Fire Piston Photos Here!

[The Warrior]

Hopefully there's not already a thread like this. Here's the fire pistons I own. The first is a traditional string gasket Cocobolo piston by Darrel Aune of Primal Connection. The second is by Jeff Wagner of Wilderness Solutions, and is a traditional string gasket made out of buffalo horn, with a Cocobolo lanyard ring on it. The third piston is Cocobolo, with a delrin rod and o-ring gasket, also made by Jeff Wagner of Wilderness Solutions. Les Stroud uses his pistons. The fourth is also Cocobolo, iirc, and is a James Spily custom. Brass rod and o-ring. It has a longer shaft, and probably works the best out of all of them. The last one is made by Rose Mountain Fire Pistons, and is made out of Red Stag. It too has a brass rod with o-ring. This one works quite well too, with a longer stroke, but the unusual end makes it a little harder to get chaga, char cloth, etc, to stay in.

Let's see those pistons!

 

[Murphnuge]

Well, look at you sir. What with all them fire pistons and all. These things pique my interest.

 

[The Warrior]

Well, look at you sir. What with all them fire pistons and all. These things pique my interest.

They piqued my interest too, hence why I have them, lol. I actually have another, my first, but it was such a lemon. I think I got it to work 2 times. I've had these for a few years. I was starting to collect them, but decided it was all I needed. Well. actually more than I needed.

 

[Murphnuge]

Yeah, I've given some thought to adopting one, or if you're a hipster "rescuing" one. Really though, I kinda like them. They'd be fun to play with.

 

[The Warrior]

To me they're more fun than practical. Just something cool about it. I discovered them about 10 years ago on the internet. Always wanted one, then thought wth, might as well get one. Some, of course, are more expensive than others. I think the most expensive one was $75. Worth it to me. Buffalo horn is kinda cool.

 

[The Warrior]

C'mon guys, I know some of ya's have fire pistons.

 

[scruffuk]

I own a couple of these. I think they are a great piece of aincent technology and the really appeal to the Fire Scientist in me.

Like yourself, the first one I bought was a bit of a dud. It was a cheapo olive wood handle with brass rod. It had one rubber o-ring and the seal was very poor and required just the right amount of silicone lube to get any chance of working. It was a bit of a joke.

The second one I picked up a year or two ago, a decent Wilderness Solutions one, the 2nd gen model with the release valve.
Its excellent and with a decent bit of tinder I can get an ember in just a couple of pumps.

I should use it more...it is great fun and its a joy to use.

Shall try and get some photos up this evening (GMT).

 

[scruffuk]

Not the best pics....

 

[The Warrior]

Thanks for posting. That looks sweet. They are a cool bit of technology.

 

[jds1]

Here's a couple more.

Jeff

 

[scruffuk]

I do like the look of those buffalo models.

 

[The Warrior]

Nice jds1. I really like the looks of the buffalo myself.

 

[Macchina]

I make them myself from 6061 aluminum. They work great and can really take a beating (literally, because that is how you start them). I've been making them for the last few years during lunch and spare time on a lathe at the machine shop I work at. It took me about 4 prototypes to get the bore diameter to length ratio right, but they fire almost every time with the dimensions I'm making them to. I wanted something a bit more robust than wood or brass tubes...

One of my first prototypes:

And a few videos:




And a picture of 5 kubatons (Aluminum with steel and carbide inserts) I made on the same lathe just for the heck of it:

 

[The Warrior]

Very nice work michaelmcgo, those look awesome.

 

[Bladite]

sweet pistons

 

[wingman115]

Sweet looking piston's.

 

[gmoneyluv]

Great looking pistons!

 

[The Warrior]

Thanks guys, appreciated.

 

[granitestateofmind]

You just had to link to this, didn't you Dubz? I saw this video several months ago, the guy does some other "survival" type videos, as well as some just freakin' cool stuff.
[video=youtube;SkWJdWGdgaM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkWJdWGdgaM[/video]

RESURRECTED!

 

[The Warrior]

You just had to link to this, didn't you Dubz? I saw this video several months ago, the guy does some other "survival" type videos, as well as some just freakin' cool stuff.
[video=youtube;SkWJdWGdgaM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkWJdWGdgaM[/video]

RESURRECTED!

They really are cool. I need to break them back out again.