fire pistons: good vs. bad

just started poking around here. so i'm sure this topic has probably been around before...

~anyone have any experience with fire pistons?

~good or bad experience? pros and cons?

~can you get good results with practice, or does it need more optimal conditions to work consitently.

~how long before the o-rings go bad? (or should i stay with the old school thread seal system?)

Welcome Newguy!

You are correct, the topic has been around a few times. I have no personal experience with one, so can't give you any info, sorry...

I received a fire piston as a gift and I find my particular one to be among my least reliable methods to make a fire. But that is my experience only and ymmv.

For me, even flint and steel is faster and more reliable.

My fire piston would be slightly faster than friction fire. But I am new to it and haven't practiced very much with it.

thanks for that.

i think i'll just get the stripped down model to play with.

Aloha, what kind of starter tinder were you using? does yours have o-rings?

it's a nice toy, but i don't find them practical. You have to use a tiny anmount of tinder in the piston, it's fairly unreliable in lighting tinder, the coals is always tiny, you need to keep the seals lubricated. For survival use, go for the good old ferrosium rod.

Here is an older thread with my experiences:


Fire Piston


Pete

IMHO The problem with Fire Pistons is that, for reliable use, your pretty much limited to char cloth or tinder fungus for tinder. You might also make a sort of char cloth from the pith of a branch. The pith is the soft stuff inside the branch which is surrounded by the wood.

I have one, and regard it as an ornament rather than a tool. It has to have a certain minimum size in order to have enough air to compress, and in practice that makes it too bulky. You need tinder and lubrication. I wasn't very good at generating the ember. You still have to turn the ember into a fire.

As an ornament they are interesting to own. They usually look good and have curiosity value.

I have several and find them very reliable to produce a small coal. There are plenty of tricks to make them work and plenty more in transfering the coal to prepared tinder.

I like them as interesting tools, super fun for kids and adults, but not as a primary fire making method.

Buying a good one is key....Darryl Aune makes super pistons.

I have both o-ring and thread seal versions. I prefer the thread seals. Technique and proper tinder make these very very reliable....but practice is definately required.

I have several posts on here about them...but I will let you find them. Here are some teaser shots though....

ParamedicPete's post was the reason I bought my first piston. I seemed to remember him setting fire to his dog....not the dog blanket though.

Fun tools...

i just picked up this one...

I have one, and it is extremely finiky... ive spent over an hour once trieng to get it to light

My piston is all modern, made of aluminum and with o-rings. Like Schwert, I use chaga tinder fungus. I'm planning on going camping end of February and will bring it to play with if I remember. I might bring the Himalayan Imports Sirupati that was given me too. Same guy that gave me the fire piston gave me two kuk's. Can you believe it? And all I did was help him out a tiny little bit.

i just got my piston in the mail and it lit up within 3 minutes of working. its fired up 8 or 9 times in the last 15 minutes, trying to get a decent picture.

i used char from jute twine. it even went up once on the first try. im so happy!...FIRE!

Now I am going to have to build one just to try it out.