Fresnel Lens

[Drain Bamaged]

Thought it might just be worth a mention/reminder having been out today and suddenly remembered the Fresnel lens in my wallet….there have been several threads lately about various fire lighting methods and yet this is one that seems to be almost unused unless you have bothered to go to the expense of a Hudson Bay kit. The Fresnel lenses on eBay at the moment are going at 99p for 10 if you send to China for them (admittedly Summer and sunshine may be over by the time they arrive) but you don’t actually need as much sun as might be supposed. It really is very easy and for the weight and space they take up everyone could do with carrying one not only for the fire making but they also come in handy for removing thorns/splinters and for looking at bugs, flowers etc. after all they are a magnifying glass when all is said and done. I never even used prepared materials today, simply a piece of dry twig for the first fire, a bit of cardboard for the second and then a piece of charcoal left over from the first fire for the third, none of the fires took longer than two minutes to get actual flame though admittedly there was a lot of dry grass etc. available because it seems it was summer in our area today (have made a note of the date) Anyway, as mentioned just a reminder it’s another very simple ‘tool’ to add to the kit.

D.B.

 

[Herbalist1]

Yeah - these are great, just the size of a credit card so will easily fit in your wallet as part of your edc. Also cheap and as DB says easy to use. Worth carrying just for use as a magnifying glass and as a back up for fire lighting. That said, I must dig out mine - got them ages ago, tested them, put them away and forgot about them.
Thanks DB for the timely reminder.

 

[John Fenna]

I have carried one in my wallet for about 20 years ... not so much for fire lighting but for looking at small print on instructions!
I even have a spare with a built in light for night time use (deffo not fire lighting...)