Fresnel Lens – one minute survival tip

This time: Fire-starting with a Fresnel Lens.

A Fresnel lens will save on using matches for cloudy days or nighttime while during sunshine you can start a fire for free. The compact and lightweight design of a Fresnel lens along with being inexpensive makes it a perfect addition to your survival kit. The Fresnel Lens is more commonly known as a credit card magnifier (most card-sized magnifiers are 3x power).

The Fresnel lens functions like a regular magnifying glass, except it is flat instead of lens-shaped. Starting a fire with a Fresnel Lens card magnifier is just like using a regular magnifying glass.

How to: Focus the light of the lens on the tinder to start it smoldering. When you have a glowing coal, then you can blow on it to make it grow until it ultimately bursts into flame.

Be aware: You shouldn’t rely on a magnifier as your primary method of starting a fire, it is always smart to have more than one means of starting a fire on you at all times.