Fire Piston usage Tip

[HawkesNest]

"How to improve your success rate when using a fire piston".
When you don't get your tinder to light after giving your fire piston a good whacking, you will want to give it another whack and another as many of us do and then maybe give up on that piece of tinder. But, oxygen is a very important part of the process and after each whack, you must purge the cylinder so that there is fresh air in it so that you have the needed oxygen for the next whack. I use a piece of wooden dowel that slides down into the cylinder to displace the smoke and depleted oxygen from the previous whack. When the dowel is withdrawn, new fresh air and oxygen is drawn into the cylinder. Sometimes a piece of chaga (tinder fungus) will take 1 to 6 whacks, but my success rate is almost 100% when I make sure the cylinder is purged with new air & oxygen for each whack.

 

[HawkesNest]

Does anyone have any other tips/technique that you have learned from experience, that increase the success rate of fire piston usage?

 

[decorum]

I find that it helps significantly if you clean and regrease after each plunge (whether you get success or not). I also find that it helps if you change the tinder after an unsuccessful attempt.

 

[Gray]

I've noticed sometimes you get better results if you hold the plunger down for a split second after whacking, let the heat ignite the tinder

 

[Ogri the trog]

I find that if you use char cloth or a simialar tinder, the bore gets dirty quickly.
I clean it out with some WD40 on a rag, rolled and pushed into the cylinder.

ATB

Ogri the trog