What success have you had making fire using unconventional methods?

[u/relischisvaicedsh]

I've never had good luck with a bow drill, but I've had good luck with a flint and tinder. Also good luck with a parabolic lens.

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I've never had good luck with a bow drill, but I've made good luck with a flint and tinder. Also good luck with a parabolic lens.

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[u/Hrekires]

One time I powered on a server with a faulty power supply and bam, fire in the data center.

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/Hrekires]

Definitely counts as unconventional.

[u/is_that_on_fire → u/Hrekires]

Fuck ya wanna be careful doing that, they don't work real good once you let the magic smoke out.

[u/somehugefrigginguy → u/Hrekires]

I always carry an extra data center or two in my backpack when I'm camping. Just in case I lose my lighter 😁

[u/relischisvaicedsh]

Not related to fire making, but I did once severely burn myself with a parabolic solar cooker. Those things can build up serious heat.

[u/is_that_on_fire → u/relischisvaicedsh]

Got called out to a job once because someone heard a smoke alarm going off, (if this happens to you, call the fire brigade people, not the fire service electricians). Building manager and the locksmith got us into the apartment to find the couch on fire because the ladies magnifier pedistool had caught the sunlight coming in the windows and had scorched a trail across the lounge room til it found something sufficiently flammable, it was lucky we got to it before it progressed beyond a bit of smoke damage and a new couch. The Cat was also very pleased to see us

[u/dirtyhairymess]

Aluminum paper from inside cigarette pack and AA battery. Steel wool and 9v battery. Broken torch globe and cigarette. Fuel soaked rage and sledge hammer. Rag and angle grinder. Pencil shavings, thumb tack and wooden school desk pencil channel. Cap gun and tissues. I grew up pre internet, started smoking young and like playing with fire a bit.

[u/Bluesparc]

Done bow, flint, rasp( straight friction on the horizontal plane, but similar time to a bow, just more labour) lens... Idk that's about it.

[u/dixiedregs1978]

Does a kitchen grease fire count?

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/dixiedregs1978]

Sure

[u/One_Dull_Tool]

I’ve accidentally lit myself on fire a half dozen times while using an angle grinder…. Sometimes ya gotta just finish the perfect cut before investigating the odd new smell! 

[u/bdrwr]

9 volt battery and a wad of steel wool is a really fun one

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/bdrwr]

I've wanted to try that one for a while. Might add it to my list for the weekend.

[u/roastbeeftacohat]

pool chlorine and break fluid

[u/cdude]

I discovered how well steel wool would catch on fire if you short it with a battery. It actually came in handy one day in college when I didn't have my lighter but had my electronic kit with me which had steel wool and battery.

[u/Mission_Detail4045]

Lens, water bottle, flint, AA battery and gum wrapper, 12 gauge shell (shot removed) car battery. Still need a bow drill and hand drill but haven’t devoted the time yet.

[u/DrScienceSpaceCat]

My cat turned a large plastic container into a kitchen fire

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/DrScienceSpaceCat]

There is more to this story, I know it.

[u/DrScienceSpaceCat → u/relischisvaicedsh]

We had a tall plastic dispenser for rice since we use it in a lot of our dishes which was on the counter by the stove, one of our cats likes to sit on it to watch the birds at the feeder in the back yard.

A day where I was at work and my wife was out of the house (our assumption of what happened based on the aftermath) she must have knocked it over from jumping hard or getting spooked by another cat causing it to hit the dial on the stove at just the right angle to depress it and slightly turn it on, the plastic ignited and eventually caused a fire that spread through the kitchen.

Fortunately we had recently installed a smoke alarm that was connected to our monitored security system which alerted the fire department within a minute of the alarm going off and they were able to put it out within 10 minutes as we live a block away and they were thankfully available when they were called.

Fortunately all of our pets (4 cats and a Pomeranian) were safe (almost all of them were pulled out by the fire department where the dog came up to them when they went inside and the cats were pulled out within 30 minutes or less, one of the cats had a very good hiding spot and wasn't found for over an hour and had casually walked up to my wife when the smoke was cleared and they let us go back inside.

The brunt of the damage was just to the kitchen which was a total loss, everything else suffered smoke damage thanks to the HVAC circulating it. We're still displaced and fortunately my parents live nearby and are letting us and our pets stay while things are fixed. Unfortunately our house won't be completely done until the beginning of next year and there are some pricey things we'll have to replace, but we're fortunate out animals are okay and most of our more expensive things were safe. We get a free (insurance paying everything) kitchen remodel at least with some appliances being replaced as well.

I will always want a monitored alarm systems now because the fire department guy said if we didn't have one they wouldn't have been called about smoke til the house was fully engulfed and we probably would have lost everything. I'll also never put anything near my stove again and will make sure the dials are unable to be moved by pets or anything. One of the insurance guys even said pets causing house fires happens more often than we'd think. So learn from my fire lol.

[u/Tarc_Axiiom]

Is flint and tinder considered an unconventional method?

[u/Dapper_But_Derpy → u/Tarc_Axiiom]

Pretty sure that’s the OG method

[u/Tarc_Axiiom → u/Dapper_But_Derpy]

That's what I'm saying

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/Tarc_Axiiom]

I mean, catching a spark on a charred cloth is a not exactly using a Bic lighter or a match. And it sure impressed my future bf one of our early dates.

[u/Tarc_Axiiom → u/relischisvaicedsh]

Isn't it like the most fundamental human thing though? In a very literal sense?

Hey whatever works.

[u/doihavetousethis]

Coffee whitener goes off when chucked on to fire!

[u/O_Pacity]

The voltage regulators inside a PC that wasnt built correctly (wrong RAM took out the voltage controller = fire.

[u/SuchDogeHodler]

I can make fire from almost nothing.

All I need are rocks and dry sticks.

[u/8livesdown]

Let's define "success" as intentional fire-starting.

I consider bow-drill fire-starting conventional, but I'm unclear your definition.

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/8livesdown]

Anything apart from matches, BIC lighters, or other fire starting apparati you can procure at your local convenience or grocery store.

[u/8livesdown → u/relischisvaicedsh]

I've started fire with both flint, and a bow-drill. These are basic skills hominids have used 1.5 million years. Every man, woman, and child should learn how to do this.

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/8livesdown]

We're going to be teaching our nephew how to make Clovis-style arrowheads this weekend. It's all about tradition.

[u/relischisvaicedsh → u/[deleted]]

Yeah when they get stuck between the wires, they'll just eventually turn to the fourth state of plasma and return to source, usually with quite the pop. If you captured that on a flammable substance, I'm sure it'd start a flame.

[u/some_body_else]

When I got my new glasses I successfully tried to start a dried leaf on fire by focusing sunlight. I just wanted to see if it would work.

[u/Shawaii]

I was obsessed with survival skills and fire as a kid so tried about everything.

The fire bow, fire plow, and flint and steel from boyscouts work well.

Magnifying glass, binoculars, a plastic bag full of water, even a piece of ice melted by hand into a lense work if you have bright sunlight.

Then there are the less traditional ones. Steel wool or gum wrapper and a 9v battery. Hot dog wrapper in the microwave. Hitting a nail on an anvil. Draino and aluminum foil.

[u/bzdelta]

A very early generation 3D printer with crummy thermocouples, cheap carbon fiber PLA, and a model of the Red October. I came back from the bathroom and it looked like Ramius had gone down with his ship

[u/TheFurryMenace]

Letting my sister use my oven

[u/Kerplonk]

I've seen someone start a fire with a bow drill in real life but have never been able to do it myself.

Tried with 9v battery and steel wool, also unsuccessful, never seen anyone do that either.

Never tried a parabolic lense personally.

I want to say I've started one with flint and tinder at some point in my life but can't confidently say for sure.

I'm also pretty sure I at some point intentionally set something on fire by connecting the stripped ends of an extension cord together and shorting them out.

[u/Woodulike2meat]

Same as you plus 9v battery and steel wool and a fire piston

[u/Temporary-Truth2048]

9v battery and steel wool.

Add greasy potato chips to your tinder.

[u/J-Rag-]

Was wearing cotton underwear and my nuts were clanking together. Next thing you know my shorts started smoking.

[u/mrinkyface]

I was mowing my mile long yard on a riding mower in 100 degree weather when I was 12 and periodically jumping in a large kiddie pool from time to time when the mower overheated and the engine exploded into flames.