fire from a torch reflector

[RAPPLEBY2000]

i have a stainless steel(probably) torch reflector 2" or 5cm diameter. it is a perfecft mirror finish how do i go about making a coal.

i've seen in books the method of putting tinder in the hole the bulb would have been in, is this correct?

Hi could i ask how it's done, before i spend 3 hours the wrong way!
cheers

 

[ilan]

Hi i have never tried it but in theory you would need to place the tinder at the point where the bulb filament would be . This assumes that the lense in front of the bulb has no power. To experiment just use a cylinder of paper/card in the bulb hole and see where the light focus (Smallest point ) ilan

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Excellent i shall try it next time i get good sunlight, a bit hazy today!

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

just to say i tried it today and got a coal on horse hoof funghi in about 20 seconds!

 

[rich59]

Fab Rappleby.

I found I could do it with a tiny piece of char cloth. I held it in a cleft in the end of a match stick size piece of wood. Any bigger and I could not get enough heat in one place.

 

[Neanderthal]

Managed to light a piece of Birch Polypore in the reflector from a Petzel Zoom (about 2"). Did it twice to prove it wasn't a fluke.

Bigger reflectors obviously work better but how small can you go?

A small plastic bag of wire wool tucked away in the battery compartment gives you two ways of lighting fire with your torch!.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Good idea Neanderthal!
i don't have spare space in my torch (maglite LED upgrade) but i can fit a couple of tiny Ziploc bags in my tools pouch!

rich59, i have some charcloth, i'll give it a go!

 

[Freds Dad]

I've just got back from Scout camp near Sidmouth Devon and one of my scouts was going on about this but in the end we forgot to try it out. We also intended to make a reflector oven using tin foil and a tire inner tube but some dilbert had taken the valve so we couldn't pump it up. we di try out a solar shower i had built using a water but and home made solar panel. It worked but not that well. I gave it 3/10.