Fire-Starting Devices: Flint & Steel, Fire Piston, and Others

Before the invention of matches by K. Chancel in Paris in 1805, various methods were used to produce fire. Most people have heard of the flint and steel method, which was widespread and in common use over two centuries ago. But prior to that (dating back about five centuries), the fire drill or fire plow method was most common. With these methods a hard wooden dowel is rotated or rubbed in a groove in a softer piece of wood until a glowing ember is produced. Native Americans are said to have used the flint and steel method to produce fire, even before Europeans brought steel to America – they used iron pyrite struck against flint instead of steel. Fires were so difficult to start with these methods that burning punk and buried coals were kept and maintained to make the process much easier.

So what do these fire making methods have in common? Friction. Which is used to generate heat as a source of the fires. But did you know there is another way to make fire that you probably never even thought possible? Air compression. Inhabitants of South East Asia produced fire from compressed air rather than friction. Although the “fire-piston” device that’s used to accomplish this feat (which is simple in design and made from wood) seems simple enough to build, it still requires significantly more skill to construct than other common fire making methods.

The fire-piston consists of a wooden cylinder that is closed at one end. A wooden dowel rod is carved to fit precisely into this cylinder. A small hole is made in the end of the dowel that enters the cylinder, and a tiny bit of tinder (char-cloth is commonly used today, which is cotton material charred in a metal can) is placed in the end of the dowel. Also, just above this end, a fine plant fiber or string is wrapped around to form a gasket. The gasket and dowel is then coated with animal fat for lubrication. The gasket is inserted into the cylinder and with one quick blow the dowel is driven into the depth of the cylinder and quickly withdrawn to reveal a glowing ember in the tinder. It’s fire made from air compression! (The technical term for it is actually “adiabatic” which is a thermodynamic process capable of producing heat or coolness, depending upon whether gas pressure is increased or decreased.)

The fire piston sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? But believe me, these devices are difficult and tedious to construct, since the chamber has to be completely air tight. In fact, this method of fire production may even be considered an art rather than a science. Even if you consider that a section of bamboo is an easily obtainable ready-to-go cylinder, the actual fabrication and maintenance of this device requires considerable skill. But once you have a fire piston built and at your disposal, you’ll have a cigarette lighter that never requires fluid or flint!

The New York Times reported in 1876 that the fire piston was invented in 1745 by Abbe Augustin Ruffo, which was cited in a report by a Professor Govi who said he found it in a book by Father Boscovich published in 1755 titled ‘De Litteraria Expeditione per Pontifican Ditionem,’ (The Clever Mechanism). But surely inhabitants of South East Asia produced fire-pistons long before this date. (It has also been stated that Rudolph Diesel was inspired to produce his famous Diesel engine after examining a fire-piston.)

Another unusual device used for producing fire is what I call the penitentiary device. An old acquaintance of mine said he did a short sentence in prison many years ago and while he was incarcerated he observed prisoners using cigarette lighters that they’d built from dismantled commercial lighters. To build one, the small wheel which revolves against the flint in a normal lighter was first removed, then a string of about two feet long was doubled and the ends tied together. This doubled string was inserted through the hole in the wheel and a wooden plug was also inserted to hold the wheel in the center of the doubled string. Next, an aspirin tin was filled with char-cloth, and the ends of the string were held with the hands and the wheel was swung around to wind up the string. The string ends were pulled outward so that the string would unwind, which rotated the wheel rapidly against the edge of the tin. Sparks ignited the char-cloth, from which a cigarette could then be lit. The money the prisoners saved on matches, lighter fluid, and flints was spent on more tobacco!

Practice a few of the fire-making methods listed above and see if they come in handy on your next camping trip. Or you may even want to try making your own fire piston. But if you do, realize beforehand that it will require plenty of skill and patience to get one to work properly.

Sources:

“Fire Making,” Wildwood Wisdom by Ellsworth Jaeger, 1945. Macmillan Company, New York.

The Backwoodsman Magazine, Vol. 26 No. 3, May-June 2005.

Wikipedia, Fire piston, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_piston

Wikipedia, Match, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match