How to Make Fire with a Sandwich Bag

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Imagine you’re deep in the woods. You’ve set up camp, the temperature is dropping, and you reach into your pack for your trusty lighter… but it’s missing. Or maybe you find it but it’s just not working. Either way, now you’re stuck in the wilderness without a way to start a fire.

But that’s not a problem because you’ve learned all sorts of survival tips and tricks, like the one in this post. You know that as long as it’s sunny out, you can start a fire with a simple sandwich bag.

Just like you can focus sunlight through a magnifying glass to ignite tinder, you can do the same using water in a clear plastic bag. This trick comes from the popular YouTube channel TKOR. Be sure to check out the original video. You can find step by step instructions below.

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What You’ll Need:

• A clear plastic sandwich or snack bag
• Water (from a creek, bottle, or in extreme cases, even urine)
• Dry bark (preferably dark in color)
• Dead grass or other soft, dry plant matter
• Small twigs and kindling

Step 1: Gather and Prepare Your Tinder

1. Find dry bark, especially darker bark which absorbs more heat.
2. Crush the bark into a fine powder using rocks. The finer the dust, the easier it will ignite.
3. Create a small pile of this powdered bark on a flat piece of bark (your base plate).

Step 2: Build Your Tinder Bundle

1. Collect the smallest, driest twigs you can find. The thinner, the better.
2. Gather dead grass or similar dry material to form a loose nest.
3. Assemble your fire-starting materials in this order:
   • Powdered bark on the base plate
   • Coarser bark powder to add once it’s smoking
   • Dead grass nest to catch the ember
   • Twigs and sticks to build the fire

Step 3: Turn the Sandwich Bag into a Lens

1. Fill the bag halfway with water from a stream, bottle, or if you’re desperate, urine.
2. Hold the bag at an angle so it forms a diamond shape, with one point facing down.
3. Twist the top tightly, trapping the water inside.
4. As you twist, the bag will bulge and form a rounded, lens-like shape.
   • Be careful: twist too much and the bag might burst.

Step 4: Focus Sunlight to Ignite the Tinder

1. Position the bag so it focuses sunlight into a small, bright point on your pile of powdered bark.
2. Hold it steady and wait for the tinder to begin smoking.

Step 5: Build the Fire

1. Once smoke appears, sprinkle more bark powder onto the ember to help it grow.
2. Gently transfer the ember into your dead grass nest, then blow carefully to ignite it.
3. Add your twigs and sticks to build up the flame.

Final Thoughts

This method takes patience and good sunlight, but it’s an incredibly resourceful way to start a fire when conventional tools aren’t available. It’s a perfect example of how everyday items, even a sandwich bag, can become lifesaving tools in a survival situation.

Next time you pack food for a camping trip, be sure to put it in a plastic bag because you might need. Or just remember to pack some extra lighters.

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