Survival Skills: How to Start a Fire With Only Aluminum Foil and a Battery

Okay, imagine this: A few years from now, you and your car are stranded in the forest (don't ask me why you were driving in the forest) because your car broke down. You'll have to sleep the night in the forest. You need help, but is getting cold and dark. You search through your car for a lighter, but all you find is some foil from a fast food restaurant, and a battery from your garage opener. Here's the good news: You just remembered this Instructable and how to light a fire with what you just found! Yes, today i'm going to teach you how to start a fire with aluminum foil and a battery. In this demo, I'm using a candle, but in the wilderness you would be starting your tinder, kindling, and then fuel. but enough of all this talk, let's get started!

Aluminum foil- As I said in the intro, you could use may things, such as a burrito wrapper or a gum wrapper.

Battery- The most common is a AA which is what I will be using today, but I'm sure others would work.

Pro tip: Go ahead and build your fire with your tinder in the middle, sticking out some for easy access. If you don't know the basic fire structures, go learn them BEFORE your survival situation.

The first step is to smooth out the foil. In the first picture, the foil is roughly smoothed out. This is good enough, but it is easy to take it one step further by smoothing it even more with your battery as I'm doing it here. You should have a nice, smooth piece of foil. Now, take your foil and cut (Or tear, if you're desperate) a strip of foil about a centimeter thin (The picture has the strip next to the battery for size comparison.) Cut it widthwise to about double the size of the battery. Finally, make a cut in the middle so that only a very little (no more than 2mm) bit of foil is connecting the two thick parts. Bend it a little so it looks like the picture in the next step.

Okay, for the people who are doing this at home just for fun: Stretch a cotton ball (see pics) and put about half of it on the candle, surrounding the wick. You're ready for the next step. For those who are doing this for a real fire, build your fire with the tinder ball partly sticking out (look up how to build a fire if you don't know). Also, you can use cotton balls for this fire too.

The preparations are made. Now for the fun. Hold the battery like the picture. With your other hand, Put the other end of the foil on the other battery terminal while simultaneously touching the foil to the tinder/cotton ball. Work quick, because it will burst into flames very quickly.

Thanks for reading! Please vote for me in the aluminum foil contest and know there will be more Instructables from me to come! Now here's a cute little puppy (NOT the one you should light up- see previous step)... (no, really, download the picture, it's really funny)