How to Start a Fire Without Matches

Need to start a fire, but don't have any matches? There are still plenty of ways to get tinder burning as long as you have the proper tools and a little patience. Here are several different methods to make a fire, depending on what you have at your disposal.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Magnifying Glasses
• Very Fine Steel Wool
• Tinder
• Magnesium
• Flint
• 6 Volt battery
• A rifle or handgun with ammo
• Camping knife

Start a Fire Without Matches

1. Gather a variety of tinder - wood shavings, dried grass, lint, and even small twigs - before you start. No matter what method you choose for making a fire, you will always need to start with tinder. Ball the tinder up loosely to allow plenty of air flow, and shape it into a birds nest. Have plenty of bigger sticks to add once the fire starts.
2. Use a little magnesium and flint block: Scrape a pile of magnesium shavings on your tinder and strike a spark off the flint. The magnesium will ignite and hopefully start flame in your tinder. Once it begins to smoke, hold the tinder in your hands to allow oxygen in through the bottom and blow gently from underneath.
3. Use a magnifying glass on a sunny day: Angle the magnifying glass in the sun over the tinder so that the focal point is directly on the pile. Once it begins to smoke you can encourage the flame by blowing gently on the tinder from the bottom. Broken glass, bottles or eyeglasses can also work, if their focal point is bright enough.
4. Use a 6-volt battery and steel wool: Tear the wool into a loose mass and touch it to both charges on the battery. Doing so will connect the circuit and cause a spark, and cause the steel wool to glow. Once it's hot enough, you can place it on the tinder until it catches.
5. Use bullets: Remove a bullet from its cartridge and pour half the powder on your tinder. Put the half-empty cartridge back in the gun (without a bullet), and fire it at the tinder. Be certain that your tinder is at the base of a tree or in an enclosed area because the gunfire will likely blow the tinder away and might put out the same flame it creates.
6. Use Friction: Place the point of a straight stick into a groove in a piece of bark or flat wood. Ideally, both of these pieces contain no sap or moisture. Rub the stick vigorously between your hands, while the point creates friction against the other piece of wood. Eventually the wood will heat until it creates a small ember which you can drop in the tinder nest.

Tips & Warnings

• Use old-fashioned steel wool - not the new stainless steel wool pads - for the 6-volt battery-steel wool method.
• Many other methods also exist. Chemicals (potassium permanganate and glycerin), car or airplane batteries and thin strips of metal, road flares, or any source of AC power can be used to start fires.
• These methods are challenging - practice ahead of time.
• Practice fire safety, even in emergency situations. Out of control fires are even more lethal if you're already struggling to survive in the wilderness.