Fire is a basic staple for survival. Needed for tasks such as cooking, warmth, or protection, it is an essential part of life. While most people are familiar with friction-based fire-making methods, such as the bow drill or flint and steel, other lesser-known methods exist. If you are ever stranded in the wilderness without your flint and steel, have no fear; there are other objects you can use. In this article, we share one you may have never thought of. Did you know you could create a fire using condoms?
A Common Birth Control Contraceptive Has Another Purpose
Getty Images, zlikovec
That's right, you can create a fire using condoms. By using a condom, you would be making a fire through a lens-based method. While most people are familiar with using traditional lenses to make fire, they are less familiar with using other objects to act as their lenses. For example, you could even make a fire using ice as your lens.
In the instance with the birth control contraceptive, you would need to fill the condom with water. From there, you tie off the end of it. You want to ensure that you do not fill the condom too much; doing so would distort the sunlight's focal point. Afterward, you would squeeze the condom in the middle to try and create two smaller lens-shaped sections.
Use the condom as a lens and have the sunlight shine through it, focused on a spot on the kindling that you have gathered. One thing to keep in mind is that condoms have a shorter focal length than an ordinary lens. Because of that, you will need to hold it 1 to 2 inches away from your tinder.
Create A Fire With Traditional Methods
In case you do not have a condom in your bag, you can always use more traditional methods to create fire. Friction-based methods are the typical go-to in survival situations. You can build a fire plough or a bow drill from natural resources in the forest. For example, for the fire plough, you need a fire board, a spindle, and your tinder nest. Allow friction to take care of the rest. However, now you know, there are many options when it comes to how to create a fire.
