Lighting a fire using the sun...

[Survival]

Now I've never been able to do this - Probably because I grew up in Glasgow, and now live in Sheffield - so havent ever seen the sun :-D
But Ive been researching this method of fire building recently and keep coming across accounts of using clear bags full of water as a lens, or blocks of ice to which I've always thought 'My Ar3e!'
Is there any truth in this? Has anyone ever done it? Or is it just one of those things that is possible - a bit like winning the lottery!

 

[Roving Rich]

I've lit fires with magnifying glasses and Binoculars, but I too am sceptical on the rest. Basically i intend to try them and find out. I'm gonna give the coke can thing a go soon, as soon as i get a shine on the damn thing and the Sun comes out !
I like to know of such methods just to "push the envelope" a bit, something new to try, and if I was ever really stuck with only a plastic bag and a water supply i'd be chuffed to have come across that method cos i sure wouldn't have thought of it :roll: The ice on the other hand???
Cheers
Rich

 

[Ed]

I've lit fires with magnifying glasses and Binoculars, but I too am sceptical on the rest. Basically i intend to try them and find out

Yep Rich thats what I did.... havn't had snow yet so havn't tried the ice method. Water in the bag and the coke can method work quite well, its not as hard as you think especialy if you use char cloth as your tinder which will light easily.
It would seem from my trials and experiments that the magnification does not need to be that great (in quality) in order to ignite char cloth.... It took 20 seconds to ignite the char using a lense from a cheap £1 pair of kids binoculars during the cold spell in december, only had about 20 seconds while the sun came out from behind a clouds..... but it worked and you get a much better lense from a water bag ;-)

Ed

 

[JakeR]

The quickest way to light a fire in the desert (during the day) is with a magnifying glass of any kind, binoculars, other lenses, water bags or even ice (but how would you get ice in the desert?).
It is easier than matches, firesteel, etc because you can build the fire, and then shine the magnifying glass accuratley to the exact strand of fibre. But with matches/firesteel you have to light the tinder and then build on top of that.

I think the stronger the sun, the easier it is to do.

The ice method seems a bit funny, if you can get ica outdoors, it is gonna have to be cold, therefore the sun will not be as strong as it would be in the kalihari!

I hope i'm clear!
Cheers,

Jake

 

[Stuart]

the sunlight in the arctic is strong enough to give you sunburn
and as anyone into sking will tell you at altitude you can get sunburnt very easily

the air temperature has little to do with the amount of UV in the sun light

 

[JakeR]

Oh well....that shows how much i know!!

cheers,

Jake

 

[Adi007]

I just wonder if you were really so stuffed as to have to try and light a fire by ice whether you'd be in any fit state (either mentally or physically) to grind an ice lens! :-D

 

[bushwackerscott]

I haven't heard of the ice method but i can say that my map magnifier can get my tinder going in seconds, as Ed said char cloth is excellent tinder for this method.

 

[TheViking]

Hi...

I did it once with a magnifying lens. Not so difficult at all. The bigger the lens the easier it is... I ignited cattail down. Just press the down into a thick bundle and burn a surface in it. When it's hot enough, you just blow and blow until it ignites.

 

[Realgar]

I used to use a lens all the time when I was a kid - drove my parents nuts. I found those peat fiber pots make an excellent material to start smouldering. If you want a light weight one, the thin plastic fresnel lenses sold for reading work brilliantly.

I've seen the ice lens used on one of Adam Hart Davis's programmes - it was hardly practical but the lens was made by swirling a disk of ice in a bowl to shape it. Of course you need flawless ice to start with.

Realgar

 

[Ed]

The bigger the lens the easier it is...

Yep, thats it.... the more light you collect in the hotter your focal point will be ;-)

Ed

 

[MagiKelly]

Yep did it all the time as a kid and that was in Glasgow. The lens I used was about 75mm wide and it did not need tho be that hot but it helped.