So you’ve found yourself needing to start a fire but you don’t have any matches.
No problem!
Whether it’s your inner cub scout resurfacing or you seriously need to get a fire going, here’s how to start a fire without matches.
If you’re already set up, feel free to skip to the methods by clicking here.
Assess The Situation
Depending on your situation, starting a fire may or may not be quite easy.
Unless you’re underwater or simply don’t have anything that can burn, starting a fire is possible.
But some of the methods are easier, so long as you have the right conditions.
For example, using a piece of glass to start a fire is much easier than rubbing a stick in between your hands.
However, you can’t focus the sun’s rays onto the kindling if you don’t have sunlight!
So when going through this list, remember that not all of them will be ideal depending on the conditions you’re in.
Gather The Essentials
You won’t be able to start a fire or keep it burning without something to burn.
So you’ll need a tinder kit or some kindling to get things going.
Not sure what wood or other materials works best?
Check out our article on the best materials for tinder and how to obtain them.
Since you’re probably already in the woods, try to gather small, dry sticks (soft wood such as pine, fir, or cedar works best), dead leaves, or similar materials.
You’ll also want to have larger sticks and logs ready for when you’ve got the fire going.
Once you have materials to burn, move on to one of the methods below.
Camping tip: Is it raining or are your surroundings wet? Check out our article on how to find dry tinder to get a fire lit even in wet conditions!
1. Using Glass To Light A Fire
Probably the method that requires the least effort, using items such as a magnifying glass or a glass bottle to light a fire is fairly straightforward and works great under the right circumstances.
To light your fire, grab your tinder and place it in a pile.
Take out your glass piece and hold it over your tinder.
Use the sun to shine a concentrated beam of heat onto your tinder until it begins to smoke.
Finally, blow gently on the tinder until you’ve got a flame.
There are many great options for carrying a small magnifying glass around with you, including this Pocket Magnifier or these Fresnel Lenses (Amazon links).
If you’re going to try using a glass bottle, try polishing the bottom of the bottle with toothpaste.
It will help!
Just remember that using this method only works if there is adequate sunlight.
So if it’s cloudy out or nighttime you’ll want to choose one of the following methods that don’t require sunlight.
2. Flint & Steel (Ferro Rods And Firesteels Also Work)
Being a predecessor to matches, flint and steel have been used to make fires for a VERY long time.
And they are still a very efficient method of doing so today.
If you are putting together a camping kit of any sort, flint and steel (and char cloth) is a great addition just in case you’re in a situation where matches won’t work.
If you’re looking for one, here is an awesome flint and steel kit that comes with a jute carrying bag for emergency tinder (link to Amazon).
Essentially, you’ll want to strike the flint on the steel until a spark is created and lands on the char cloth.
From there you can build up the spark and place it inside your tinder to create a fire.
For an exact how-to, follow these steps (or check out this in-depth video):
- Grab your tinder (wood shavings or similar) and form them into a bowl or ‘nest’ shape.
- Find a sharp point on your flint rock. This will be where you will strike to get a spark.
- Place your char cloth on top of the flint rock close to your strike point.
- Hold the rock tightly and strike the sharp point with your steel.
- Keep striking until a spark ignites the char cloth.
- Blow on the char cloth while placing it into your tinder.
- Continue blowing until the cloth catches the tinder on fire.
And that’s all there is to it!
Alternatively, you can use a ferro rod (sometimes called a firesteel) instead of steel.
These are rods made of much softer metals than traditional steel and also give off hotter sparks, making fires easier to start.
With these rods, you can also ‘scrape’ to shave off metal and get a spark rather than having to ‘strike’ the metal.
It is much easier to use a firesteel that is made with softer material.
Some companies advertise that their steel can withstand tens of thousands of strikes.
This often means that it will be made of harder material, which in turn creates fewer shavings and is harder to start your fire.
A really great firesteel to use is the Light My Fire firesteel (link to Amazon).
The steps to use the firesteel are basically the same, with the exception of scraping rather than striking since the metal will be softer.
3. The Friction Method (Practice First!)
Probably the most thought of when we think of ‘primitive’ fire starting, lighting a fire with friction is simple but very tedious.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of time making your fire, go ahead and try the other methods.
But if you’d like to start a fire with friction, grab a flat piece of wood and a long (about 2 feet) straight stick and let’s get started!
To light your fire:
- Cut a V-shaped notch in the edge of your flat piece of wood.
- Place your tinder underneath the notch to catch the spark you’ll be creating.
- Place your stick into the notch.
- While grasping the stick, rub your hands together to spin the stick around inside of the notch.
- Do this continuously until you start to see smoke and a spark is created.
- Put the spark into your tinder and blow until a fire is created.
There are many adaptations to this method that can make it easier.
Check out some of the videos below if you want to learn about some more creative ways to start a fire with friction!
A Primitive Method For Creating A Cord Drill & Pump Drill
How To Create A Bow Drill
4. Using Magnesium To Start A Fire
Using magnesium to start a fire is very similar to using flint and steel.
However, instead of using char cloth to catch the sparks, you will be scraping off magnesium shavings into your tinder.
The reason for this is because magnesium shavings will briefly light when high temperatures (your spark) is introduced.
To use your magnesium, you want to:
- Form your tinder into a nest shape.
- Using the striker, scrape off some magnesium shavings into your pile of tinder.
- Strike the included flint to create sparks that will fall on your tinder and magnesium.
- Once the magnesium gets hot enough it will briefly ignite, lighting your tinder.
- Blow the embers created until a fire starts.
You can purchase magnesium fire starter kits like this one (link to Amazon) to have an all-in-one solution for starting fires without a match.
Never Be Caught Unprepared Again
Now that you know how to start a fire without matches, you can go out into the wilderness confident that you’ll know how to stay warm.
As a rule of thumb, it’s best to carry at least 2 options for starting fires just in case one doesn’t work.
And remember that using glass only works when it’s sunny out, and none of these methods work really well without dry tinder!