Came across this gimmick that reflects sunlight to start fire. The first thing that came to my mind was, if you have sunlight why don't you just use a magnifier?

http://store.sundancesolar.com/sospliposiso.html

I don't think its all the gimiky per say, but there are better ways... I think its novel, and thats how to expect to make money off of it.

I have never had much luck starting a fire with a magnifing glass, but then I have never tried real hard. I have done battle with a jillion ants, and burnt info into my hiking staff tho...

It's just about the same idea as using a magnifying glass to start a fire, condensing scattered light into an intense point, just focusing the light by reflection instead of refraction. I think...

I question their use of the terminology "pocket-size" though. LOL

They could have made it smaller as the "polished bottom of an aluminum can" trick can attest.

It might feel less gimmicky if it were smaller.

As someone who develops products for a living, I can assure you that products are "pushed" to the market far more often than they are "pulled" into the market.

Because of the non-essential nature of this item, I suspect someone said "hey, guess what we could make and sell..."

Would I actually buy it for my own use? No, because a fair number of fires I've made in my life have either been in a forest or in the dark. And I'm sure that most people here would say similar things.

I do think its more useful than a magnifying glass, and not pointless. I can see myself using this as a teaching tool. I think for a small number of customers, it would be good. But I wouldn't be positioning it the way that they are.

I also agree that "pocket sized" is extremely misleading. Sure, it would fit in your coat pocket... but not many others...

Not pocket sized.

But for a long term bug in item, I like. No moving parts, unlike a firepiston. And it probably will work with pretty much anything that will burn. For $18 bucks plus shipping, not for me, but if I found one local for like $10-12, I might pick it up as a really cool toy.

I'm always amazed at the the emphasis people put having every possible means to make a fire. Figure out a unique way of making fire and somebody will buy it from you. It needn't be practical or reliable.

Even the hard-core experts use a lighter because it is simple and effective.

I figure that everyone interested in such things should have the experience of making and using a fire bow. Do it enough times over a week to get a feel for it. Then odds are you will never need to do it again.

Learn to use a flint and steel. Get good at it. Then odds are you never need to do it again.

The fact is that 99% of the time your lighter will work. When it doesn't you reach for your backup lighter. Which will work 99% of the time. Back those up with a spark rod or Blastmatch. Odds are you will never need it. Seal a half dozen matches between two pieces of foil tape as a fourth layer of redundancy.

If you find yourself with nothing but the matches, may it's blessed noodly appendages forbid it, then you use one and pack the fire in a fire carrier. Easier to keep what you have than make more.

All else fails you might be glad you learned how to work a fire bow. But it is almost never used. (Except to impress the kids during camp outs or to win bets.) Your more likely to be hit by lightening three times in one day.

This is nothing new.
It's been around since at least the '70s and used to be marketed as a cigarette lighter.
That's why the holding fork is sized the way it is.
Why a smoker would want to venture into the wild with cigs but no gas/fuel lighter
is beyond me.
Another case of "re-marketing" an existing device.

As a lighting device it works (really!) and should get your kindling tabs going quick, provided the sun is out.

A magnifying glass requires that you hold it accurately, even though tinder is a lot bigger than ants. This does not. The parabolic distance is preset for your cigs, er, tinder.
It's overpriced at $18 though.

"...Why a smoker would want to venture into the wild with cigs but no gas/fuel lighter is beyond me..."

Back when I was young and dumb and smoked, I was once out hunting jackrabbits with my trusty K-22 and felt the need for a smoke. Dug out my Zippo, and guess what, it was dry. Got desperate, and tried what I had seen on TV, or somewhere. Held the end of the smoke at the muzzle and touched off a .22 round. Scorched the paper. Took a round apart, sprinkled powder on the end of the cig, put the case with the rest of the powder back in the cylinder and, muzzle skyward of course, tried it again. Gave up on rabbit hunting and trecked back to my car to use the lighter in the dash. Soon got smart and stopped smoking...

This method of firelighting is a lot older than the 1970s. The vestal fire of Rome and the sacred fire of the Mexicans were obatined by means of reflectors. Scale up the same principle and you have got the Archimedes death ray burning the Roman Fleet at Syracuse around 214 B.C.

As in the book 'Art of Travel' by Francis Galton from 1855 states.

'Black Tinder - Tinder that is black by previous charring or from any other cause, ignites in the sun far sooner than a light-coloured tinder.'

There is nothing at all 'gimmicky' about this method of firelighting. There is of course only one obvious downside to this method of firelighting otherwise there is very little that wears down, runs out of fuel or can mechanically fail within the device itself.

I've seen this before as a kid. Never thought it would resurface. May be I can cook a small bite-size meatball or Torrentino pizza bite.

MythBusters, along with MIT engineering students, did an episode about the Archimedes death ray and, according to this site, they classified it as busted.

Those who don't like magnifiers should try one of these: http://www.bestglide.com/fresnel_lens_firestarter.html

I keep one in my wallet and one in my BOB. It's incredibly easy to use, and as long as you have sunlight you don't have to waste fuel from your lighter or wear and tear on your firesteel.

There is an excellent website on many fire starting methods including 3 sections on reflectors found here at Wildwood Survival .

Check out using a chocolate/pop can reflector, a flashlight head and a kitchen ladle.

I like the large inventive magnifying section also.

Mike

I wouldn't trust them for anything important. They only showed that they couldn't do it, not that it couldn't be done. They had a few days, a small budget and a dozen or so helpers. Archimedes would have had a military budget, years to refine the idea, and countless helpers. For me the main interest in the episode was illustrating some of the problems to be overcome.

Anyway, it's kind of irrelevant here. The accounts of Archimedes shows that the principle of making fire by focusing light were well known back then.

It would be less effective, though. The trick with solar fire is to collect large amounts of light. Magnifying glasses have the same problem - I've never seen a wallet-sized one work in the UK.

Glass lenses are hard to make big, and also get heavy, but you can get flat plastic Fresnel lenses. You can get big ones which would probably be more packable than this reflector.

Hi Brangdon,

I have had good luck here in Ontario, Canada using credit-card size plastic fresnel lenses to start a fire. I have even used a small (about 2 cm dia.) 4 x plastic lens to develop an ember on tinder fungus.

It does work best on a bright day in the summer, even a little cloud cover stops the process. As always the day you need a fire the least (hot, sunny day) is when it is easiest to make.

Mike

To acheive the same effect today is actually a lot more difficult than it was over 2000 years ago due to effects of 'Global Dimming'. Although the same experiment was repeated by a Greek solar engineer, loannis Sakkas, along with the Greek Navy who were able to achieve what the Myth Busters team and MIT engineering students failed to acheive. Apperently they had trouble focusing the solar radiation using their copper mirrors to begin with. Perhaps Archimedes may have even design a star cut out to help with aiming.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908175,00.html

Here is a modern scaled up version of this solar device burning through a steel plate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tt7RG3UR4c&feature=related

Something to remember if you have to shelter in place.

i did not take the time to read all the posts but it looks like someone found a pile of the 1950's solar cigarette lighters and re-branded them as survival gear to fit the latest craze.
the space to carry it would be better filled with lighters and matches..it's a "fun"item..

Doesn't look very pocket friendly to me!

That is why I wear mine tied to the top of my ball cap...

1) this ia an old idea. They make hot dog cooks that use an elongated concave piece of polished metal.
2) Also cigarette have seen these as lighter.
3) it is what probable inspired the chocolate used to polish the bottome of a soda can.

Finally have you ever really tried to start a fire with a maganifing glass using natural material. You may get smoke but that is a long way from a flame.

cheers

There's a guy here in Humboldt who uses a big one of those to cook pots of food during the day. It works great.

It is still sporting fun to make fires in many different ways.

I'm still waiting to see how that guy could start a fire using reflected moonlight. He SAID he could show you how to do it, if only you bought his survival info.

Sue

Susan..you reflect the moonlight into your BOB so you can find the lighter and fire gel----

my first success with the fresnel lens was camping this summer - and it was very easy when I found the secret.

punky wood. I scraped some out of the south side of a standing rotting snag. got a couple handfulls. Rubbed the material in the hands to break it up. flash the lens and a small "coal" is all you need. the beauty of this material is that when you blow on the coal, it expands rather than extinguishes. Just mix in a few small twigs or birch strips and blow blow blow. soon smoke (lots) then flame. It was so simple and the key was the punky wood!

regarding the product in the post. if you are in an area like me (NH) where the sun is not so strong in the winter, you need to keep the light focused for some time to get substantial heat. this product would be much easier to "rig" in a fixed position to leave and tend to other tasks while the sun remains focused.

But the sun would be moving...

Thanks for that link. So 70 sailors, each with a 5x3ft flat copper mirror. The target was not moving, which was an advantage Archimedes would have lacked.

As I recall, Mythbusters had fewer than 20 staff, and their mirrors were smaller.

That was the problem Mythbusters had. Specifically, to aim you need feedback, which gets hard when there are lots of spots of light and you don't know which is yours. Which is interesting, but it never seemed like an insurmountable problem to me.

true, but you could adjust the focal point every few minutes or so easier than the lens. don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to see the plus side of the thing.