Fire Pistons Vs. Flint & Steel

[Pele's Fire]

Hi all,

I don't get to post much but I wanted to get everyones opinion of what they prefer of these two types of fire making devices? I know there is another thread that has a poll but I think that the poll is too broad in scope because alot of people have only tried matches etc. so that is their favorite.

I like them both for different reasons. I am first & foremost a firebug from the time I was a kid so I have about every type of obscure firemaking device there is out there but these two types are my favorites.

I have timed myself with both the flint & steel & fire pistons. I have got a fire in 13 seconds with the flint & steel & 17 seconds with a fire piston. Most of the difference in time is a smaller piece of tinder & transferring to the tinder bundle.

I have found that fire pistons vary greatly in quality & therefore if you can't get a reliable coal on the first or second try everytime you either have the wrong technique or a poorly made piston.

My favorite makers pistons vary alot in design but both of theirs work pretty flawlessly every time.

for tinders I have reliably fired off in my pistons, chaga, charcloth & the inside pith of bamboo work pretty well I have also used punky wood but sometimes this requires a couple hits on the piston.( I think to dry the wood).

For steels I have reliably got charcloth & chaga. I think of the two pistons fire more reliably on different tinders than the steels, even though I get showers of hot sparks I have to prep the chaga by making it fuzzy etc or the sparks just bounce off.

I'd like to get Firemakers opinion of what he prefers & why & anyone else who regularly uses both types of devices.

It used to be that a good piston could cost you a hundred dollars or more but now days so many people are making them its taken alot of the pricing pressure off to the point where you can get an extremely well made piston for the same price as a nice flint & steel.

I think that if I was to choose just one of the two as my only method if I was stuck in the woods it would be the flint & steel for its indestructability but I think the fire piston has more tinder options.

All of our brothers from across the ocean have the added benefit that your pound is so damn strong against the good old dollar that its like going out for some good Fish & Chips.

The makers of the pistons are Firemaker (on this site) also the maker of my two favorite Steels & Emil Banks who both sell off Ebay. The good thing for most of us about both of them is that they are really good guys willing to do whatever it takes to make a person happy including loading your bit of kit with lots of goodies.

I welcome your thoughts!

 

[Galemys]

I use both but prefer the fire piston for the sheer magic of producing a coal with it.
Maybe it is because I made them myself and it took me a while to produce the first coal so it felt more like I earned it, very satisfying to see the charcloth smouldering for the first time.
There's also a knack in the stroke when using a fire piston so it feels like your part of a special clan if people around you can't make the same fire piston work.
Producing sparks with a flint and steel is in my opinion much easier for most people.

I've ignited false tinder fungus Fomes fomentarius and cramp ball fungus Daldinia concentrica with both devices but those are harder to light than charcloth.
Must try out the bamboo scrapings, thank's for mentioning that, cheers,

Tom

PS Is the antler fire piston treated in any way or is it dense enough to make a piston without any treatment?

 

[Seoras]

On a personal note I get much more satisfaction using a Piston. Probably because during the winter months I find no matter which type of piston I use the results are intermittent. Some days the mojo is with me and some days it is not.

Teaching though is a different matter. When running a course I find students are intrigued by the piston but generally if I leave the kit out for them to play with they will pick up a traditional steel. Must be down to being able to see the sparks flying off the steel and possibly the repetition of the movement.

George

 

[Pele's Fire]

Tom,

The antler piston has a brass liner & O ring then has some type of high gloss varnish on it. I think its pretty waterproof.

I have always wanted to make my own piston but I have this thing about things being pretty to look at vs. barely functional & ugly

I think anything that you put under the microscope that looks pretty open & airy like a cramp ball or chaga is going to fire off in a piston. I have even got steel wool to go but it burns too fast so by the time I have it out its gone.

George, I agree for people being taught I think the instant sparks is very appealing for a flint & steel there are a couple of makers that are selling pistons of plastic materials that allow you to see the flash of combustion which I think is equally appealing as the sparks of the steel.

Which do you both prefer O ring or string? It seems that Firemakers string gasket version fires off as well & as easily as my O ring versions I just dont want to ever have to rewrap it.

John

 

[sniper69]

First post to bushcraftUK, but my vote is for the firepiston. I bought two on ebay from different makers and have gotten both to work great. Of course the one made from coco bolo is the pretty one.

 

[Galemys]

Tom,

The antler piston has a brass liner & O ring then has some type of high gloss varnish on it. I think its pretty waterproof.

I have always wanted to make my own piston but I have this thing about things being pretty to look at vs. barely functional & ugly

I think anything that you put under the microscope that looks pretty open & airy like a cramp ball or chaga is going to fire off in a piston. I have even got steel wool to go but it burns too fast so by the time I have it out its gone.

Which do you both prefer O ring or string? It seems that Firemakers string gasket version fires off as well & as easily as my O ring versions I just dont want to ever have to rewrap it.

John

Hi John,

I never worked with antler but suspected it to be too porous to use rightaway as fire pistonmaterial.

I make my pistons from simple hardware store material, here's a picture of the first one I made, just a brass plumbing tube, a brass stopper and a wooden paintbrush with an o-ring as plunger (I have a text-only-tutorial available if you want to have a go at making one yourself):
http://www.bushcraftweekend.nl/algemeen/vorigeedities/weekend05/fotos/foto05.html
Not pretty but it works!

I am currently making a little one out of a piece of (unknown but slightly porous) hardwood with a brass liner. I cut, filed and sanded it down to a flattish shape, drew a picture on it then waxed it. I am thinking of sanding down the area around the picture to get a bas-relief structure. This piston works but not as regular as I want it to be so I have to rewind the gasket. I will post a picture of it as soon as I can find the digital camera.

At the last Dutch bushcraftweekend someone showed me a homemade fire piston made from a block of acrylic clear plastic. Amazing to get such a direct look inside! So now I am destined to make one myself, I found a glass syringe at the laboratory where I work and I might be able to convert it into a see-through fire piston, just to show the flash (I think it is too small in diameter to use for actual firestarting). I have already cut of the needle, blocked the exit and then managed to break the plastic plunger at first try… I'll have to customize a sturdier one.

I like the string-wound versions best because it feels more 'natural' than a drugstore bought rubber O-ring. I also like the fact that there's more of a learning curve involved in wrapping the string.

Cheers,

Tom

PS note to self: must try steelwool!

 

[Bernie Garland]

i'm personally a flint and steel man

bernie

 

[John Fenna]

Blimy - I am flesh and blood!
I aint gonna mess wiv you mate - you must be well ard!

 

[Galemys]

I found my digital camera so I uploaded some pictures of my last project, as you can see it's wound thread as a gasket for me:
http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/galemys/?action=view&current=P1010931.jpg
http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/galemys/?action=view&current=P1010926.jpg
http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/galemys/?action=view&current=P1010933.jpg
http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t258/galemys/?action=view&current=P1010935.jpg

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Pele's Fire]

Tom,

Thanks for the threads. I was thinking to make one out of the same type of tubing in fact have it sitting in the garage waiting for a go. You give me inspiration that a normal guy can make a decent looking piston.

In fact I think I have seen the bird you drew running around my neighborhood I like the idea of the string wrap but I have large hands & the thought of having to re-wrap it makes me break out in a sweat.

I am fortunate that the ones I have from Firemaker are wrapped well enough that it hasn't come undone.

You are an artist. I think I would like to see the bird carved into the piston or even wood burned in.

I have one of the acrylic ones I mentioned if you want to take a look I will send you some pictures.

I thought about just putting some sealant onto the end of a plastic syringe before to see if I could get a strike or two off one but never got past the planning to stage.

Thanks for all your feedback.

John

 

[Galemys]

Tom,

Thanks for the threads. I was thinking to make one out of the same type of tubing in fact have it sitting in the garage waiting for a go. You give me inspiration that a normal guy can make a decent looking piston.

In fact I think I have seen the bird you drew running around my neighborhood I like the idea of the string wrap but I have large hands & the thought of having to re-wrap it makes me break out in a sweat.

I am fortunate that the ones I have from Firemaker are wrapped well enough that it hasn't come undone.

You are an artist. I think I would like to see the bird carved into the piston or even wood burned in.

I have one of the acrylic ones I mentioned if you want to take a look I will send you some pictures.

I thought about just putting some sealant onto the end of a plastic syringe before to see if I could get a strike or two off one but never got past the planning to stage.

Thanks for all your feedback.

John

Hi John,

Thank´s for the kind words.

If you send me an e-mail at t.lourens@sanquin.nl I will send you my tutorial for making the brass one. I have some more articles on fire pistons and other firestarting methods (fire saw, fire thong and bamboo-spark) from different sources so if you are interested in those as well, give me a shout. Needless to say this offer stands for everyone else reading this as well.

Wrapping or rewrapping is just a question of practice and simpler than I expected, you don´t even need to make a knot and most types of thread will work.

I tried to carve the outline of the bird first but the grain is too coarse to get smooth lines (anyway that´s my excuse...). Haven´t tried burning the wood but I like the idea and I will try it out in the near future.

I´d like to see some pictures of the acrylic pistons please!

Cheers,

Tom

 

[match]

This is a difficult choice to make.

Fire piston wins on the grounds of 'coolness', ease of use, and suitability for use in very cold or damp environments ('loaded' it almost guarantees to keep the tinder dry since its a very good seal).

However, flint and steel works best for me in a bushcraft or survival situation. It needs virtually no maintenance, doesn't have any bits like o-rings that might need replacing or field-repair, and as long as you have a lump of steel and a lump of flint it works - break both in half or drop them in the fire by accident and they'll still work

So flint and steel gets my vote, but not there's not much in it

 

[Dean]

I've only used a fire piston once but have used a flint & steel quite a lot, So Good old Flint & Steel With a dabble of char cloth the winner in my book fellow fire makers

 

[gm69camaro]

I prefer the flint and steel for its ease of use, but only if I have a good supply of charcloth. Without it, flint and steel can be rather frustrating. As mentioned before, the firepiston is the most versatile because it will ignite a large variety of charred or uncharred tinders. I have ignited many charred tinders including denim, cotton, mullein pith, and punkwood, and uncharred tinders include peat moss, chaga, and even paper! I think if I was going into the woods without matches for a year, I would actually want a firepiston due to it's versatility...

Gordon

 

[Galemys]

Hi Gordon,

Welcome to the site, it's nice to meet you here!

I never thought of peat moss as a tinder! Must try that some time, as well as woodpunk, in my fire piston.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[gm69camaro]

Thanks Tom, great to be here...Yes, charred punk wood is great tinder. It is solid enough to be broken into small pieces for firepiston use, yet it is light and porous so it ignites easily. I never had any luck with uncharred punk. Peat moss is a bit more difficult to ignite but it works. That's what is smoking in my firepiston profile picture. I actually prefer to use peat with a magnifying glass to get a coal, works great!

Gordon

 

[Pele's Fire]

Thanks Gordon.

I have heard wood punk works but I don't run into much of it here in Hawaii. I am drying out a coconut husk to see if I can get that to fire off reliably as its burns very well & seems kind of spongy like tinder fungus.

I agree with the Match. I think in the end if I could only have one in todays day & age it would be a good piston just because it seems alot more magical than the old flint & steel.

Its got a big WOW factor. Both for the effect & the pocketbook

 

[canadianwildman]

there isnt alot of flint were i live so I would have to say fire piston

 

[Ahjno]

Needless to say this offer stands for everyone else reading this as well.

Did you contact Tony (or Ed) about this? I'm sure if he finds it interesting (which will be the case, for sure) he places it as an article on the main page. As long it's written by you of course