{"id":111,"date":"2018-05-21T13:40:04","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T13:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/survivaljar.com\/?p=111"},"modified":"2018-06-05T10:39:02","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T10:39:02","slug":"how-to-light-a-fire-without-matches-arc-plasma-lighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/survivaljar.com\/how-to-light-a-fire-without-matches-arc-plasma-lighter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Light a Fire Without Matches – The High Tech Way."},"content":{"rendered":"
Being able to light a fire is a real necessity and it could really save your life one day. As you all know fire provides warmth, safety, and heat for cooking. But do you know that fire can also make fresh water? If you followed our post on making fresh water out of seawater<\/a> we could only achieve this by lighting a campfire.<\/p>\n Fire matches have been around for a long time. For most of us its the standard way we light a candle or a fire while out camping. Over time the humble match hasn’t really evolved a lot. Sure we have long handle matches, windproof matches, and the good old waterproof match.<\/p>\n Over the years we evolved our fire starting capabilities into the good old gas lighter. These are usually powered by butane and provide a nice strong adjustable flame. But they do over time run out of gas or the flint striker fails.<\/p>\n But with the advancement in electricity and now high power lithium-ion batteries, I was excited to see some rechargeable USB lighters<\/a> called the arc lighter. This is how we will light a fire without matches.<\/p>\n These work by using a high voltage at the element tips which case a plasma beam to jump from the positive electrode over to the negative electrode. This plasma beam can reach temperatures over\u00a01,100 degrees Celsius<\/b>\u00a0or\u00a02,012 degrees Fahrenheit<\/b>.<\/p>\n As I love gadgets especially if it involves the outdoors I was sold. I now have a few different sizes shapes and designs. All of which serves a different purpose. But best of all they are rechargeable. Perfect for when I go on my next expedition with my family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Due to the tip size of the arc lighter, it is often impossible just to use it on your neatly prepared stack of wood in your campfire pit. What you need to do is prepare a little extra in the way of getting it lit.<\/p>\n Use some newspaper or even some toilet paper scrunched up into a little ball. Place these around in strategic places in your woodpile. As usual small dry sticks, twigs, and leaves will work extremely well if layered.<\/p>\n I use another piece of rolled up newspaper to form a long pencil-like lighter. This is what I light first and then use this to light all of the rolled up balls in the firepit. The tip of the Plasma lighter is very small that’s why we light the rolled up newspaper first. If you are fast you can light dry leaves or a clump of grass first if you don’t have access to some newspaper.<\/p>\n You can also cheat and use the flammable fire starters that are used by charcoal burners. They will light up very fast and will burn for around 5 minutes.<\/p>\n Doing it this way will take a few minutes of extra preparation, but it really makes sure the fire gets lit fast and safe. The last thing we need on our camping trip is a 3rd-degree skin burn, ouch.<\/p>\n Depending on the make and model I have found you will get around 100 uses of the arc lighter. This is depending on the length of time holding the plasma button on. I tested the USB Tesla coil lighter<\/a> for 10 seconds and received over 100 cycles.<\/p>\n If you do run out just recharge the battery up which should only take an hour or so with a fast 2amp USB charger. In fact,\u00a0I charge all of my electronic devices\u00a0with a Sokoo solar foldout panel while out camping. These are cheap, lightweight and rugged. Perfect for my outdoor activities<\/p>\n So as you can see its a long time. So if you were trying to start a fire out in the bush you are going to get quite a few chances with a full battery. As a survivalist, this device is a must-have in any bug out bag.<\/p>\nHow to light a fire without matches using an arc lighter.<\/h2>\n
How long does the battery in an arc lighter last?<\/h2>\n
How does a plasma arc lighter work?<\/h2>\n