We know you have questions... We have answers

How do I clean the Fire Piston?

Use a piece of paper towel or a Q-Tip and poke it in there using a nail or a chop stick. Then spin it around and pull it out. This works fine. You can use a little water and dish soap if you want, it won't hurt the piston.

Do not use anything tight fitting in the cylinder to clean it. Do not use anything abrasive to clean the cylinder. Bore cleaning gun brushes are completely unacceptable. No solvents either. If you put something tight in there you can create a vaccuum and it will be impossible to remove it from the cylinder. Copper bore brushes will score the cylinder and cause it to not work again by breaking the seal between the o-ring and cylinder. Thus your fire piston will not work again EVER.

Plastic? Won't that burn?

Sure if you get it hot enough anything will burn.  Most questions revolving around Polycarbonate have to do with it melting.  Fire Pistons were traditionally made of wood and they lasted a long time without burning. Polycarbonate begins to melt at around 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  That means that it will hold up pretty well to the brief heat that it experiences in the use of the fire piston. Several things make it different from wood in that once the coal is lit you don't want to blow on the coal until it is knocked out of the tinder hole.  It will stay lit for a long time once lit, you don't need to blow on it right away.  Knock it out and then blow on it.

Why not just use a lighter?

That is a great question.  Lighters work great.  They make fire easy.  They also run out of gas or fluid. Lighters also have a "flint" which is actually ferrocerium, that runs out eventually and the lighter stops working. Lighters are very susceptible to moisture and wind. Fire pistons are not and also fire pistons actually like wind. It helps you light the fire without even having to blow on your tinder bundle.

Basically it boils down to the fact that lighters and matches are expendable. They rely on expendables that get used up as you light fires. Fire Pistons utilize physics to ignite tinder which is normally readily available in the wilderness. Assuming you don't break your fire piston you will be able to keep using it over and over many more times than a disposable or refillable lighter.

What is a fire piston?

Simply put a fire piston is a handheld device that uses rapid compression of air in a cylinder to ignite a small piece of tinder. This tinder is then transferred to a lager bundle which is then used to light a fire. They have many uses and browsing around our site will show you how they work.

How does it work?

There are a couple answers to this question.  If you want the science of why it works head over here to the Fire piston Science area.  If you want to know how to use one head over to the How to use a Fire Piston section. That section will give you a step by step guide and provide some videos.

Why are Fire Poppers better?

Several reasons provide the answer to this question. First off because we care about fire pistons and our users actually being able to use our product. You will find many resources on this site that offer help. From the videos, how to guide, and the discussion forums.

Aside from providing those guides, we use premium materials. We use Machine Grade Polycarbonate. This is the same stuff used in bullet-proof glass. All of out fire pistons are assembled by hand after being machined to our exacting tolerances. We provide you everything necessary to start a fire right out of the box as well.

Finally, our fire pistons are just cheaper than everyone else's. Why pay $150 for a hand made wood fire piston when you can get one of ours for cheaper. Sure if you want a piece of art, by all means ask us to make one out of whatever you want. We will do bone, metal, wood for a much higher price because the material is more expensive. By using the polycarbonate you get the best fire piston for the price!

Plastic Vs Wood
Lots of differences here. Plastic is jsut cheaper. That is why we use it. It has some benefits besides being cheaper. It doesn't absorb water like wood can. It is easier to see what is going on in your piston. You know when you have a coal, you also know when the piston is dirty and needs to be cleaned. It is much easier for beginners to learn on a platic fire piston.

Construction Process
All of our pistons are made on a precision lathe. They are made individually to within .001 inches of tolerance. That means that your piston is only different from another we made by .001 inches. That means that if you need replacement parts you can order them knowing that they will fit. It also means that we get the best possible seal available. We use a very special O-ring as well. These are the same O-rings that NASA uses. They have a special groove to create 2 sealing surfaces instead of one like standard O-rings.

How to make fire
Check out the how to use a fire piston guide.

Does water affect the FP
Yes and no. Getting the piston we does not matter. Just dump out the water and use it. It will work flawlessly. However wet tinder is another story. Damp tinder may light but wet will not. You may have to hit the piston a few times to dry off the tinder and then it will light. Our pistons don't have anything that will absorb water either so they are very rugged and reliable.

What tinder is acceptable
Char cloth is by far the easiest to light. That is great for beginners to learn with. That is why all of our fire pistons ship with some to try out. Tinder fungus is also a very easy to use tinder. Beyond that milk weed pods, Cat tails, wood punk, and pith, the internal material from many plant stalks are also acceptable. Some tinder is much easier to use than others. Stick with char-cloth until you get the hang of it and then you can branch out finding other tinders that work for you.

VS other methods of Fire Starting
      Lighter - What fun is that? Why not carry a flame thrower into the woods.
      Bow Drill - Great and pretty easy but doesn't work if wet.
      Hand Drill - Hard takes really good technique.
      Fire Plow - Wow, this one takes GUTS.
      Flint and Steel - Very useful a good partner to the fire piston. They use similar tinder
      Fire Steel - This stuff is great. It always works and is cheap but the coolness factor for the fire                         piston is way higher.

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