a dab (and I do mean a small dab) on the O-ring. It does not take or need much. This thing will work without it but the lube extends the life of the O-ring because there is less friction along the tube walls.



			
				buckbacks said:
			
		

> Thanks I'm gonna make a metal one...



The nice thing about this one is that it is small and the compression is really high. Neither one of these requires a lathe. I got my parts all from Home Depot, and Lowes should also have them. The only tools required is a drill with bits, wrenches/pliers, a hammer and metal punch, tape measure, and a hacksaw. I think that is about it. No special tools, just common tools since the parts do not need to be altered very much. I wrote down the cost of all the parts somewhere but I can't find it right now. It can't be much more than about $10 if I recall correctly. Obviously these metal piston plans were for sale at one time or other but seems now to be available to anyone from the owner since the site link is from the original scout site link for it. I had to think about that a while before I realized that the site link must be legitimate. lol


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## RBM (Jul 12, 2011)

Oops. Maybe I ought to mention a few particulars. Keep the plunger groove and O-ring clean or trash will get under the O-ring and cause loss of compression. Also clean the tube out periodically.

Tinders. Char tinder only. I have not gotten any raw materials to work in it. The only raw material worth mentioning was Elderberry pith and it did not stay lit long enough to use for a coal. Any char tinder should work okay, cotton, linen, punk wood, etc. but it must be charred. The coal will be small so it should be placed on a larger piece of char inside a tinder bundle if trying to light a tinder bundle. This has worked well for me. I have not had any luck using just the small coal by itself in a tinder bundle (probably not enough heat generated). The implications for lighting other materials (using other materials like a match stick) with the small coal are probably endless.


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## RBM (Jul 13, 2011)

RBM said:
			
		

> I do a lot of bushcraft or primitive skills and while I would not really call a fire piston bushcraft or primitive skills nor would I stake my life on one out in the woods, I do like to play with fire pistons simply because they are a novelty.



Let me try to clarify why I say this. Building a fire piston from natural materials in the wild is difficult to impossible at best except for those who are in areas where the right wood exists and who are practiced in building a complex and tempermental device (and without tools). The average person is not and there are very few right woods (such as Ironwood and Osage Orange) that are dense enough in North America. There is no Coco Bolo that I know of in North America. So it is not practical to assume that one can be made in the wilderness from scratch by the average person in North America and the time involved to make it. Even if a piston is carried into the wilderness, I do not consider it to be reliable enough under all wilderness conditions especially with its dependency on "processed" or certain scarce tinders. The airtight seal needed "can" be a big dependency with loss of compression. It is a great household item to have where conditions, materials, and tinders are controllable though. So it is just a novelty to me rather than a serious and reliable method for fire starting in the wilderness. I just know with its dependencies it will fail me in the woods when I need it the most. Others may feel differently and may consider it to be reliable enough.


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## chehawknapper (Jul 13, 2011)

Fire pistons are alot of fun and entirely too easy when everything works just right and you have the proper tinder that works. However, for my money in a survival situation I would rely on friction fires instead. If you are planning on carrying something with you that you can rely on, stick with a metal match.


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## RBM (Jul 13, 2011)

chehawknapper said:
			
		

> Fire pistons are alot of fun and entirely too easy when everything works just right and you have the proper tinder that works. However, for my money in a survival situation I would rely on friction fires instead. If you are planning on carrying something with you that you can rely on, stick with a metal match.



Exactly. The majority of my fires come from the firebow even though I carry a mag stick and wear eyeglasses. My pocket knife (a SAK Hiker model) and shoe strings take care of friction fire. There are no rocks for breaking into an edge where I live so I carry a knife. The mag stick for when I may need the magnesium to light damp tinder with the mag stick's spark rod. The lenses on my eyeglasses will do for solar fire starting. That is three ways to start a fire and one is a friction fire method with no more than what I wear and in my pockets.


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## longbowdave1 (Jul 19, 2011)

Finished my Fire Piston today! It produced it's first hot ember minutes ago! I'll be trying it out on a camping trip this weekend. making the char cloth was a hoot! Thanks for the idea and plans!!!!


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## gurn (Jul 19, 2011)

Very interestin thread. I've thought about buying one.
Dave knowin what I know of you I knew you would come up with somethin ya made yourself. Great job.


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## boneboy96 (Jul 19, 2011)

OK...now I'm in the mood to head to Home depot and look around in the plumbing section!


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## longbowdave1 (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks Gurn. RBM provided the link to the directions, thanks for that! Looks like a fun item to have around the camp.


 You know my motto Gurn, " why buy something for 20$, when you can build it for 40$!


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## RBM (Jul 19, 2011)

longbowdave1 said:
			
		

> Finished my Fire Piston today! It produced it's first hot ember minutes ago! I'll be trying it out on a camping trip this weekend. RBM provided the link to the directions, thanks for that! Looks like a fun item to have around the camp.



Great. It is a lot of fun and too easy when everything works right, just like chehawknapper said. Don't let that make you overconfident in the piston as there are times when it can be tempermental. If you keep "fresh" char for the piston and keep the piston clean, it should be alright but don't stake your life on it always working. If char is allowed to stay open to the air, it will collect moisture and will be less ignitable so keep fresh char fresh. That is why I keep char in a sealed from the air container like a Kiwi shoe polish tinder box. You can double the Kiwi tinder box as a char cooker and as a char container if you plug the cooking vent hole in the top to keep air out and char fresh. A small sliver of wood will do for that.


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## SELFBOW (Jul 19, 2011)

I have already bought my supplies but will be next week before I mess with them...


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## j_seph (Jul 19, 2011)

Someone please ecplain the Char part. Thanks


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## RBM (Jul 19, 2011)

j_seph said:
			
		

> Someone please ecplain the Char part. Thanks



Okay. Maybe this link will help.

Making "Char"

I know the link says a flame is fine but it is not fine because it could be a sign that there is still be air in the tin or that the material is burning up rather than the gases only burning. Just remember that you do not want a flame coming out of the vent hole or you may get ashes, not char and that would be bad. So smother the hole with a flat tool like a knife blade or spatula and take it off the fire, then put it back on the fire when there is no more flame. Do this quickly. Also wait until there are no gases venting out for about a minute or two before taking the tin off the fire with the hole covered to keep air from rushing in. Air feeding into the hot tin will ignite the char, again that would be bad. Throw a damp cloth over the tin to cool for a minute or two before opening. If the material is brown and not black, get it back on the fire. You want black colored char. A low heat fire like on coals or a controllable gas stove.

BTW, do this outside. The smell is pretty bad so don't blame me if it stinks things up or sets off the fire alarm.

Here is another link.

Bow's Char

Only use materials that are not toxic. Some plants and plant piths for example can be toxic so breathing it could be dangerous or even fatal. Mullein pith as char may be okay but don't use Elderberry pith as material for char for instance. Elderberry essential oils contain cyanide. Small amounts may not hurt but large amounts might. I used raw Elderberry pith once in the piston and it did not stay lit long enough for a viable coal anyway. I have not used it as a char material though just for these reasons.


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## j_seph (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks


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## NavyDave (Sep 26, 2011)

I can't seem to get that link to work for the metal fire piston that you made Dave.....


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## RBM (Sep 26, 2011)

NavyDave said:
			
		

> I can't seem to get that link to work for the metal fire piston that you made Dave.....



The site seems to be down right now. Try it later and check it often. Could be a bandwidth problem I guess. This is why I suggest that you save the file to external disk or print a hard copy for future reference once the link is working again.


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## farmer (Sep 27, 2011)

The link still isn't working but I found these videos about making fire pistons:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1169797/fire_piston_diy_diesel_lighter/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImN5aRHyQZA


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## RBM (Sep 27, 2011)

farmer said:
			
		

> The link still isn't working



Patience. The main site (burghscouts.com) is down so all the links from it will be down also. Don't know when it will be back up but just check back on the link often.

The saved file size is 673 Kb. Too big for the forum attachment size or I would attach it. The file security only allows for opening and printing hard copies. No file copying.


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## SELFBOW (Apr 13, 2012)

Bump for blood otg


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