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Making fire with unusual things

Ignite a bonfire without matches or lighter; that truly works!

Making fire
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Modern civilization is now a few decades away from the compulsion to light a wood fire to cook or roast, apart from some nostalgic folks who put a wood-fired oven in the kitchen for sinfully expensive money. Therefore, making a fire is often one of the biggest problems on a camp or camping holiday.

The matches might be damp, or the disposable lighter fails its service, the ravioli from the can is still cold, and the sausages remain in the package. Most campers carry various utensils that are suitable for lighting a fire.

Aluminum foil and battery, an igniting spark

The foil around a chewing gum or household aluminum foil, as well as a double-A battery, is enough to ignite a fire. For this purpose, the aluminum foil is cut to the shape of an hourglass, two wide ends, and a narrow middle part. The wide ends are pressed simultaneously on the plus and minus poles of the battery. The now flowing stream accumulates at the narrow central part and heats up so strongly that it ignites. At this moment, something easily inflammable should be in place to give further nourishment to the short foil inflammation. A tuft of very dry straw, for example.

Another common problem is that there are not enough wood chips to build up the campfire slowly. It often takes several attempts with a lot of smoke until finally larger logs can be put on.

How to Make Fire with Water

Water in plastic bottles is almost always present at a tent camp. Thoughtlessly thrown away, and half-filled water bottles have already triggered one or the other forest fire. If you only want a campfire and not a whole burning forest to grill sausages, simply look for the focal point of the sun rays bundled in the water bottle and direct it on straw or crumpled paper. However, potato chips are also used as fire accelerators.

Real campers or participants of a tent camp always carry one indispensable tool with them. The Romans already knew it, and it is still used almost unchanged to make fire - the fire steel or the percussion lighter. The price of around 13 Euros pays off because such fire steel holds for life.