The ability to make fire is perhaps the most useful skill in survival conditions. Fire is a source of heat and light, you can cook food on fire, boil water, making it drinkable. Therefore, survivalists pay so much attention to all kinds of devices for making a fire. The ability to light a fire without matches and lighters can help out great in difficult times, for example, when the matches are wet or lost.

The most important thing in starting a fire is good tinder. Many of the techniques described below will be simply useless if you do not have a good tinder, because the fire should kindle from a tiny spark. Good tinder must certainly be dry. Dry grass, leaves, shavings, bark, and also a tinder fungus are usually used as tinder. Of course, tinder can be prepared in advance by taking, for example, a piece of burnt cotton cloth or cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly. Finally, you can buy a special synthetic tinder from a travel store.

Here are some of the most popular ways to start a fire without matches or a lighter:

Fire and magnesium

Flame is a metal rod made of ferrocerium - an alloy of iron and mischmetal, which strikes sparks when it hits the metal. When a metal armchair strikes a metal rod - "flint" - small particles of metal are cut off, which creates a high temperature and the formation of a spark. By gently inflating the smoldering tinder, you thus provide an oxygen supply and, as a result, ignite the tinder. Some flints may come with a magnesium bar. In this case, carefully comb a few small particles of magnesium onto your tinder before setting the wheel in motion, then it will ignite faster.

Friction

Friction is perhaps the most ancient method of making fire, invented by our distant ancestors. This technique is based on creating high temperature by rubbing two pieces of wood against each other. There are many variations of this method, but the simplest is the bow drill method.

A bow spindle consists of a wooden board, a spindle, a support block and, in fact, a bow. It is desirable that all elements are made of dry soft wood, especially a board, the wood for it should be as soft as possible. Cut a round indentation in the board to fit your spindle. Then cut from the edge of the board to the spindle notch.

From a curved branch, make a bow by tying a piece of rope, strings, or even a string to both ends of the bow. Roll the spindle around the string so that it wraps around the spindle. Place the board on the ground, with the notch on top of a small pile of tinder. Place your foot on one side of the board and place the spindle in the circular notch. Place the support block on top of the spindle and secure.

Now move the bow back and forth opposite the slot in the board. As a result of friction, smoke will begin to appear - continue rotating the spindle until you see that ash has appeared and smokes in the recess. Take the ash tinder and blow gently until a flame appears.

Magnifying glass

There are several different ways to increase the sun's rays. Using a magnifying glass is the most common, but far from the only technique. Sunlight can be magnified through any clear liquid, such as water, in any curved vessel whose sphere will act as a lens. A clear plastic bag will work as well. The main secret- increase the sunbeam through glass or water and concentrate it on one point of your tinder. For this, the water must be clear, and the weather is clear. It is best to choose an afternoon when the sun is at its brightest.

Flint and steel

You can strike a spark by striking a soft steel rod - for example, with the butt of a pocket knife, on hard stone, preferably flint. To do this, you need to hold in one hand a flint with a flammable tinder, for example, from burnt fabric. The impact surface of the flint must have a sharp edge, so you may need to split your flint or quartz beforehand to get a sharp edge. Use your other hand to strike the edge of the flint against the steel surface of the knife and, if you're lucky, a spark on the tinder will ignite it.

There are many ways to make fire without matches or a lighter. Some of these methods are very laborious and difficult to execute, but there are also those with which it will be a little more difficult to start a fire than using the same box of matches.

In particular, in addition to matches, there are others special means for . So, for example, you can kindle a fire without matches and a lighter using a flint or a fiery piston. However, if you have these means at hand, you cannot talk about an emergency, since it is no more difficult to start a fire with them than with matches. Therefore, further we will consider non-standard methods when even these tools were not available.

Lighting fire with a lens is the easiest and fastest alternative to matches and a lighter.

These methods include lighting a fire without matches:

• Kresal and flint;
• An empty silicon lighter without gas;
• Lens;
• Concave mirror;
• By rubbing wood against wood;
• Rubbing a tinder fungus on a tree;
• By rubbing the wire against wood;
• With a nail and hammer;
• Rolling cotton wool;
• Electricity;
• Using chemical reagents;
• Shot from a gun.

Some of these methods of making fire were used thousands of years ago, before ancient people had special equipment... Let's take a look at all these methods of producing fire in more detail.

Making a fire with kresel and flint

V this way The tinder is ignited by a spark made by sharp flint from high-carbon steel (kresala). So, when the sharp edge of a flint or other strong stone collides with a smooth steel surface, small particles are scraped off the steel and heated by the impact are ignited in air, forming sparks.

Kresalo and flint can be found almost everywhere, even in the wild.

In the wild, finding flint or other durable stone is usually not a problem. Many people use cleavers, knives and other steel tools as a chair.

This method requires a first-class tinder that can ignite with the slightest spark. Pharmacy cotton wool, paper and many other options that are suitable for other methods will not work here, because a spark carved from steel is much colder than sparks carved, for example, from modern flames.

I know of five options for preparing first-class tinder suitable for this method:

1. The first tinder is made from two tinder fungi. A tinder fungus is torn off from the birch, from which the tubular part is cut off, and the "velvet" is left. Chaga (a type of tinder fungus growing on a birch tree) is found and its brown part is crushed into dust. "Velvet" is rubbed with chaga dust - tinder is ready. Such tinder is quickly harvested, but it takes a long time to catch the spark.
2. The second tinder is made from tinder fungus by boiling. To do this, "velvet" is cut off from the tinder fungus and placed in an ash solution (1 part of ash from a fire, 2 parts of water). The tinder is boiled in ash for 2 hours, after which it is removed and beaten off with a smooth stick until it becomes a rag. After that, the tinder is well dried and kneaded. To kindle such a tinder, part of it is torn off and a spark is struck on the fibrous surface from the side of the fracture. This option can be used in cases where it is necessary to save other means of ignition: once spending one match on cooking tinder over a fire, you can save a full box in the future.
3. The third tinder is made from birch. For this, there is a birch lying on the ground: it is these trunks that rot faster with the formation of the so-called rotten wood (rotten wood). The rot is removed and, if necessary, dried in the sun. Such rotten wood, though not easy, catches the spark and begins to smolder. The method is convenient in that the preparation of this tinder almost does not require time and effort, as well as preliminary making a fire.
4. The fourth tinder can be obtained by burning cotton cloth without oxygen. This is the so-called scorch. The fabric is rolled up and pushed into, for example, a tin can. The jar is closed and put into the fire. When smoke and flames stop appearing from the cracks in the jar, the jar together with the tinder is removed from the fire and remains to cool in the air. The resulting tinder very easily catches a spark, but for its preparation you need a cloth and a fire made in a different way, as in the case of boiling tinder fungus.
5. The fifth tinder is the recently-extinguished embers of a campfire. Only those that still have a layer of white ash are suitable. Having caught a spark, such a coal begins to smolder, a second coal is brought to it and a fire is blown up, from which a kindling is ignited. Such coals easily catch sparks, but require preliminary preparation. Nevertheless, like other options, this one is quite suitable for saving other means of ignition.

Any of these tinder should be protected from moisture. It would be ideal to put it in an airtight container, for example, a plastic jar for vitamins or a PET bottle with a wide neck for easy removal.

Tinder fungus, or tinder fungus, in fact, got its name for the fact that good tinder has been made from it for a long time.

Now that you have the right tinder available, you can start lighting a fire with flint and krasal. For this:

1. By hitting flint on flint, a sharp chip is made on one of the stones. A sharp edge will allow you to strike more sparks and increase your chances of success sooner.
2. Chipped flint with tinder is clamped in one hand, the chair is taken in the other. The tinder is placed on the chip from above (this is where sparks will fly) and pressed against thumb.
3. By striking the flint on the flint, sparks are struck, which should ignite the tinder. If a burnt log is ignited, then the chisel rests against it, and sparks are struck by a blow of the flint from top to bottom.
4. The tinder that has caught the spark is put into a kindling and swells up until a fire appears.

In the acclaimed 2016 film The Survivor, based on real events, the main character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, places the tinder under the flint instead of using the correct version with the tinder on top of the flint. In this way, of course, you can try to set fire to the tinder, but why complicate your life, which is not sugar anyway?

This method is quite whimsical, as it requires a specially prepared tinder, which should be protected from moisture. However, if such a tinder is still available, then it will be easy and quick to kindle a fire with this method: it is not for nothing that in the old days, when matches and lighters had not yet appeared, it supplanted other more complicated methods and became the main one for producing fire.

Lighting a fire with a silicon lighter without gas

This method is similar in principle to the method of kindling a fire with a modern flint: a spark ignites a prepared flammable powder scraped onto tinder from the mischmetal that is part of the lighter. The ignited powder ignites the tinder.

It is clear that this method requires a silicon lighter.

If there is a tinder described in the previous method, or cotton wool (usually in a tourist first-aid kit), or fluff from an old cattail growing along freshwater reservoirs, then the spark of a lighter will be enough to ignite them. But we will consider two options when such a flammable tinder is not available.

In the first method, toilet paper will be taken as tinder. On hikes, we use it both for its intended purpose and for wiping dishes when it is necessary to save water, but there is no suitable grass nearby. It is also good as a kindling, especially if you moisten it with oil (even hygienic lipstick can help) or another flammable liquid or wrap a piece of paraffin from a candle in it.

So, to kindle a fire in the first way, you need to do the following:

1. The protective cover is removed from the lighter.
2. Toilet paper folds several times and tears. All pieces are stacked with the torn part in one direction.
3. The resulting stack is pressed against the lighter in the place from where sparks fly out when the wheel rotates. The torn loose parts should be directed towards the sparks.
4. Rolling blow of the palm on the wheel of the lighter on the stack toilet paper sparks are struck. Sparking is repeated until the paper begins to smolder.
5. The paper is inflated until a fire appears.

This method requires good dry toilet paper (preferably soft and loose, not thick like Whatman paper). I can say that not all toilet paper is equally well suited for setting fire in this way: paper that has lain in a pocket of your trousers and is damp from this ignites badly.

Even without fuel, a silicon lighter produces enough sparks to ignite dry tinder.

Many people recommend putting the kindling fire in a pocket to dry, but from my own experience I was convinced that the paper in the pocket of my pants does not dry, but is moistened. This is most likely due to perspiration and high humidity in the air between the body and clothing.

The second method is less capricious and is able to light not only toilet paper, but also ordinary paper, for example, torn from a notebook. It is more versatile: I, for example, without any problems managed to achieve the beginning of smoldering of the tinder fungus (its tubular part) plucked from the tree with this method. It's not hard to guess that in the wild, instead of paper, the same birch bark can be used (the upper thinnest part of it).

So, to implement the second method, you must follow the following instructions:

1. The lid is removed from the lighter.
2. The center of the paper sheet is loosened by rubbing or any other method suitable for this purpose and bent so that a funnel forms in the center of the sheet. If this is not done, fire can also be obtained, but more powder is needed, scraped off the mischmetal of the lighter rod.
3. The lighter is initially positioned horizontally above the paper so that sparks cannot ignite the paper.
4. The lighter wheel is scrolled slowly until it collects on paper the right amount powder scraped off the lighter rod. When turning the wheel, you should try to avoid sparks.
5. The powder collects in the center of the paper where it is loosened.
6. A spark is extracted onto the powder from the lighter by rotating the wheel - the flash sets fire to the paper.

This method works well with an empty lighter. But, as my experience has shown, if the lighter was used until there was no gas left in it, there would be little sense from it: already at the stage of scraping off the mishmetal shavings, the rod can fly out and get lost, depriving a person of the opportunity to complete the matter.

On the other hand, although such a lighter allows you to make fire even without gas, I would still dare to recommend carrying a piezo lighter with you: it is more convenient to use, especially when you have to use it in the cold with frozen hands.

Attention!

In the cold, many cheap lighters work very poorly due to cooling and a decrease in gas pressure inside them. Therefore, it is recommended to carry them in an inner pocket and remove them immediately before use. It is also helpful to have at least two lighters and matches or flint in case one of them breaks.

If finances allow you to spend money on something more "powerful", then it is better to buy a turbo lighter: it will not go out in the wind, and it is easier to light a fire with it, although it also runs out of fuel faster.

Lighting a fire with a lens from the sun

This method is based on the properties of a lens to concentrate all the sun's rays passing through its surface at one point. This is where the temperature will be sufficient to ignite the tinder.

When hiking, the lens can be removed from glasses, a camera, binoculars and other devices that may include it. Sometimes they take a small magnifying glass on a hike to examine the map. A magnifying glass is included on some tablet compasses.

If ready-made options was not found, the lens can be made from improvised means, for example, carved out of ice, made from the bottoms found along the road, among other garbage glass bottles(carry with you glass containers it is not recommended for a hike, due to its fragility). A condom or PET bottle filled with water also works well as a lens for lighting a fire.

Video: Making a fire with a condom

These and other methods of making a fire using the sun were considered in more detail in a separate article, so now we will focus on an option that can be used in a city or village, namely, creating a lens from an electric light bulb.

To do this, you need an incandescent lamp, which can be found both at home or in the entrance, and among the garbage.

The bigger the lamp, the better. The shape of the lamp should be round.

1. The ceramic insulator is broken with a hard object. It is more convenient to do this with a nail.
2. The inner part is gently knocked out through the resulting hole.
3. All "insides" are removed from the flask.
4. Pure water is poured into the flask - the lens is ready.

Such a lens, in comparison with many others made from improvised means, is very effective remedy for making a fire.

The method of lighting fire from the lens and the sun is simple and effective, especially when a finished lens is available. I use it myself and recommend it to others as a primary method for starting a fire in sunny weather, thus saving matches and fuel in lighters.

There is an opinion that this method is good only in the warm season, however, as practice has shown, they can make a fire even in winter time years at sub-zero temperature but clear weather. The main thing is to have the sun.

This method has one drawback - it is impossible for them to make a fire in cloudy weather and at night.

Lighting a fire with a concave mirror

This method is based on the same principle as the previous one, only in this case the sun's rays are collected in a beam not by a curved glass, but by a concave mirror, and the kindling is located between the mirror and the sun.

On a hike, you can get some semblance of a concave mirror by removing the reflector from a flashlight or car headlight. It's also good to light a fire. gas bottle, or rather its concave shiny bottom (such cylinders are taken on a hike for cooking on gas and multi-fuel burners).

In urban settings, a concave mirror can be bought at a store that sells all sorts of small things.

For this purpose, for example, I used a mirror taken from an old microscope: despite its small size, it did an excellent job of lighting fire from the sun.

Interesting and very unusual option is lighting the fire with a tablespoon. Of course, in order to simplify the task of kindling a fire in the future, the ladle of this very spoon must be deformed to the shape of a concave mirror. However, even without deformation, such a spoon on a hot summer day is capable of kindling sensitive tinder, for example, burnt.

Many times I have come across recommendations for the manufacture of a concave mirror for these purposes from a beer can. It was suggested to polish the bottom of the can with a piece of chocolate. After Les Stroud (Canada's Science of Survival TV host) demonstrated this technique in his video, I decided to try this technique. But, as I expected, nothing good came of this idea: the bottom of the can, instead of becoming mirrored, became dull. Rubbing the bottom of the can with campfire ash and toothpaste didn't add any shine either. The method actually suitable for polishing turned out to be simple, but tedious: it turned out that the bottom of the can can be polished with a piece of cloth.

Compared to the method of obtaining fire with a lens, this method is less convenient, since it is necessary to hold the tinder in a canopy between the sun and the mirror, which is not always convenient. In addition, the tinder itself, in most cases, partially obscures the sun's rays falling on the mirror with its shadow, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the method. In general, this method has the same advantages and disadvantages as the method of producing fire with a lens.

Building a fire by rubbing wood against wood

The principle of making a fire in this way is based on the fact that friction heats up the wood, and the dust formed as a result of friction begins to smolder. This smoldering dust is carried into the kindling fire, igniting it.

These methods are very difficult to implement and time consuming. Without preliminary training, it will be difficult to build a fire in this way, especially in our latitudes. In addition, the method is sensitive to wood: not all wood heats up well by friction and, if you make a mistake in choosing it, the chances of success are sharply reduced.

Nevertheless, I personally consider this method basic, that is, one that will allow you to start a fire without anything at all, when a person in the wild has no equipment at all, and besides trees, there are no more stones and metal in the area. Therefore, it makes sense to spend time and effort on its development, especially since fire in a campaign or in conditions of survival is one of the main things for a comfortable and safe stay in the wild.

Building a fire by rubbing a polypore on wood

The principle of this method is similar to the previous one, only in this case friction occurs between the wood and the tinder fungus, namely chaga.

For reference: chaga is a type of tinder fungus, also called a birch mushroom. As the name implies, such a mushroom grows on birches. Chaga is used not only for making a fire, but also for making tea, kvass, as well as for medical purposes.

To start a fire in this way, follow these steps:

1. In the trunk of a dry tree in its upper part, two edges are cut longitudinally with an ax, located at right angles to each other. At the same time, the upper part of the trunk cross-section resembles a gable hut.
2. Chaga is cut into two parts.
3. One part of the chaga is pressed with a cut with both hands to the edge formed by the edges, and they begin to move. These movements should be reciprocating, directed along the trunk, and performed before the beginning of decay of the chaga.
4. The smoldering chaga is transferred to a kindling and fanned until fire appears.

This method is somewhat similar to the fiery plow method, it requires a lot of effort and time for its implementation. In addition, this method requires an ax or other tool that allows the felling and processing of wood.

The disadvantages of this method can also be attributed to the chaga itself, which does not grow in all regions. In any case, I have never found it in the south of Ukraine, including due to the small number of birches growing in this region.

Nevertheless, in a birch grove of all friction methods, this one is perhaps the most effective, since using birch for the same method of making fire with the "Indian violin" is not the best idea due to the hardness of birch wood.

Building a fire by rubbing a wire on wood

In this method, the tinder ignites from a wire heated by friction against a tree.

The tourist usually has the wire in the repair kit: here it lies in case of breakage of the equipment, which can be repaired with its help. In addition, wire can be used instead of rope to fasten elements together when building a shelter or raft. Traps can be made from wire, in particular, snares, and much more.

Certain types of traps, such as snares and traps, may be illegal in some regions. Therefore, before catching certain representatives of the fauna, you should always ask what the local legislation says about this. So, in one region, the use of a particular tackle may be allowed, while in another it is prohibited by law. It is clear that in conditions of survival, no one will pay attention to these things, but for a peaceful tourist who wants to practice survival skills in the wild, they should still be taken into account in order to avoid a fine and damage to nature.

The wire for this method should not be thinner than 2 mm in thickness, so as not to break prematurely as a result of heating.

On a hike, the wire is generally very useful - dishes are hung on it over the fire, various devices are made from it, and it can also be used to start a fire.

To start a fire in this way, you must do the following:

1. A piece of wire with a length of at least 80 cm is taken.It will be inconvenient to work with a smaller piece.
2. Two small sticks are screwed to the ends of the wire as handles.
3. A thin dry log is taken, at one end of which a small area is cut down on one side (about 20-30 cm).
4. The log is placed on a dry platform and, in order to prevent rolling from side to side, is fixed in any convenient way.
5. The wire is passed under the chipped area and the “sawing” process begins. They work in a similar way when sawing wood with a chain saw.
6. After the wire has rubbed a little against the tree and a small groove is formed, a tinder is placed on the hewn area so that it touches the wire tightly. As tinder, you can take an old dry stalk of cattail with fluff. If one is not available, another tinder is wound on the stick.
7. A stick with tinder is pressed with a foot against a platform hewn on a log.
8. The handles of the "saw" are crossed once so that the wire forms the number "8" with the broken upper ring.
9. Sawing begins, heating the wire and igniting the tinder. The smoldering tinder moves into the kindling and swells until it ignites.

Like other methods of starting a fire by friction, this method is laborious, however, in the presence of wire and a suitable tinder, it can be implemented in the shortest possible time and does not depend on the type of wood. And given the fact that many people take wire with them on a hike (and sometimes it can be found among the garbage along the way), this method can be recommended not only in urban areas, but also in the wild.

Building a fire with a nail and hammer

This method is based on the ability of the metal to heat up during sharp deformation and, by transferring heat to the tinder, set it on fire.

For this method, you will need nails 10 or 20 cm long, a hammer, an anvil and, for example, paper as tinder. Smokers, on the other hand, can try to light a cigarette in this way, from which, among other things, you can kindle a kindling.

For obvious reasons, this method refers to the urban: hardly anyone would come up with the idea to put a hammer and anvil in a backpack, however, in the wild, you can also dodge by finding a replacement. For example, instead of a nail, you can take another metal object, instead of a hammer and an anvil - two stones. But in this case it will be much more difficult to get fire.

So, in order to light a fire in this way, you must follow the following instructions:

1. The newspaper is rolled up into a tube and pressed with some object so that it does not unwind. To do this, you can put the same anvil on the newspaper or step on the newspaper with your foot.
2. A nail is placed on the anvil and a series of hammer blows are applied to it.
3. The heated nail leans against the newspaper until it begins to smolder.
4. If smoldering does not start within a few seconds, the newspaper is removed, and a few more blows are applied to the nail. If the newspaper begins to smolder, it is fanned until a fire appears.

As I said earlier, this method is advisable at home. To test your fate in the wild, trying to light a fire in this way, wasting precious energy and time, I would not recommend. However, if fire is still vital, and other methods for some reason cannot be realized, you can use it as well. As they say, in the absence of fish ...

Making a fire by rolling cotton wool with chalk, ash and without them

In this method, a smoldering ember appears inside a cotton roll, which is vigorously rolled out with a board on a flat floor. Raw cotton wool, which can be removed from, for example, old mattresses and children's toys, is suitable for this method. The principle here is that when the cotton wool is rolled, its fibers rub against each other as the temperature rises. With due diligence, the cotton wool heats up so much that it catches fire.

Instead of cotton wool, you can use cattail fluff or fibers removed from the stems of dried nettles.

The production of fire occurs according to the following scheme:

1. A piece of cotton wool is spread out in a rectangular plate and rolled into a dense roller. To get a denser roller at the final stage, you can wet your hands with water (or spit) and roll the roller between your palms. Most often, chalk is used to fasten the roller (in an old country house it is applied to the walls, which makes them dirty if you lean against them) or ash (you can take it from the oven), crushing cotton wool on both sides with them before rolling.
2. Then the roller is turned over and a little more cotton wool is also tightly wound over it in the opposite direction. This is necessary so that the inner roller does not unwind when the board rolls it across the floor. This step can be skipped if chalk or ash is used.
3. The roller is placed on a flat floor or board, pressed on top with another board and rolled for even greater density. The denser the roller is, the more chances you have to make a fire.
4. The roller pressed by the board begins to roll intensively on the floor in one direction and the other. The pressure on him should not be excessive. As a result of such rolling, the inner layers of cotton wool heats up and begins to smolder.
5. The smoldering cotton swells, is transferred to the kindling, which ignites as a result of these actions.

This method is realizable only in a settlement or, for example, in a forest house, where you can find even smooth boards. In addition, this method requires a special tinder, from which you can roll a roller.

And yet, despite its shortcomings, this method has a right to exist and can be used in a situation where simpler methods are not available. In particular, it can be implemented in an abandoned village or in an old hut in the forest.

Electrocution of a fire

Fire with electric current is obtained through one of two mechanisms. In one case, due to the high resistance, the conductor heats up and ignites the tinder, in the other, the spark ignites the tinder when the contacts are closed.

This method requires a source of electrical current. On a hike, the current source for usually is a battery taken from a flashlight, or a rechargeable battery cell phone or navigator.

The poles of the battery are closed with a conductor, for example, foil (you can take it from chocolate - one of the recommended products for hiking in the cold season) or steel wool (it is used to wash pots from soot and food debris), which, when electric current passes through them, ignite.

Recently, metal scourers for dishes have been massively produced and sold, which outwardly look like steel wool, but cannot be used to produce fire. An experiment carried out by me showed that such sponges not only do not light up when in contact with a battery, but also do not give a spark. In addition, an attempt to close the battery contacts with a thread extracted from such a sponge ended in failure: the battery did not even heat up (heating occurs when a short circuit occurs, for example, when the battery is closed with foil), which indicates the possible electrical insulating properties of the material of which these sponges are composed. The experiment with the foil carried out afterwards gave a positive result: this suggests that the matter was not in the battery.

We have already talked in detail about the methods of starting a fire using a battery or accumulator in

There is an opinion that steel wool can be set on fire with the help of a lemon, if you stick a series of steel and copper nails into it, connected with wires in a certain sequence. But the sequence of connecting nails inside one lemon, which is suggested in most videos, does not make any sense, since it does not increase either the current or voltage. And, as it seems to me, the current arising from the "fruit battery" (and this is, according to different sources, 0.2-0.9 V) will not be enough to implement this idea, unless there are a dozen or two of these lemons.

On the other hand, this method can still be implemented even in the mid-latitude wilderness, where lemons do not grow. So instead of a dozen lemons, you can take almost any fruits or vegetables that are found in our area (for example, wild apples), since they also contain an electrolyte necessary for generating electricity. The only thing left to do is to get copper and zinc elements that will be used as electrodes.

There is, however, a fundamental point: if a person in the wild can get apples and even more so lemons, then he does not have an urgent need for fire. These fruits ripen in the warm season and can serve as food without a fire. So the method of producing fire with their help should be attributed, rather, to hypothetically possible, practically not useful.

Details about the main methods of starting a fire using a battery or accumulator can be found on the website in a separate article, here we will consider an option implemented in a settlement using a 220 V outlet.

Attention!

Getting fire with high voltage currents can be life-threatening: electrical shock and fire caused by short circuits.

Consider two ways to start a fire using a high voltage electric current.

For the first way:

1. A plug with a piece of wire is cut off from any electrical device (preferably damaged). You can take a piece of ordinary insulated wire without a plug, but then you have to make it yourself and using such a wire will not be so convenient.
2. The wire at the end is divided into two contacts and stripped of insulation. This creates two forks on either side.
3. A piece of foil or steel wool is taken as tinder. For the same purposes, a piece of paper is suitable, on which a square is drawn and painted in the center with a simple pencil: a layer of graphite on paper has electrical conductivity and high resistance, so such paper can be effectively used to start a fire using this method.
4. The plug is plugged into an outlet.
5. If exposed wires come into contact with foil, steel wool, or graphite-lined paper, they will catch fire.

For the second way:

1. A cigarette is taken. Instead of a cigarette, you can make a roll-up: put another tinder into a small piece of toilet paper.
2. As in the previous method, a plug with bare wires is made.
3. The edge of the cigarette is slightly wetted with saliva.
4. The plug is plugged into an outlet.
5. Touching the bare wires to the damp part of the cigarette causes sparking, which, by pulling from the cigarette (like lighting a cigarette), helps the tinder to ignite.
6. The smoldering tinder is transferred to the kindling and fanned until a flame appears.

On the basis of the principle implemented in the second method, in my childhood I managed to ignite a fire from a dynamo (by the way, many people use “dynamos” on bicycles, including cycling trips).

It all happened by accident and became the reason for the subsequent replacement of the oilcloth covering kitchen table, which was successfully burned by me. To do this, I poured a small pile of magnesium shavings, obtained by processing a magnesium plate with a file. He brought the wires from the dynamo to her. At the moment the dynamo rotated, the wires, due to the shaking, either came into contact with the magnesium, then disconnected from it, as a result of which small green sparks appeared, which actually attracted my attention. As a result of these actions, at some point, magnesium flared up and burned the oilcloth.

After this incident, repeated tests of the method were carried out, but already on a non-combustible foundation. In all experiments, magnesium sooner or later caught fire.

Magnesium gives a dazzling flash the moment it burns. This is why its mixture is used to make magnesium light bombs, which are used to blind the enemy.

For many who use modern flint to light a fire, a magnesium bar in a backpack pocket is commonplace. It is from it that the shavings are scraped off onto the tinder, which is ignited by the spark carved by the flint. Magnesium can also be extracted from the remains of an aircraft (here it is used because of its lightness), for example, after an emergency or military action, if there is still something left of the aircraft. Magnesium alloys, containing more than 90% magnesium, are used to manufacture vehicle housings, binoculars and much more. In general, the main problem is not where to find it, but how to distinguish it from other metals.

Summarizing the methods of producing fire using electric current, I can say that they are very easy to use, although they do not always guarantee success. Some of them are feasible in the wild with a battery or accumulator, while others require more civilized conditions.

In conditions of survival, you always need to decide which is more important - fire, or a charged battery.

The methods where you have to use high voltage current should be resorted to only as a last resort for the reasons indicated earlier.

In general, these methods can be recommended when there are no matches left, the sun is hidden by clouds or is behind the horizon, and other methods are too complicated to implement. Nevertheless, you always need to watch and assess the situation: sometimes getting fire is not as important as staying in touch, for example, with a rescue group, because often for getting fire using this method and working mobile phone the same batteries are used, the charge of which, as you know, is not unlimited. Being in the wild without a navigator or phone is sometimes more dangerous than without fire.

Building a fire with chemicals

Some chemical reactions proceed violently with the release of such an amount of heat, which is enough to ignite the mixture. This method is based on this principle.

Two methods are most applicable in the conditions of a hike - rubbing potassium permanganate with sugar (or without it) between two wooden surfaces and moistening potassium permanganate with anhydrous glycerin, which can be found in the medicine cabinet. In urban conditions, to obtain fire, you can also use cotton wool soaked in alcohol, which must be put on a potassium permanganate soaked in concentrated sulfuric acid.

These and others chemical methods receiving fire without matches have been analyzed in detail in, so here I will not repeat myself, but will only draw a conclusion on them.

This method is simple and allows you to quickly produce fire, but its big drawback is the high cost and rarity of some of the reagents involved in the reaction. Potassium permanganate, for example, is generally included in the list of precursors, and getting it today is not an easy task. In view of this, this method is rational only with a critical need for a fire and the availability of appropriate reagents in humans.

Making a fire with a shot from a gun

In this method, the tinder is set on fire from the gunpowder of the cartridge, which flares up when the weapon is fired.

Attention!

This method is very unsafe, so you should only use it as a last resort.

As you know, almost every modern hunter has a gun, at least in our country, so this method is primarily for those who like to shoot in the wild, as well as for the military who have the appropriate weapon at their disposal.

In order to light a fire with a shot from a gun, the following instructions should be followed:

1. There is a small depression in the dry ground, although you can dig it yourself.
2. A piece of dry cotton cloth is cut off.
3. Gaskets, wads and all shot are removed from the hunting cartridge. If the cartridge is live, a bullet is removed from it.
4. Half of the gunpowder in the cartridge is poured out: firstly, there will be plenty of remaining gunpowder in the cartridge (excess gunpowder can even harm), and secondly, the sprinkled gunpowder can be useful for starting a fire in the future.
5. A piece of cloth is cut off and pushed into the cartridge over the powder so that fragments of this tissue do not go beyond the cartridge body.
6. The cartridge is inserted into the weapon.
7. A shot is fired into the previously found recess in the ground - the fabric ejected from the trunk ignites.

Due to the high cost of cartridges, this method is advisable only when other simple methods of starting a fire are not available, and it is still necessary to organize a fire. For many tourists and city residents, it has no practical meaning due to the lack of weapons.

As you can see, the number of methods for obtaining fire is quite large and you can always choose the one that turns out to be optimal in a given situation. The main popularity, according to my observations, was gained by the methods of producing fire with a battery with foil, a fiery bow, a lens from the sun, as well as potassium permanganate with glycerin.

Nevertheless, ideally, you need to know and be able to use all possible methods for starting a fire, because the production of fire in a situation of emergency survival is one of the primary tasks. Another thing is that it is not always possible to practice all the known methods, since some methods require a lot of money (for example, the method with a gun), others are difficult to access (for example, the fire bamboo method, although if you so desire, you can get a bamboo trunk even in areas where it does not grow, for example, by purchasing it via the Internet), and still others are simply life-threatening (for example, some methods of producing fire with electricity).

In addition, in conditions of survival, you always need to be able to correctly prioritize. For example, if the weather is not too cold, instead of starting a fire, it is more useful to build a shelter from the rain or just a comfortable place to sleep, which will require less effort and time, but will allow you to sleep well without having to get up and throw firewood on the fire. If you are at a distance of 100-150 km from a settlement or the nearest road and you have a navigator or a phone with a charged battery, it is wiser not to stop for the night at all, and even more so not to waste battery power on starting a fire. You can sleep during the day, warmed up in the sun, and the rest of the time you can confidently go to civilization using the navigator. Finally, the expenditure of energy for making a fire by friction can be greater than the energy value of food cooked over the fire. In this case, it may be advisable to eat the prey raw.

And not always at modern man there is time to practice these skills, because besides them there are others, for example, the construction of a temporary shelter, orienteering, overcoming different terrain in different weather conditions and much, much more that may be needed not only in survival conditions, but also for the usual hike of the first category of complexity.

That is why here I have selected the methods that I recommend mastering in the first place. These include:

1. Getting fire from sunlight and lens, namely pre-made lens, condom and water bottle options. These methods are easy to learn and can be used in clear weather as an alternative to matches. Personally, I almost always use this method to start a fire.
2. The chemical method, namely, making a fire with potassium permanganate. This method is simple but expensive. However, in the absence of standard means of ignition in inclement weather, it can help a person save time and energy to obtain fire, for example, by friction.
3. Getting fire by friction, namely with the help of a fiery bow (also known as an Indian violin). This method is the most "harsh", but it allows a person to make fire in nature from scrap materials. You can also try to master the fire plow, so as not to be dependent on the reliability of the bowstring of the bow that rotates the wooden drill.

These are the main ways to start a fire and need to be mastered first. Other options can be studied afterwards, if desired, with the availability of time and the possibility of their implementation.

Interesting video: Making a fire by rolling cotton wool

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We'll go camping ... virtually. Moreover, as usual, our trip will turn out to be extremely unsuccessful. And it won't get lucky with the weather, and the matches were forgotten at home, not to mention the fact that after a continuous rain for two weeks everything that could be set on fire was irreversibly damp. Having piled up a small handful of similar problems, we, with our usual zeal, begin to overcome them. So, let's try to make a fire in wet weather. And the first thing to consider in these chilly circumstances is the obvious fact that a small fire is much easier to light and ignite than a large one. Therefore, we boldly make a great many small fires, which will burn better, and will give more heat, or maybe, if we are very lucky, they will lure some plane lost in the clouds. What for? Maybe they'll be thrown up to the house ... As for fuel, it is best to look for it under the trunks of fallen trees. Small, dry islands usually remain there. Of these, the most flammable and convenient material is the rot of dried trees, or dry stumps and resin of pine cones. Now everything that we have found needs to be piled up, in the form of a wigwam. And at this solemn moment you discover that you have forgotten the matches at home. It's OK. You should not tear your hair, buttons and rub your cheeks abundantly watered with a salty tear on this occasion. Not worth it - for there are at least three methods of making fire without matches, proven by popular wisdom. The first and the most good option is flint and flint. The flint can be the corresponding side of a waterproof matchbox, or a solid piece of stone. In order for a flame to ignite from a spark, it is necessary to strike this spark first. Why do we get furiously hitting with a flint on a steel knife blade, or on some small steel bar. When the spark hits the tinder and the latter begins to smoke, urgently, urgently bend over and begin to blow desperately. If everything is done correctly, the fire is ready, if not, go to the beginning of the paragraph. The second way, sung by the unforgettable Cyrus Smith, is in the sun and the lens. Moreover, he made the latter from two glasses of a wristwatch, filling them with water and smearing them with clay, confirming once again that there are no hopeless situations. If Prometheus did not come out of you and it was not possible to get the fire, it remains to advise you to resort to the last and most classic method of carving a flame, namely friction. This method is resorted to out of great despair. However, there should still be a faint hope of success. This method has many varieties, we will focus on one, called "bow and drill". To begin with, we make a bow using a string, rope, or belt. Then we use it to roll a dry soft shaft in a small hole made in a dry and hard block of wood. As a result, we get a dry powdery dust, in which a spark should appear with further friction.

7 ways to light a fire without matches

There is a primary connection between man and fire. Every man should know how to fire it up. A real man knows how to do it without matches. This is an essential survival skill. You never know when you will find yourself in a situation where you will need fire, and you will not have matches or a lighter with you. Here are 7 ways you can start a fire without matches.

Making fire by friction

Making fire by friction is not for the faint of heart. This is perhaps the most difficult of all methods of producing fire without matches. Exists different methods that can be used to get fire by friction, but the most important aspect it is still the type of wood that is used for the plank and spindle.

Spindle- a stick that you will twist to create friction between it and the board. If you've created enough friction between the spindle and the plank, you will have a charcoal that can be used for further ignition. Juniper, aspen, willow, cedar, cypress, walnut are the best materials for plank and spindle.

In order to use wood for friction fire, the wood must be dry. If the wood is not dry, you will need to dry it first.

Hand drill

Method hand drill the most primitive, the most basic and the most difficult. All you need is wood, tireless hands, and firm determination. Here's how to do it:

Build a Tinder Nest... Tinder is any material that ignites from a single spark. Birch bark, dry grass, wood shavings, waxed paper, fluffed cotton wool, spruce cones, pine needles, crushed dry mushrooms (tinder fungus), burnt cotton cloth - excellent tinder, as well as fine dust produced by woodworm insects, as well as the contents of bird nests ...

Make an incision. Cut a small indentation on the board.

Place the bark under the cutout. The bark will be used to catch the ember that will arise from the friction between the spindle and the board.

Start rotating. Place the spindle into the groove on the plank. Your spindle needs to be about 50 centimeters long for this to work properly. Maintain the pressure between the spindle and the board and start rolling the stick between your palms. Continue twisting until an ember appears.

Set on fire! As soon as you see a flaming ember, transfer it to the tinder nest. Blow gently on it to light a fire.

Fire bow

Most effective method extraction of fire based on friction is the use of a bow and a borav.

Onion. Make a tight bow by pulling a string, strap, or string over a stick.

Make a small hole in dry, hard wood.

The result will be black powder like dust.

When a spark is generated in this powder, it must be transferred to pre-prepared flammable materials (tinder).

Fire Bow: Getting Fire from a Branch (photo report)

This photo report is dedicated to production of fire using the fire bow, briefly covered in the previous post. For the experience we need a knife, a rope ( perfect option- paracord) and something like Silky pocketboy .

Go…

Multiple movements Silky Pocketboy and ...

A few more with a knife ...

Add paracord ...

Now let's put this puzzle together ...

Making a deepening ...

Cut out a piece from the side of the hole ...

Let there be fire ...

This is a good old fallback. Good idea, always take flint and steel with you on a hike. Matches can get wet and practically useless, but you can still get a spark from steel and a piece of flint. A pretty good option is the FireSteeL mini flint, although I prefer the Expedition flint knife.

If you have a situation that you do not have a set of flint and flint with you, you can always improvise with the help of quartzite and a steel blade of a pocket knife. You will also need a piece of charred cloth to catch the spark. If you don't have it, you can replace it with a piece of mushroom or birch.

Take a rock and charred cloth. Take a piece of stone between the big and forefinger... Make sure the edge protrudes 5-7 centimeters. Pinch the fabric between your thumb and flint.

Strike sparks! Take steel or the back of a knife blade. Hit steel against flint several times. Sparks from the steel will fly straight onto the fabric, causing a glow.

Light the fire. Place the smoldering cloth in the tinder and gently blow on it to ignite the fire.

Lens-based techniques

The easiest method of producing fire without matches is based on the use of lenses.

Traditional Lenses

To get fire, all you need is some kind of lens to focus the sun's rays on a specific spot. A magnifying glass, glasses, eye lenses or binoculars will do everything. If you add a little water to the lens, the beam will become more intense. Tilt the lens so that the beams are focused to a small point (as small as possible). Put the tinder in this place and you will soon have fire.

The only drawback of lenses is that it only works when there is sun. Therefore, at night or cloudy weather, you will have to look for other methods.

In addition to the methods using traditional lenses, there are three unusual but effective method based on the refraction of rays.

Balloons and condoms

By filling a balloon or condom with water, you can transform these ordinary objects into a lens.

Please note that condoms and Balloons shorter short focal length than conventional lenses. Therefore, keep them 1 to 2 cm away from the tinder.

Fire from ice

In order to get fire from a block of ice you need to make ice in the shape of a lens and then use it in the same way as with any other lens. This method can be especially useful for winter camping.

Pure water. For this to work, the ice must be transparent. If it is cloudy or has other impurities, this option will not work. Most The best way to get a crisp block of ice fill a cup, goblet or container made of foil, clean water from a lake, pond or melted snow. Let's turn the water into ice. Your ice block should be about 5 centimeters thick.

Lens shape. Use a knife to form a piece of ice into the lens. Remember that the lens shape is thicker in the middle and narrower at the edges.

Buff the lens. Once you've got the rough shape of the lens, finish it off by hand polishing it to a smooth finish.

Set on fire. Tilt your ice lens just like you would with traditional lenses. Focus the light on the tinder.

Coca Cola and Chocolate Bar

Another interesting way to get fire.

All that is needed is an aluminum can and chocolate.

Polish the bottom of the can with chocolate. Chocolate acts like a polish, and by rubbing the bottom of the can a little with it, you can get a kind of mirror. If you don't have chocolate with you, Toothpaste will do too.

Get fire. After sanding the bottom of the can, you will have a parabolic mirror. Now they need to catch sunlight and place the tinder in the place where the rays are focused.

How to light a fire without matches?

How to make a fire

The usual way. Small dry chips are folded into a small "pioneer" fire, and larger pieces of wood are laid on top of this structure (in the end, it looks like a cone - a standard "pioneer" fire).

A modernized way. A well is formed from the logs: in pairs, two logs parallel to each other, on top two more perpendicular to the previous ones, and so on. Chips are kindled at the bottom of the "well", and the whole structure ignites very well and quickly. For lighting it is convenient to use pieces of birch bark, previously separated from the log.

In the rain. Even in rainy weather, you can make a fire as follows: put two small woods of the same size in the wind. On top of these logs, put the thinnest dried twigs or twigs perpendicularly and set fire. Usually lights up from the first match.

How to light a fire without matches

In the absence of experience, it is difficult to light a fire even with a large supply of matches. But what if there are no matches? There are several ways with the help of available tools. Before trying to light a fire without matches, prepare some dry, flammable materials. Then, shelter them from wind and moisture. Good substances can be rot, rope or twine, dry palm leaves, wood shavings and sawdust, bird feathers, woolly plant fibers, finely chopped tree bark, gauze, cotton wool, fluff, dry moss, scraps of clothing, which, if possible, moisten gasoline, etc. To stock up on them for future use, put some in a waterproof bag.

Potassium permanganate and glycerin

Pour about 1 gram of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate), ground into a fine powder. Then carefully drop 2-3 drops of glycerin from a pipette or glass tube onto it and quickly remove your hand. It will take only 2-3 seconds, and you will see how the fire breaks out.

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Ecology of consumption. Lifehack: Despite the fact that it is very difficult to imagine how you can find yourself in the wilderness, having with you ...

Extraction of fire by friction

This activity is not for the faint of heart. And, perhaps, the most difficult. There are different friction techniques, but the decisive factor in any technique is the type of wood which you will use for the plank and rod.

A rod is a stick that is used to rotate and create friction. If, by rotating the rod, you create enough friction between it and the board to make it smolder, then you can start a fire. The plank is best made from poplar, juniper, aspen, willow, cedar, cypress or walnut.

Use dry wood for ignition.

Drill / hand drill

This is the most primitive method, primitive and very complex. All you need is wood, hands, and unwavering determination.

1. Use tinder to build a nest. In this nest, you will need to pour the coals that will appear from friction. The nest can be made from anything that burns easily: dry grass, leaves and bark.

2. Make a funnel. Make a funnel in the ignition plate, into which the rod will then be inserted; under the funnel, you can make a cavity for the tinder.

3. Place the bark under the funnel. Embers should be placed on the bark, which are formed due to the friction of the rod about wooden board.

4. Start rotating the rod. Place the rod into the funnel on your board. The rod should be about 60 cm long. Press down on the board and begin to rotate the rod, holding it between your palms. Move your palms in quick rotating movements along the entire length of the rod. Continue until smoke appears.

5. Make a fire. If you notice smoke, knock on the board so that the embers that appear hit the bark. Transfer the bark to the nest.

Fiery plow

1. Prepare the ignition board.

2. Cut a groove in the plank. It will serve as a path for the rod.

3. Rub. Place the end of the rod into the groove. Start by pushing the end of the rod along the groove.

4. Make a fire. Place the tinder nest at one end of the board, and lift the board itself while rubbing so that the coals fall into it.

Bow drill

This is perhaps the most effective way to start a fire. It allows you to achieve the required speed and pressure required for the appearance of embers and smoldering much faster and, accordingly, faster to build a fire. In addition to the rod and plank, you will need a stock and a bow.

1. Find the block. It will be needed to create additional pressure on the rod, which you will rotate with the bow. You can use a stone or another piece of wood as a block. For a wood block, try to find wood that is harder than the one that will be used to make the bar.

2. Make a bow. The bow should be about arm length. Use a flexible, slightly curved rod to create it. It must be strong enough. Pull the bowstring over the rod and you're done.

3. Prepare the ignition board. Make a funnel with a tinder cavity underneath. Place the tinder directly under the funnel.

4. Place the string over the rod. Fold the bowstring so that you get a loop, thread a rod through it. Place one end of the rod on a wooden board, and press on the other end with a block.

5. Start sawing. When using your bow, start moving it back and forth quickly as if you were sawing. You can say you got a primitive mechanical drill. The rod must be rotated quickly.
Continue sawing until embers appear.

6. Make a fire. Drop the embers into the tinder nest and blow gently.

Fire (crazalo, flint, tinder)

This is an ancient technique. It never hurts to take flint with you when going on a hike. Matches may get wet and unusable, but you can still spark with a flint and a chair.

If you don't have a flint with you, you can easily make one yourself, for this you need quartzite and the steel blade of your folding knife. You carry a folding knife with you, don't you? Also, you will need charcoal... Sparks will hit the coal and smolder. If you don't have coal, use birch bark or tinder.

1. Take flint and coal. Place the flint between your thumb and forefinger. The tip of the flint should protrude 5-7 cm. Hold the charcoal between your thumb and flint.

2. Hit. Use the back of the knife blade. Hit the stone with it several times. The sparks from the impact should hit the charcoal, which in turn will begin to smolder.

3. Make a fire. Place the charcoal in the tinder nest and blow gently.

Lenses

This is one of the most simple ways extraction of fire. Any boy who has ever melted plastic toy soldiers knows how it works. If you've never melted your soldiers, then read on.

Conventional lenses

To light a fire, you need lenses that allow sunlight to pass through. Magnifying glass, glasses or binoculars will do.

If the lens is moistened with water, the process of producing fire will accelerate.

Position the lens at an angle so that sunlight hits it and the beam is focused in one place. Put a nest of tinder in the place where the beam falls, and very soon you will get fire for yourself.

The only drawback of this method is that it only works in sunny weather.

In addition to ordinary lenses, some other items can be used to extract fire using this method.

Balls and condoms

By filling a balloon or condom with water, you turn them into lenses.

1. Pour water into a ball or a condom and tie it. In doing so, they must acquire the shape of a sphere (as far as possible). Don't make them very large, or it will be difficult for you to focus the sunlight.

2. Squeeze the ball so that it gives you a clear circle of light. Try to squeeze the condom in the middle so that it forms 2 lenses of a smaller diameter.

The balls and condoms should be kept at a distance of about 5 cm from the tinder, since their focal length is much shorter than that of lenses.

Fire from ice

The phrase is reminiscent of one of the themes of a school essay, but in fact, ice can help you light the fire. All you need is make a lens from a piece of ice and use it as usual.

1. Use clean water. The ice should be transparent. If it is cloudy or there are debris in it, you will not succeed. To get clear ice, pour water from a lake, pond, or simply put snow in a mug or container. Let the liquid freeze. For the method to work, the ice block needs to be about 5 cm thick.

2. Make a lens. Use a knife to cut a lens out of the ice. Remember that the lens in the center is usually thicker than the edges.

3. Polish the lens. After shaping it, buff the lens with your hands. The warmth of your hands will melt the ice a little and make the surface smooth.

4. Make a fire. Point the lens at sunlight. Focus the beam on the tinder and wait for the fire to appear.

Aluminum can and chocolate bar

1. Polish the bottom of the can with chocolate. Just run the chocolate along the bottom of the can.Then wipe the bottom clean with a piece of cloth. Chocolate is a great polish that will make the bottom of the can shine like a mirror. If you don't have chocolate with you, toothpaste will work too. Repeat this several times.

2. Make a fire. By polishing the bottom of the can, you have a mirror. The sun's rays will bounce off the bottom and create a focal point. The principle of operation is the same as in the telescope. Turn the bottom of the can towards the sun. The beams, as in other cases with lenses, should be directed to the tinder. Place the tinder 2 to 3 cm from the focal point. The flame will appear after a few seconds.

Despite the fact that it is very difficult to imagine how you can find yourself in the wilderness, having an aluminum can and a bar of chocolate with you, this method of making fire is simply wonderful.

Also interesting:

Batteries and steel wool

As with the can and chocolate, it’s hard to imagine that you don’t have matches, but batteries and steel wool. But nothing is certain. After all, just for fun it can be done at home.

1. Draw out the wool. It is necessary to get a strip about 15 cm long and 1-2 cm wide.

2. Rub the battery on the wool. Take the wool in one hand, the battery in the other. Any battery will work, but a 9-volt battery is best. NSWipe off the wool side of the battery. The latter will start to smoke and eventually catch fire.

3. Place the burning steel wool strip in the tinder nest. The strip will burn out quickly, so hurry up. published by

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Perhaps the most ancient and reliable way make fire in the wild - use dry wood... Remember how Tom Hanks bloody wiped his hands in The Outcast? In fact, such sacrifices are not necessary at all.

Start by digging a small hole in the ground to provide airflow. After that, take a dry flat piece of wood and drill a small indentation in it - this can be done with an ordinary sharp pebble. It remains to find a long thin stick that will play the role of a drill, and sharpen one of its tips. You will also have to collect some tinder - the smallest chips, tiny pieces of bark and bird fluff will do, as long as all materials are dry. Now just place the tinder in the recess, press it down with the sharp end of the "drill" and start rotating it with measured, sharp movements, applying as much force as possible. If the flow of oxygen is stable, the tinder will soon begin to smolder - all that remains is to carefully inflate the coals and place them in the prepared kindling. Voila, you've got the fire!

Flint

The modern flint box consists of a chair, flint and tinder. Kresalo is any pyrophoric material. Previously, ordinary iron was used for these purposes, but over time, special alloys appeared, the most popular of which is currently ferrocerium - an alloy of iron, cerium, lanthanum and lanthanides. The principle of operation of the flint is extremely simple: when it hits the chaise, the flint removes thin shavings, which in the process heats up and ignites - this is a phenomenon akin to a grinding stone that strikes sparks during sharpening. So you need a piece of ordinary flint, an iron surface and a little dexterity - sooner or later, dry tinder will definitely catch fire.

Lens

This method is familiar to many of us from childhood. In sunny weather, producing fire with it is as easy as shelling pears: you just need to find the right angle and focus the sun's rays on the combustible material, and it quickly heats up to the combustion temperature. The obvious disadvantage of glass is that it is completely useless in cloudy weather.

No glass? Just grab a soda can with a convex bottom and polish it with chocolate. The fat contained in it will make the metal smooth and turn it into a miniature parabolic mirror that perfectly reflects the sun's rays. Even ordinary ice can be polished to a focusing lens. ultraviolet radiation- this will help you stay warm if you are left without matches in winter. You will need a piece of ice that is about 5-7 cm thick, with the edges slightly thinner than the convex middle. You can polish the ice with a piece of rough cloth or even with your hands.

Battery

You will need some natural wool and a battery (optimal power - 9W). Just stretch the coat and start rubbing it with the battery head. Steel wool or cotton wool is also suitable for these purposes. As a result of friction, the wool will heat up and ignite; all that remains is to put it in the fire.

Chemistry

If you are lucky enough to go on a hike with a set of chemicals, then they can come to the rescue. Here are the three most popular compounds that ignite when mixed:

• Potassium chlorate and sugar (3 to 1)
• Potassium permanganate (the familiar "potassium permanganate") and glycerin
• Potassium permanganate and antifreeze

It is worth noting that in this case it is necessary to strictly observe safety precautions and prevent contact of the body with reagents.