Pyro Piston - Ancient Technology, 21st Century Reliability

History:

Fire Pistons have been around for thousands of years and have been used by many tribes in the Pacific Islands and South East Asia. Evidence suggests that tribes that used blowpipes as a weapon originally came up with the idea. Of course we in the West like to claim these things for ourselves and our first mention of this type of tool came in 1745 when Abbe Augustin Ruffo “invented” it.  Some time after that in the early 1800’s it was patented and remained an incredibly popular house hold fire lighting device until some bright spark, Gustaf Erik Pasch invented the safety match in the mid 1800’s. The fire piston is also said to be the inspiration for Rudolf Diesels creation of the Diesel Engine in 1892.

How it works:

The fire piston works by rapidly compressing gas around the tinder at the end of the plunger. If this is done correctly the gas will heat up sharply to around 260°C. This is enough to ignite the tinder, and transfer it to a larger set of tinder for fire lighting. This is best demonstrated by Dustin in the video below.

How to:

Step One: Get a little of the lubricant on your finger and smear it on the washer. Push the piston in and out a couple of times. If it’s well lubricated, the piston will spring back due the compression created.

Step Two: Take a little tinder and press it into the tinder cup ensuring it sits firmly within the cup and if not touching the washer. If it is not in properly it will interfere with the washer meaning you’ll loose much needed compression.

Step Three: Insert the piston into the piston body about 1cm. Place the piston on a solid surface. Strike downwards with force then quickly remove the piston to reveal the glowing ember.

Step Four: Transfer the ember to larger pieces of tinder and gently blow until you get flames.

Moving Forward:

Dustin James at Bushcraft Tools has bought this ancient design right up to date with the Pyro Piston. Dustin’s idea came from his work with the Shelter Box charity which provide emergency shelter, supplies and support for communities around the world hit by disaster and humanitarian crisis. He wanted to make a sure-fire way of creating fire time and time again in these areas.  After years of research, development and many incarnations of his creation we are left with probably the best fire piston on the market.

Pyro Piston Review:

The Pyro Piston comes with everything you need to get a burning ember to light your fire. The kit includes a 1 Pyro-Piston, Built-in 64mm Firesteel, Charcloth, Lubricant  and Spare rubber washers. It weighs in at 80g and is 117mm long by 22mm wide.

The clever thing about the Pyro Piston is the way everything is incorporated into its design. One end of the two piece piston unscrews to reveal a small area where the lubricant is kept, the opposite end has a similar sized water proof compartment for keeping tinder. If that wasn’t enough there is a fire steel cleverly placed in the centre of the piston which can be found by unscrewing the tinder cup. I love this bit of design, to have two ways of making a fire in one device essentially giving you twice the chance to light a fire in the wilderness.

I hear Dustin has some pretty sweet upgrades in development too so keep an eye on him!