101 Ways to MAKE FIRE - #2 Beer Can & Toothpaste (2)

HERE IT IS. Finally, a decent video on YOUTube showing you how to make fire with an aluminium can and toothpaste/chocolate/whatever. And the sun obviously. Solar power when you need it most. No matches, lighters or firesteels, though. This is actually easier than you might imagine. The trick is to get the mirror surface shiny enough, so that sunlight is concentrated on a small enough point. The parabolic shape at the bottom of the beer tin is designed to withstand the pressure of the CO2 within the can. (Actually , I think the shape might be a catenary surface, but at this small size and shallow profile they are close enough approximations of each other not to matter.) But it doubles up conveniently as an emergency firelighter. Luckily we always have been with us. You need to use an aluminium can for this. Hence the imported, poncy, expensive English beer in the long yellow and black tin. South African drinks are packaged in stainless steel cans. Like the Windhoek Lager I was drinking at the end. This video is the part of series of 101 videos, showing different ways to make fire. It started out as a challenge to myself, to understand the physics and chemistry associated with combustion. Enormous resources go into firefighting and firefighters put their lives on the line every day to save lives and property from destructive fire. Obviously it is easier and cheaper to prevent fire in the first place. Hopefully I can teach people how easy it is for fires to start as a result of ignorance or negligence. Many of these techniques are very old and it is just a question of re-learning ancient skills. There is something very primal and satisfying about being able to start a fire the way our forefathers did. People nowadays seldom even think about fire, without realising that many of the things we take for granted every day have come about as a result of the understanding and control of combustion. An obvious example is the internal combustion engine. However, not many people are aware that the concept of generating heat through compression, as found in the Diesel engine, was understood and applied long before the invention of the diesel engine. The indigenous people of South-East Asia were using fire pistons as a fire starting technique long before the arrival of Europeans.. Electricity, too, is taken for granted, without necessarily associating it with the thermal power stations which generate the bullk of electricity worldwide. Another aspect of this project is the pursuit of sustainable energy. Lighting fire is all about concentrating energy, and doing it as efficiently as possible. By understanding how to do this, I will hopefully give myself and others maybe - a better insight into the various sources of energy that are available. You will probably have seen some of these before. I'm not pretending to have invented fire. The coke can thing has definitely been done before. I think I first heard about it after an episode of Mythbusters brought it to popular attention. I have still to see a decent video of it, though. It is actually surprisingly easy to ignite something using the parabolic surface on the underside of a soft-drink can. The trick is to get the surface as reflective as possible. Reminds me of that quote which is usually ascribed to Abraham Lincoln: If I had ten hours to chop down a tree, I would spend nine of them sharpening my ace. With primitive fire skills, it is usually more important and difficult to master the skills of sustaining and transferring an ember and nurturing it to form a fire, than it is to get an ember in the first place. So I will cover some of that as well whilst adhering to the discipline of showing one new way per video to actually ignite the fire. Some of the things I will use to start fires are: air, water, rock, the infamous coca-cola can, ice, condoms, a garbage can, pots, light fittings, stationery, a few different things you can find in your first-aid cabinet, toiletries, a torch, string, a cellphone, a typewriter, light bulb, various bits and pieces of your car or truck, culery, crockery, batteries, fuses, steel wool and a whole lot more. Quite a few of them I have succeeded in using, some of the videos might be made live and might fail. Most of these things require some practice. The idea behind all of this is not to suggest that all of these would be suitable for a survival situation although I have certainly used some of them in extreme outdoor situations. The truth is that one is always going to go for the easiest solutions when your life is at risk. The simplest solution may not be pure primitive skills. In real life, one often has access to a vehicle or downed aircraft in a survival situation. The world being what it is today, there is often man-made material to be found, even in the wilderness. Garbage can be very useful sometimes.
Update 15 April 2010: Howcast just posted a video of how to do this and they FAKED IT. Why would you do that???
Rob with a b

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[SpikeitropianP]

@ 1:23 I am! W00T!

[ROBwithaB]

@SpikeitropianP

You forcing me to go watch the video again, just to see what you're talking about.

[hawnkblade]

HOLY SHIT, THATS NOT A DESCRIPTION, THATS A FUCKING WALL

[ROBwithaB]

@hawnkblade

Egads. That's not a comment. That's a loud realisation.

[rabbitnonkiller]

3:37 wow that was funneier than try not to laugh videos

[ROBwithaB]

@rabbitnonkiller

Thanks.

I like it when people tell me which bits they find funny.

(Although a lot of those "try not to laugh" videos aren't funny at all.)

[borderraven]

I'm worried now. Your imaginary friends look familiar. I'll bet Bob knows where the green grass grows and how to roll a good joint, and I think I remember waking up to Roberta overseas.

Chocolate works too.

[reelphresh]

Beer cans and roach clips . . sounds like the only way to survie.

[TheCaneArtist]

You rock!

[Nathyruiz]

I understand that black things absorb light and heat, but would it work if I try to put fire directly on dry straw or it has to be something black?

[rickydeeman]

BODDINGTONS! :D

[JDeMuse]

don't do the girl persona man its weird.

[nartron3000]

roach clip LMAO! stay stoney my friends stay stoney

[tylertehman]

why we use these roach clips not because we have marijuana and rolling papers or anything

[Trimtrator]

3:37 HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH­AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Fredkrug3]

hahahhahaha. Last quote is great.