Bushcraft FirePiston...Wilderness Solutions

[Schwert]

My Bushcraft Firepiston arrived just a few minutes ago. It works very very smoothly and my tea saucer now has now a collection of fungus embers and the atmosphere of my vast cube space has been well scented with its smoke. My workmate is quite impressed and so far the smoke detectors have not activated the sprinkler system

The little cylinder is a removable ring the you insert between the body and shaft to allow a lanyard carry and to not require full compression on the storage stroke....this thing is begging for a kangaroo braided loop and cord which I think I will do this weekend.

Very nice cocobolo too with a rich grain and a nice overall "grippable" shape. I have fungus, char, mullein pith and milkweed pod to play with.

Thanks Jeff.

More fun....

 

[Jeff Wagner]

You are welcome.

....Heh heh...wait til he discovers the hidden tinder chamber in the cap...

 

[Schwert]

Wowers! I had forgotten that and the join is so perfect that I may never have discovered it..cork sealed too. Now that is a fine piece of woodwork.

Thanks.

 

[Buckshot]

Looks very nice both of you.
You must show us a pic of the braid as well Schwert

Cheers

Mark

 

[jdlenton]

wow that does look nice I hope your very happy together. You've got to show us a photo of the tinder compartment and it's seal now you’ve found it Schwert

I wana see I wana see

 

[Schwert]

I will shoot another image a bit later today of the tinder compartment... this is just a brill addition.

This piston has a very smooth stroke.

I am going to braid a 4-plait round braid that will wrap tightly around the collar, then join to an 8-plait bit that I think I will then taper down to a 6-plait lanyard that will be about a half meter long which I will probably terminate in a flat 6-plait loop to slip a belt through.

Originally I thought I would get a piston more for its unique and somewhat surprising way to make a fire…never really thinking I may use it as a first option method…now I am liking them so well that I think I will carry and use it whenever I make a fire. Not just a novelty but a solid alternative to my other methods….and stylistically right up there with traditional flint and steel, but almost with a bit of wizardry added.

 

[Jeff Wagner]

Originally I thought I would get a piston more for its unique and somewhat surprising way to make a fire…never really thinking I may use it as a first option method…now I am liking them so well that I think I will carry and use it whenever I make a fire. Not just a novelty but a solid alternative to my other methods….and stylistically right up there with traditional flint and steel, but almost with a bit of wizardry added.

Except for lighting the gas grill ( although I've done it ) the piston has become the most common method of fire starting I use. Week before last, my lady and I went camping on Friday night in preparation for sailing on the following day. I had brought along a dutch oven with intentions of preparing a tasty rice / chicken cassarole dish while setting up camp. It was so windy however I could not get the charcoal brickets to ignite using butane lighter after many attempts. No charcoal...no dinner. Not an attractive prospect at 9PM. I went back to the car and retreived a pouch of cedar bark and my fire piston. One quick pop on the fire piston ignited the fungus, I used that to start a second larger piece of fungus which I placed in the bark nest. The wind did the rest and ignited my bark with a whoosh. The charcoal was lit easily from the flaming bark and well....dinner was delicious. A camper from the neighboring site came over later to investigate, "how the hell was I able to light a fire in the wind"....

 

[Schwert]

Here is the tinder cavity in the handpiece.

(Lit with my Streamlight white LED)

Lanyard next week if I get it done this weekend.

 

[Brixton]

I have also just purchased a Wilderness solutions fire piston but I bought it through Survival school in Exeter.
I have purchased the one made from horn with a leather lanyard.
I've been playing with it at the bottom of the college sports field, behind a hedge so my boss can't see me, and have a minor problem which is as follows
I'm set up with a bundle of birch bark to recieve the ember and some charcloth (provided with piston)
When I fill the end of the piston fairly tightly it seems to ignite OK but It is proving very tricky to get out. I don't have long nails and am getting burnt fingers and still the charcloth is stuck in the piston.
If I pack the charcloth looser then it always flies off into the shrubbery when I remove the piston.
I must admit to being a bit 'panicy' at the moment with this new toy as it says to remove the piston immediately otherwise the ember'll go out.
How much time do you really have between pushing the piston in and removing it?

 

[Jeff Wagner]

While one should not linger unnecessarily during the extraction, you do have time for a controlled withdrawal. Charcloth can be difficult to pick out of the cavity as you have noted. Some of the originals in the museum have a tethered wire pick for that very purpose. (Please see the top photo on the Gallery page of Wilderness Solutions site.) IO fungus is much easier to extract with the fingers, however due to concerns relating to the importation of foreign biologicals we elected to provide the Survival School pistons with charcloth alone. A small wire pick as shown on these originals should solve your problem.

http://www.firepistons.com/catalog2.0.html

 

[Hoodoo]

Love that design! The tinder holder is brilliant!

 

[Schwert]

I took a bamboo chopstick and cut a skew chisel edge in it to use as a pick. I have found that I have plenty of time to work on the ember though.

My opening image has the chopstick in it (flat ended there, but now skew pointed).

 

[Schwert]

Well I finally got my lanyard braided for this firepiston.

I used 3mm kangaroo lace, middled the strings and started with a simple 4-plait round braid. I estimated the loop diameter for the bushcrafter piston grooved piece and brought the two 4-plait pieces together at a slightly smaller diameter. Then braided 8-plait single diamond for a short piece then split back into 4-plait round. I forced this loop over the piston piece to test fit....nice and tight. After a good bit of 4-plait round on each tail I switched to flat 4-plait for behind the neck comfort and then joined these by backbraiding each into the other.

I put a contrasting cover knot over the 8-plait join as I had not done a very neat job of it.

Sorry for the sort of dim picture but I finished this just now in the dark. (Lights go out here at 1900).

This hangs neatly around my neck or I can use the loop around my belt.

 

[Buckshot]

Very nice Randy as always.