Maya Ellison
Starting a fire with plastic is a handy survival skill. All you need is a plastic bag, some wood, the sun, and access to water. First, find some dry wood, such as tree bark, and smash it into a fine dust with a rock. Then, pile the dust with twigs and sticks for kindling. Fill the plastic bag with water and place it over the kindling. The water and plastic will act as a magnifying glass, focusing a beam of light onto the kindling and creating a spark. With a little air, you'll have a fire going in no time!
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Items required | Plastic bag, water, dry wood, sun |
| Method | Fill plastic bag with water, place over dry wood dust, use as a magnifying glass |
| Alternative items | Clear plastic bag, clear water, flint |
| Alternative method | Fill plastic bag with clear fuel |
| Difficulty | Requires time and practice |
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What You'll Learn
Using a plastic bag and water
Starting a fire with a plastic bag and water is a useful survival trick to know. It requires sunlight, so it will only work during the day.
First, find some dry wood and use a rock to smash it into a fine dust. Place the wood dust on a flat surface, such as a piece of bark. This wood dust is your tinder—the material that will catch fire.
Next, take a plastic bag and fill it with water. Zip it closed, then carefully scrunch the top so that a sphere is formed in one corner. By pinching off the water-filled bag and twisting it, you create a bi-convex spherical lens that acts like a magnifying glass.
Now, hold the bag above the tinder and direct the sunlight through the lens onto the tinder. You need to find the most perfectly round point in the bag to act as the lens. The light will converge on the tinder, causing it to start smoking. Gently blow on the tinder to coax it into flames, and add some larger pieces of dry wood to build your fire.
This method can be used in a variety of situations, from camping trips to emergency survival scenarios. However, it is important to practice caution when starting any fire, and to ensure you have a large water supply nearby in case the fire gets out of control.
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Fill a plastic bag with clear fuel
Filling a plastic bag with clear fuel is one way to start a fire with plastic. This method is suggested by a user on Reddit who had tried to start a fire with a plastic bag filled with water, but the bag broke and put out the fire.
To start a fire with a plastic bag and clear fuel, you will need a plastic bag, clear fuel, dry wood, and kindling. First, find some dry wood, such as bark from a tree. Smash the dry wood into a fine dust with a rock, then pile it together with twigs and sticks for kindling. Instead of filling the plastic bag with water, fill it with clear fuel. Place the plastic bag over the fine dust and kindling. The plastic bag will act as a magnifying glass, focusing the sun's rays onto the kindling and causing it to ignite. With a little air, you should have a nice fire going.
This method is similar to using a magnifying glass or a clear jar of water to start a fire by focusing a beam of light onto a burnable object. It may take some patience and practice to get the light focused properly through the plastic bag, but it is a useful skill to have in a survival situation.
Remember to exercise caution when handling fire, and ensure you have the necessary permits and take the appropriate safety precautions when starting a fire, especially in dry or wildfire-prone areas.
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Using a sandwich bag filled with water
If you're ever in a pinch and need to start a fire with just a sandwich bag and water, there's a clever way to do it. This method requires some sunlight, so it's best to do it outdoors during the day.
First, fill your sandwich bag with water and seal it up. The bag doesn't need to be completely full—filling it about halfway will work just fine. Next, find the most perfectly round point in the bag when it's filled with water. This round point will act as a lens, just like a magnifying glass.
Now, find some dry wood, like tree bark, and smash it into a fine dust with a rock. You can also use a knife to carve the wood into a fine powder if you have one available. Once you have your wood dust, pile it together with twigs and sticks to use as kindling.
Finally, use the round point on your water-filled sandwich bag to direct sunlight down onto the wood dust. The light passing through the water and plastic will bend and concentrate, creating a single focal point that adds heat to the wood dust. After a few seconds, you should start seeing smoke. Gently blow on the smoke to encourage it to ignite, and carefully add larger pieces of dry kindling to build up your fire.
With this method, you can go from having just a sandwich bag and water to holding a fire in your hands. It may take a bit of practice to perfect the technique, but it's an impressive and useful skill to have in your survival toolkit.
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Using a water bottle
Starting a fire with a water bottle is similar to using a magnifying glass. The water bottle acts as a lens, focusing sunlight into a super-bright point that quickly heats up paper or other tinder until it combusts.
To start a fire with a water bottle, you will need a clear bottle with a smooth, curved top, and fill it with a clear liquid. The liquid in the bottle must be clear so that enough light can pass through it. Carbonated water or a clear soda can be used, as the bubbles will not significantly impact the light passing through.
Position the bottle at the right angle to the sun so that the light passes through and hits your tinder. You may need to experiment with the bottle's position to get it just right. Hold everything steady so the heat will continue to build. Once the tinder starts smoking, add something combustible like dried grass, and blow the smoldering embers to ignite the fire.
It is important to note that this method of starting a fire requires a lot of time and practice. The sun needs to be at its full strength, as a cloudy sky or late afternoon sun may not provide enough energy to start a fire.
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Using a cell phone battery
Firstly, it is important to note that taking apart your phone and tampering with its battery will likely ruin your phone. If you are in a survival situation and this is your only option, then proceed with caution.
To start a fire using a cell phone battery, you will need foil paper. This can be obtained from cigarette or chocolate packaging. Cut or tear a thin, long strip of foil, ensuring that the ends can easily make contact with the phone battery. Carefully crumple the strip to prevent the flame from being easily blown out.
Remove the battery from your phone, being cautious not to damage it. Attach one end of the foil strip to the positive terminal and the other end to the negative terminal on the battery. As the current passes through the foil, it will heat up and ignite the foil paper. It is important that the foil strip is thin and long to avoid preventing the fire from starting due to the battery's built-in protection circuit.
If the above method fails, puncturing your battery with a sharp object can release toxic and highly flammable gas that may cause the battery to ignite or explode. This method should only be used as a last resort, as it carries significant risks. Cover your nose, mouth, and eyes with a cloth or glasses if possible, then quickly puncture the battery. Once punctured, place your tinder bundle on top and step away until the battery stops releasing toxic fumes.
Remember, starting a fire using a cell phone battery can be dangerous, and it is always better to prevent a phone fire than to try to put one out. Lithium-ion batteries are susceptible to thermal runaway, where the initial fire releases gases that fuel further combustion, sometimes explosively. Always use manufacturer-approved, UL-certified batteries and chargers, and inspect your phone and charger regularly for damage to minimize the risk of a battery fire.
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Frequently asked questions
Fill a clear plastic bag with water and place it in the sun over some dry wood, like bark from a tree, that has been smashed into a fine dust. The water and plastic will act as a magnifying glass and with a bit of air, you will have a fire.
A clear plastic bag with water works best as colours absorb light and hinder your ability to focus the light.
You should use dry wood, such as bark from a tree, that has been smashed into a fine dust. Pile the dust together with twigs and sticks for kindling.
You can also use a clear plastic water bottle filled with water. The bottle needs to have a smooth, curved top.
Paper with dark ink works best as the dark ink absorbs heat and ignites faster.
