How to start a fire with a Magnifying Glass

For those of you who just can't resist playing with fire, here is how you can start your own fire with a magnifying glass.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Newspaper
• Dry Wood
• Magnifying Glass
• Water

1. Get some newspaper. Be sure to get a few layers of it so the fire lasts a little bit. Then go to your sidewalk or your drive and put the newspaper down.

2. Get a piece of dried wood and put it at the very edge of the Newspapers. Be sure that, if you want your flame to last a little while, to get a very thick piece of dried wood

3. Hold the magnifying glass in front of the sun so a small bright dot will appear on the newspaper. Adjust as needed to get dot as small as possible. (The dot has to be a circle as small as possible, or else it will take a long time.)

4. Once that's done, just be patient. It can take 5 to 10 minutes to get a flame. Once you do get a flame, and it goes too far away from the starting point, douse it with the water.

5. 7.Run your hands over the spot the fire was at, if you feel any heat whatsoever, do anything to make it go away, like dousing the newspapers with MORE water.

6. Now, be proud that you made a fire without using a single match or using a lighter. These skills can be helpfull.

Tips & Warnings

• PLEASE make sure that the newspaper isn't smokeing at step 5!
• If you're lost somewhere in the wilderness with no matches or a lighter, these skills could be helpfull.
• It's best to do this from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.
• Have an extra bucket of water around in case of emergency.
• Black paper works better by absorbing more heat via sunlight.
• A fire starting lens can be made from clear and flat ice by melting one side of a piece of it in the palm of your hand so that the melted side becomes rounded like a lens.
• Don't hold the magnifying glass in such a way that it might burn you
• Make sure you do not burn yourself
• If you have a larger glass, avoid looking at the spot on the tinder as you are heating it, lest you permanently damage the retinas in your eyes
• Wear sunglasses so your eyes don't burn when locating the sun in the sky
• Do not look at the sun with your magnifying glass

Resources

• Wiki-how's article on this