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You are here: Home / DIY / Projects / How to Make a Fire Piston Out of a Mini Flashlight

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How to Make a Fire Piston Out of a Mini Flashlight

By Alan Urban 15 Comments ✓ This post may contain affiliate links*

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How to Make a Fire Piston Out of a Mini Flashlight

A fire piston is an ancient device used to create embers for starting a fire. It’s usually made out of wood or metal, though in the distant past people even made them from bones.

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The principle behind it is adiabatic heating, where air is compressed so much and so quickly that it heats up to over 800 degrees, igniting the tinder (usually something that lights easily, like char cloth). What’s great about a fire piston is it’s essentially a lighter that never runs out of fuel and doesn’t easily break.

You can purchase a fire piston online, but if you like DIY projects and/or want to save a little money, you can make your own. In the video below, GoingPrepared explains how to make a fire piston from a Maglite Mini Incandescent Flashlight.

You can watch the full video below.

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Comments

  1. Smarter than you think says

    April 10, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    It seems that people are so full of themselves that they forget what it’s really about! By the way it would be the rooster that came first. The chicken lays an egg that has to then be fertilized by the rooster. Then an embrio grown to a chicken.

    Reply
    • videoguy says

      June 14, 2018 at 1:12 pm

      So your saying the rooster does it with the egg??

      Reply
    • Talon says

      September 4, 2018 at 5:29 pm

      That’s not how it works. Chickens don’t lay an egg and then have it fertilized by a rooster. The Rooster mates with the hen and then the Chicken will lay the fertilized egg…

      Reply
    • john says

      January 11, 2021 at 9:04 am

      Hello!!! The rooster don’t even have to be there he dose his job long before she lays the egg

      Reply
  2. Hubs says

    November 16, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    Can’t you put the tinder in the bottom of the tube first?…and then just shake it out when its on fire?

    Reply
    • Alan says

      November 17, 2017 at 7:40 am

      You can try, but like he said, the pieces of tinder could get stuck in the piston or tube (or between them).

      Reply
  3. William says

    June 12, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    Actually… the dinosaur came first.

    Reply
  4. John says

    March 2, 2011 at 9:18 pm

    Yep, got the fire piston now but can you give us a sure fire way of making char cloth.

    Reply
    • No says

      August 8, 2011 at 6:49 am

      cut a cotton shirt into 4″squares- put in a metal can with a lid, roast in a fire until black.

      Reply
      • D0nj0b says

        August 22, 2012 at 7:41 pm

        which came first the chicken or the egg?

        Reply
        • Grampy says

          July 12, 2016 at 1:48 pm

          The chicken. Any other questions?

          Reply
          • Wayne says

            December 20, 2016 at 2:41 am

            It was the egg actually

          • Renato G.F. Naso says

            January 29, 2017 at 1:44 pm

            Correct!! The chicken, of course!! The egg hasn’t hatched yet and the chick has to grow up 1st, to get to the self-awareness of the grown up chicken…

        • Lawrence Hooten says

          January 19, 2018 at 9:55 pm

          That depends on whether you’re a Creationist or an Evolutionist.

          Reply
    • Just an idea says

      June 18, 2018 at 1:39 am

      Put pieces of denim or finished cotton (like pieces of a white T-shirt) into any metal tin i.e. Altoids, whatever, punch a tiny hole in the top and hold over a flame. Smoke will start to exit the hole, once this starts just light it and if it burns blow it out and repeat until it doesn’t burn, then you have great char cloth. Char cloth will only hold a spark though. Useful, but dryer lint holds a flame, is free and plentiful and bursts into flame from a single spark. Both are good to have though, just in case.

      Reply

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