Suitable magnifying glass for fire starting?

[WittyUsername]

Hi, has anyone got a magnifying glass they’d recommend for fire starting? I’ve read that it’s very easy with some strength lenses and almost impossible with others.

Any tried and tested ones you guys can recommend for my fire starting kit?

Cheers.

 

[gra_farmer]

Get a jewellers loupe, compact, metal and cheap, about £3. instant fire with one of these.....

Digiflex YA18 Jewellers Loupe 30 x 21mm - Silver for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Digiflex YA18 Jewellers Loupe 30 x 21mm - Silver at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

www.ebay.co.uk

I use also use an old projector lens, and that is amazing

 

[Nice65]

Get a jewellers loupe, compact, metal and cheap. instant fire with one of these.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGIFLEX...831844&hash=item5b7b7aa924:g:pVUAAOSwZwRfX36J

Strangely, I was going to say I’ve a 20x and never managed to even make a burn on the garden table with it. It’s narrower than 21mm, I don’t think it gets the light through it. When I was a kid much of our fun was lenses, magnets, and dodgy chemical sets, I’ve always been fascinated by lenses.

What I’d like to have a look at is the domes I see inside car modern headlights to focus the LED to a tight beam. Not that it’s very portable or particularly relevant to the OPs question. What won’t work, I think, is a narrow aperture.

 

[Billy-o]

A 10x or perhaps better a combo loupe with an 8x, a 5x and a 3x (there are many variations and numbers of lenses ... they tend to be cheap too). I use a 10x by Bausch and Lomb, but there's a ton of really good cheaper versions .. just not quite so compact. The cheaper ones are fine, but they will distort and give colour separation at the edges, often.

Keep the thing about you for inspecting bugs. Attach it to a Victorinox Compact or another SAK like a Huntsman (one with a saw) plus a pair of Sliver Grippers for digging out splinters and the like. Add small nailclippers (by now you are looking at a keyring to hold this stuff), a little fauxton plus one of those little clips for attaching to another keyring or whatever, and you have a very handy item for the outdoors.

I often can't get a 20x to work even for just looking through. They need lots of light to get the subject well enough illuminated.

 

[gra_farmer]

Strangely, I was going to say I’ve a 20x and never managed to even make a burn on the garden table with it. It’s narrower than 21mm, I don’t think it gets the light through it. When I was a kid much of our fun was lenses, magnets, and dodgy chemical sets, I’ve always been fascinated by lenses.

What I’d like to have a look at is the domes I see inside car modern headlights to focus the LED to a tight beam. Not that it’s very portable or particularly relevant to the OPs question. What won’t work, I think, is a narrow aperture.

I have found the 30x and 40x loops work a treat, plus those are what I had to hand. Noon overhead sun is best, for results, but really the old projector lens are the best, as they have a larger surface area.

I really like the idea of the headlamps, so are going to be breaking some headlights of locals to try it.....

 

[C_Claycomb]

Learned something! Thanks

The only lens I have used is a huge one my dad has had for 40 years for reading small print, about 5" diameter. Not sure of the mag but probably no more than 8x. Still, at that size it always made a crazy hot spot that left a lasting image on the retina if looked at for more than a second.

 

[Nice65]

I have found the 30x and 40x loops work a treat, plus those are what I had to hand. Noon overhead sun is best, for results, but really the old projector lens are the best, as they have a larger surface area.

I really like the idea of the headlamps, so are going to be breaking some headlights of locals to try it.....

The best for fire starting Ive found is a big and powerful magnifying glass, what you say about surface area of the lens seems right. I don’t think I could start a fire with a rifle scope, however well it concentrates its focus, just as I can’t with a small loupe.

Perhaps not the locals headlights despite the plush Landrovers that abound, it’s all chainsaws, tree surgeons and sawmills round here, most of them mates . I might try the local breakers yard though. It’s one of those things that’ll be the first to break even in a minor shunt and involve replacing the whole headlamp unit. There must be hundreds of them about being chucked away. I’ve no idea what that lens bit is even called to be honest, they just intrigue me.

Edit: They are called projection modules says google.

 

[gra_farmer]

The best for fire starting Ive found is a big and powerful magnifying glass, what you say about surface area of the lens seems right. I don’t think I could start a fire with a rifle scope, however well it concentrates its focus, just as I can’t with a small loupe.

Perhaps not the locals headlights despite the plush Landrovers that abound, it’s all chainsaws, tree surgeons and sawmills round here, most of them mates . I might try the local breakers yard though. It’s one of those things that’ll be the first to break even in a minor shunt and involve replacing the whole headlamp unit. There must be hundreds of them about being chucked away. I’ve no idea what that lens bit is even called to be honest, they just intrigue me.

Edit: They are called projection modules says google.

Sounds like you have a project Rich, interested to hear about your findings...

 

[WittyUsername]

Cheers everyone. It’s difficult to find a 40x magnification lens that’s 3-5” in diameter, and I’d like one that’s as effective as possible as we rarely get a full, sunny day.

 

[Allans865]

This is the one that lives in my firefighting kit, and gives an instant crazy hotspot on anything you focus it on, especially darker coloured items

TRADITIONAL 50MM GLASS MAGNIFYING LENS BUSHCRAFT SOLAR FIRELIGHTING EDC | eBay

Large (50mm/2") glass magnifying lens. Brilliant for solar firelighting a quick and simple way of getting your camp fire going. Includes a small velvet drawstring storage bag. BCB ALL WEATHER MINI FIREDRAGON FUEL PODS FIRE STARTER BUSHCRAFT SURVIVAL.

www.ebay.co.uk

ATB,

Allan

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[WittyUsername]

This is the one that lives in my firefighting kit, and gives an instant crazy hotspot on anything you focus it on, especially darker coloured items

TRADITIONAL 50MM GLASS MAGNIFYING LENS BUSHCRAFT SOLAR FIRELIGHTING EDC | eBay

Large (50mm/2") glass magnifying lens. Brilliant for solar firelighting a quick and simple way of getting your camp fire going. Includes a small velvet drawstring storage bag. BCB ALL WEATHER MINI FIREDRAGON FUEL PODS FIRE STARTER BUSHCRAFT SURVIVAL.

www.ebay.co.uk

ATB,

Allan

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Perfect, cheers mate. I found an identical one on Amazon if anyone else is interested...

Ajax Scientific LI152-0050 Polished Glass Double-Convex (Bi-Convex) Lens, Spherical, 50 mm Diameter, 50 mm Focal Length : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

Buy Ajax Scientific LI152-0050 Polished Glass Double-Convex (Bi-Convex) Lens, Spherical, 50 mm Diameter, 50 mm Focal Length at Amazon UK. Free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Allans865]

Perfect, cheers mate. I found an identical one on Amazon if anyone else is interested...

Ajax Scientific LI152-0050 Polished Glass Double-Convex (Bi-Convex) Lens, Spherical, 50 mm Diameter, 50 mm Focal Length : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

Buy Ajax Scientific LI152-0050 Polished Glass Double-Convex (Bi-Convex) Lens, Spherical, 50 mm Diameter, 50 mm Focal Length at Amazon UK. Free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

No worries mate, glad to have helped

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[Billy-o]

Might see if I can find myself one of them . Wonder if you can get them so that they fold away into a handle.

Btw ... you've possibly got a magnifying glass in the baseplate of your compass.

 

[Nomad666]

Get a Fresnel lens cheep/light weight/large and small or cut down a large one to fit size wise where you want...

 

[WittyUsername]

Get a Fresnel lens cheep/light weight/large and small or cut down a large one to fit size wise where you want...

I read that you need really intense sun for those to work. Is that wrong? I’ll definitely get one if you guys have tried and tested them.

 

[Nomad666]

I find they work just as good as any lens does maybe even better I use a sheet 8x11 inches and it really works like crazy I have some as small as credit card size and they also work great...
they are so thin you can always find someplace to slip it in the large ones I have at the back of my haversack and in the pocket for the water bladder I forget half the time I even have it with me when its in its hidey spot...
They cost under 2 dollars here at the dollar stores...

 

[WittyUsername]

I find they work just as good as any lens does maybe even better I use a sheet 8x11 inches and it really works like crazy I have some as small as credit card size and they also work great...
they are so thin you can always find someplace to slip it in the large ones I have at the back of my haversack and in the pocket for the water bladder I forget half the time I even have it with me when its in its hidey spot...
They cost under 2 dollars here at the dollar stores...

Thanks mate, I’ll get a couple and try them then.

 

[Rabbit leg]

Some above have already mentioned but just want to clear it up -

Magnification has nothing to do with it. A jeweler's loupe is not a good choice.
A larger diameter lens collects more light/photons and is therefore more powerful.

 

[crosslandkelly]

10X Magnifier Credit Card Fresnel Lens Magnifying Sheet Survival Fire LightiDSUK | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 10X Magnifier Credit Card Fresnel Lens Magnifying Sheet Survival Fire LightiDSUK at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

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[forrestdweller]

i'm not using any modern methods for fire starting at all, so magnifying glasses are an important part of my kit. bi-convex lenses seen to work better and about 2" diameter is my normal pocket carry. i also had a Fresnel lens ca. credit card size which worked well even on a clear winter day in central europe until my buddy's mom mistook it for a piece of plastic garbage

2 small tricks for greater success i came up with are #1: dark colours and black attract heat so some charcoal powder sprinkled on your tinder or charcoal/ pencil rubbed onto it helps in less-than-perfect sunlight
#2: put something smooth (dry leaf/bark) on fluffy or loose tinder (like sawdust or dry crumbled up kangaroo poo) to create a smooth surface and let the sunlight "burn through"