Fire is vital to survival once the power is out, which is why we’ve had so many articles like those on types of tinder and Fire Torches. But unless you can actually start a fire, all the tinder and fire logging material in the world won’t be of much use to you! Of course if you can you’ll use matches, gas lighters, or flint and steel, but in an emergency you may not have those options available. Being able to use common garbage to start a fire, therefore, is immensely valuable.

Fire from a can

Fortunately, one particular piece of garbage that litters every street is aluminum pop cans. Although you probably don’t think of these as prime firestarting material, but with a few adjustments they can actually do a great job with only an hour’s worth of work.

Selecting your can is fairly easy. You just need to find a pop can that has a smooth, undamaged bottom. Even if the entire top of the can has been crushed, you can still use it to start a fire if the bottom is untarnished. Any kind of can will work, though Coke cans are probably the most common by a large margin in most places. It doesn’t need to be full, but it will definitely be easier to keep from accidentally crushing it if you can find full can to work with.

Once you’ve selected your can, the real work begins. The bottom of a coke can has a parabolic shape that usually helps it handle the pressure and weight of the delicious syrupy mixture, but will now be repurposed for starting fires. Unfortunately, the aluminum is not polished at the factory to give you a perfect mirror and in its normal state won’t even reflect light all that well. It will require some polishing with a mild abrasive. There are a variety of common materials you can use for this, including:

• Toothpaste. Since you can just use chewing sticks instead of toothpaste, why not repurpose some of that goop? The abrasive materials in your toothpaste are perfect for polishing the metal of an aluminum can to a mirror shine.
• Chocolate. Yes, really. As it turns out chocolate is sufficiently rough when rubbed against aluminum to polish it! Although it’s a shame to waste food like this, in a pinch fire is more valuable than a single Hershey bar.
• Fine sand. You will have to separate the heavy rough stuff from the finer sand if you just grab it off of a beach. Pour a handful of sand into a cup of water, then let it settle until only the finer particles remain floating. Keeping the rough sediment undisturbed, pour out the finer material with the water into another container then boil off that water, leaving you with very fine abrasive sand.

Dirt, sandpaper, and other rougher polishes are not recommended here. You need materials that will gently rub the aluminum to a mirrorlike shininess, and rougher stuff will just scratch it rather than truly polishing.

Taking a cloth (or the wrapper of the chocolate bar), rub some of your chosen abrasive onto the curved bottom surface of the Coke can. Keep rubbing for at least 30 minutes (in some cases it can take up to 1 hour of continuous scrubbing), occasionally washing off aluminum powder and used abrasive then replacing with new. As you scrub any ink markings will disappear, then the can will gradually start becoming more and more shiny. As you near the end, you should be able to see yourself and your surroundings reflected in the surface of the can. If you started with a full can, you should empty it out at this point to reduce the weight, since the polishing is now complete.

How to start the fire?

Now you have a nice parabolic mirror that can focus the sun’s rays onto a specific point, heating up a piece of tinder until it bursts into flame. You will have to experiment with it to get the proper distance down for your particular can, but generally the light is only good 1-2 inches from the can. Beyond that, the rays start to scatter again and won’t heat up your tinder. For that reason, you generally want to hold up a piece of fire fungus or fluffy bark that will catch fire easily to the light from the can, then set it into the little tinder nest for your fire once it catches.

Customizing

Depending on the size of your hand and how you wish to hold it, you will want to cut down the can a bit so that you only have to carry the mirrored portion without the rest of the can getting in the way. Simple scissors can do the job just fine, though you will want to cover the sharp edges with tape or some other material to protect yourself from cuts. Make sure you can hold it without your fingers getting in the way of the mirror, but make it as small as possible so that it can fit into a backpack or pocket. Obviously you’ll want to cover the mirrored edge to protect it from accidental cuts and rubbing while being carried, so carrying it in a plastic bag or padded case would be a good idea as well.

And just like that, you have a simple firestarter. No rubbing sticks together, no need for a fire bow. Just a simple aluminum can and a tube of toothpaste or a chocolate bar.

What do you think?

Does this sound useful for your own prepping? Would you make one now, or wait until after the emergency begins to scrounge a few cans? Let us know in the comments.

Source:preparedforthat.com