Several Ways to Make Fire Without Matches and a Lighter in the Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Part - 2

Sun, Chemistry, Mechanics - Helpers in Fire Making.

Friction of a rope against a dry stick

A pine stick with a split in it, into which you rub, placing it so that there is space under the stick. The rope should preferably be made of natural fibers, with ends like a chainsaw. Step on it with your foot, and saw with the rope from below. You need to saw with great pressure using quick short movements. Literally on the count of "ten," it starts to smoke. Then blow on it and fan the fire.

Friction of a cotton ball

Cotton wool can be ignited in a simpler way. You need to roll a very tight and hard cylinder from the cotton, with a diameter of 4-5 millimeters. For this, slightly dampened cotton is first rolled in one direction, and then with a second layer in the opposite direction. If the cotton cylinder is compressed, it won't work. The hard cylinder is placed between two boards and rolled with slight pressure. The more vigorous the pressure and rolling, the faster a spark will smolder inside the cylinder. A specific smell will indicate success. Now, by tearing the cylinder apart, you will get two smoldering wicks.

Blacksmith's method

The blacksmith's method is also quite simple. Just hammer a nail (or wire) on an anvil for about three minutes without stopping, hitting the same spot each time, turning the nail 90 degrees along the axis each time, and from this nail, you can easily light a cigarette. A hammer and anvil can be replaced with stones in hiking conditions.

Using a spark.

Flint and magnesium

A flint is a metal rod made of ferrocerium – an alloy of iron and mischmetal, which produces sparks when struck against metal. When the metal striker hits the metal rod – "flint" – small metal particles are sheared off, creating high temperatures and producing sparks. By carefully blowing on the smoldering tinder, you ensure a supply of oxygen and, consequently, ignite the tinder.

Some flints may come with a magnesium block. In this case, before moving the striker, carefully scrape a few small pieces of magnesium onto your tinder, and it will ignite faster.

Solar energy.

Magnifying glass

There are several different ways to amplify sunlight. Using a magnifying glass is the most common, but far from the only method. Sunlight can be focused through any transparent liquid, such as water in any curved container, the sphere of which will act as a lens (a bottle, a condom, or a transparent plastic bag will also work). A frame and plastic wrap. Take a frame and wrap it in plastic wrap. Place the frame on a stand and pour water into it. That's it, the fire-starting setup is ready.

If there is no lens, ordinary glasses, a piece of glass, the bottom of an aluminum can, or even ice will work. By the way, we can elaborate on making fire using ice. It seems like two mutually exclusive concepts: ice and flame. But thanks to ice, you can start a fire, especially useful in winter when it's hard to find dry leaves or grass. The principle of this interesting method was also described by Jules Verne. You need to create a lens from ordinary ice, but the ice must be as clean and transparent as possible.

By coordinating the sunlight, you can even ignite paper. Clean ice is not always available in nature, but you can freeze plain drinking water. The resulting piece of ice is carefully processed and polished with improvised means. Ice can be frozen in a spherical container, such as a shallow dish. But you need to extract the ice as carefully as possible to avoid damaging it. Ice melts quickly, and such a lens should be used as quickly as possible.

The main secret is to amplify the sunlight through glass or water and concentrate it at one point on your tinder. For this, the water must be clear, and the weather must be clear. It's best to choose the afternoon when the sun is brightest.

Mirror from a tin can

The bottom of a beer can is a concave mirror that can focus sunlight; if polished, it can be used to make fire.

Flint and steel

The easiest way to make fire is by striking a hard rock (flint, pyrite, etc.) with a striker. You can use metal objects as a striker: a file, the back of a knife blade, or an axe blade. The striking surface of the flint should have a sharp edge, so you may need to split your flint or quartz beforehand to get a sharp edge. The direction of the strikes should be such that the sparks land on the tinder – a flammable or smoldering material. Its quality determines the success of the task.

Tinder can be made from a piece of pure wool or cotton fabric. It is dried over a low flame until it begins to char at the edges. Without allowing the fabric to ignite, it is removed from the fire and placed in an airtight package. If there is no pre-prepared tinder, it can be made in an extreme situation using fine dry birch bark, primary pine or cedar bark, wood dust from an insect-eaten trunk, reed and bird down – in short, anything that starts to smolder or ignite when a spark lands on it.

Battery and steel shavings

Any battery and a bit of steel shavings can be used to start a fire. The shavings should be as thin as possible to heat up quickly when electric current passes through them. Instead of shavings, you can use chewing gum foil. All you need to do is to connect the two terminals of the battery with the steel shavings, and the resulting spark will ignite your tinder. The most convenient are 9-volt batteries, but any others will also work. The more powerful, the better.

Wool and ordinary batteries can also be useful in the challenging task of making fire without matches.

Simply stretch the wool fabric (preferably natural wool) and start rubbing a piece of wool against the battery quickly. The optimal power suitable for such actions is about 9 watts.

After a long effort, the wool will slowly start to ignite; just blow on it lightly and place the tinder underneath to help the fire catch faster.

You can use a rechargeable battery to create fire. A short circuit between the positive and negative contacts will produce a powerful spark capable of igniting the tinder.

You can also make fire using an ordinary flashlight, if you don’t mind breaking it. The flashlight will need to be smashed.

Carefully break the electrical part of the bulb in the flashlight (we need to expose the electric arc itself).

Quickly place some tinder, bring the exposed arc close, and ignite the tinder.

Chemical methods

Using Antifreeze and Potassium Permanganate

There are also chemical methods of making fire based on the self-ignition of various mixtures. You can use antifreeze (radiator coolant) and potassium permanganate (permanganate). For this, a teaspoon of permanganate is poured onto paper or fabric, and 2-3 drops of antifreeze are added. After that, the sheet should be tightly rolled, placed on the ground, and tinder placed on top. During the oxidation process, a large amount of heat is released, capable of igniting the paper and lighting the tinder. Do not pour too much liquid – this reduces the heating speed. The heating speed also decreases if the paper is not tightly rolled.

Using Potassium Permanganate and Glycerin

Combining potassium permanganate with glycerin, which can be found in a first aid kit as a remedy for softening skin and mucous membranes during illness. In this case, permanganate is poured onto a dry surface, and a few drops of glycerin are added. After smoke appears, a few more drops of glycerin are added, which can be critical – a bright flash occurs, from which the prepared tinder is ignited.

Potassium permanganate (permanganate) and regular sugar in a ratio of nine (sugar) to one (permanganate);
Potassium chlorate and sugar (ratio three to one);
Potassium permanganate and glycerin;
Sodium chlorate and sugar (ratio three to one);
Potassium permanganate and any antifreeze;

Now the question is: where to find these chemical elements? Potassium chloride is found in some throat disease medications (Furacilin). And potassium permanganate and glycerin can be found in a first aid kit. A very basic example: take a small piece of cotton, sprinkle permanganate on it, then sugar, and start rubbing this peculiar tinder with a stick.

After a couple of minutes, the cotton will ignite. A typical mistake of inexperienced people is that they do not follow the correct dosage of ingredients.

Gunpowder from a cartridge

You can obtain a lifesaving fire if you have a firearm. Simply remove the shot from the cartridge, pack the casing with tinder in the form of dry moss, leaves, rolled dry bark, and fire a blank shot in the place where you plan to make a fire. The rest is just a matter of technique; you need to fan the fire and add dry branches.

You can extract the bullet from the casing, pour the gunpowder onto the tinder, and use flint, which is found almost everywhere. If struck with a metal object, hot sparks will fly from the flint.

It may seem like a rather exotic method at first glance, but it is very effective in emergency situations.

How to make fire with a potato?

To start a fire, you first need to make a so-called “electric generator”

To create our generator, we will need:
— 1 potato
— 2 toothpicks
— 1 knife and a teaspoon (optional)
— 2 wires
— some toothpaste
— salt

The wires should be stripped! Cut the potato in half with a knife. Insert the wires through one half of the potato. Using the spoon, make a small indentation (a little hole) in the other half of the potato – the size of the indentation should be equal to the size of the spoon.

Mix the toothpaste with salt and fill the indentation in the half of the potato with it.

Connect the two halves (the wires on the inside should be bent so that they are dipped in the toothpaste).

Connect the halves of the potato using toothpicks.

To make fire, wrap a piece of cotton around one of the wires.

Wait a couple of minutes (the battery should charge).

Then bring the wires together until a spark occurs.

As you can see, there are many ways to start a fire without matches. It is important to know some basic rules, folk tricks, and tips that can keep you warm in the forest or even save your life if you unexpectedly get lost. The experience accumulated over centuries allows you to make a lifesaving fire from almost any improvised materials. You don’t need special skills for this; it is important to apply maximum effort to make fire. Fire is life. And a cheerful, crackling campfire will warm you in any situation and in any weather.

Several ways to make fire without matches and a lighter in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Part - 1