Modern Methods
Modern fire making methods also require heat and tinder to ignite the fire and fuel to maintain it.
The invention of matches dates from the 19th century, when the tips of small wooden rods were coated with chemicals that were easily ignited when heated by friction.
Lighters, such as those for cigarettes or grills, combine ferrocerium "flint" for the spark, and use gas fuels such as butane, or a liquid naphtha/gasoline-impregnated wick as the tinder and fuel. These are simple to light, often implementing a wheel mechanism that when spun with the thumb creates friction on the internal rod of ferrocerium "flint" and throws a shower of white-hot sparks into the tinder. Other lighters, particularly long-reach lighters used to light grills, typically require only the push of a button to generate high-voltage piezoelectricity for sparking their butane fuel.
Electric firemaking involves the contact of an electrically resistance object with tinder. A current is run through the object until it is red hot, like the burners on an electric stove, and it is brought into contact with the tinder, lighting it. Also, a low electric voltage, such as a flashlight battery coming into contact with a thin wire mesh (such as steel wool) will produce enough heat to ignite charcloth or other tinder.
Some fire-starting systems use a large ferrocerium rod and a hard scraper to create hot sparks by manually scratching the ferro rod with a knife or sharp object to ignite man made or wild tinder. Ferrorod fire starters are popular with bushcrafting hobbyists and survivalists. Similar sparking devices have a built-in striking blade which provides an easy method for sparking with one hand. Another common type has the ferrorod attached to a magnesium bar that can be scraped with a knife to make a powdered tinder that will burn for a few seconds. An easy-igniting, moisture-resistant homemade tinder that is popular with bushcrafters and campers is made from cotton balls lightly impregnated with petroleum jelly.
Many combinations of chemicals will ignite, some violently, when mixed, but are not in general use.
Read more about this topic: Firelighting, Methods By Historical Era
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