Best Glide ASE Credit Card Size Fresnel Lens Fire Starter and Magnifier Lenses 3 Packs of Green
- Each lens comes with a protective green plastic sleeve
- Constructed of flexible plastic so it won't crack or shatter in your wallet, pocket, pack, or kit
- Credit-card sized to fit your wallet, money clip, etc.
- Measures 3.25 x 2
- Magnifies up to 4x
Ishaz Fwie
One of my coolest amazon purchases
When I was a kid I used to love using a magnifying glass to burn stuff. I saw these and figured I'd get some to keep around. I've played around with all sorts of fire making tools (for camping/survival skills, not being a psycho). Obviously a lighter is probably the easiest, but if you're going somewhere you can't take a lighter or other tools, these lenses are perfect. They are small, light, and unaffected by water or rules. They are so easy to use. I took it out of its sleeve, placed it between the sun and my fire pit, focused the beam, and had things smoking immediately. I added a picture, hopefully you can see the smoke. You can light tinder on fire with this. It will not light a regular piece of wood on fire.
Carolyn Gillish
Long Term Fire Starting Capability Plus a Few Tips
This 3-pack of Fresnel lenses are a good deal for the money and a solid product for survivalist, campers, hikers, or anybody needing a last resort method of lighting a fire on a sunny day. These are thin, flexible and about the size of a credit card and will slip into a wallet or go bag without weight or taking up space. A must have in my opinion. Fresnel lenses are a magnifying lens specialized designed to ignite dry tinder and start a fire, but you must have sunlight like any magnifying glass. An important aspect of these Fresnel lenses is that they are 4x magnification compared to many that are only 2x. The 4x will burn quicker and help you get the fire started. As in any fire starting venture, you want the driest tinder possible, and build a small tinder pile (or make a tinder bundle) and focus the light beam to start the burning process. Make sure you have dry twigs and larger woods on hand to build your fire. A handy thing to carry in your go-bag is a couple dry tea bags that can help assure you of something that will ignite in a less than perfect environment. Tinder bundles are compressed dry leaves and small twigs. You don't want them to be to loose, but not to tight either, because you want air to circulate through the bundle to aid the fire. In a survival situation, if you have access to dry tinder materials, you want to make several tinder bundles while the getting is good in case it rains. If you have some plastic, wrap them up to keep them dry, or put them in an article of clothing and stash them so they won't get wet. You can see many demonstrations on You Tube. Highly recommended!
Amanda Spouse
The Second Best Item For A Fire Kit!!!
I see other reviews claiming these aren't robust enough or complaints that they are "flimsy." Truthfully, they aren't very big which is a GOOD thing since they won't take up space in a backpack. Also, they ARE flimsy, which means they bend instead of breaking which is excellent in a heavy pack. I used one of these to start a fire and it worked beautifully. 0 complaints on these and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a fire starting kit that won't cost you any fuel resources. I say in the subject line that it is the second best for a fire kit only because it is reliant on the sun and therefore not usable 100% of the time. The focal point is right around 8" on mine.
Walt Cosby
Well Made, Inexpensive
We tried these out on a Wilderness Survival campout near Columbus Ohio (42 or so degrees north) after the autumn equinox - and we were able to start a fire with them. Efficiency seemed to be similar to a 2 inch burning / magnifying glass. Very impressive and serves as a great compact alternative way to make fire.
Emma Tosi
Much better than expected!
I received these today. It happened to be a cloudless and sunny day outside, so I thought I'd give one a try on some of the wood chips out back. It only took a few seconds to lock in a beam, and less about 5 or 6 seconds to get a smoking burn. These are thick wood chips, mind you, not nest-like tinder that's meant to catch fire quickly. I imagine you could get a burn on good tinder in a just a few seconds on a sunny day. I was apprehensive about spending a few bucks a piece on a few plastic lenses, but they seem to be worth every penny. They take up virtually no space in your fire kit, BOB, or survival kit. They are a great, infinite combustion source, given sunny conditions. They also obviously double as a reading lens for small print on maps (etc.). Without hesitation, I recommend these as a staple in any fire kit.
Tina Hutchins
Works great for the bugout bag or camping mess kit
I bought these for each member of my family as alternate fire starters for our mess kits in our bugout/camping packs. We each have Trangia stoves, and although we carry ferro rods, Bic lighters, and are learning to use flint and steel too, I wanted us to have these for one more arrow in our firestarting quiver. The day the arrived, I went outside on a below freezing day and lit up some char cloth with one of these Fresnels. Lots of fun. I'll probably buy one for each of our vehicles and keep them in a tin with some char cloth. We live in Utah so lack of sunlight usually isn't an issue. I especially like that each one comes with a cover!
Brenda Joiner
They work great!
A super lightweight magnifier you can carry with you anywhere, so you have it when you need it. We were so happy with this product after testing it, we immediately ordered another 3-pack. Can it be used to start a fire? Yes! On a sunny day, using good dry tinder/kindling, yes absolutely any joe shmoe can use this to start a fire. It's lightweight, waterproof, requires no fuel or batteries, and will keep working well as long as you don't severely damage it. On top of that, they're very cheap to replace if you lose one. Can't really go wrong with this purchase, it's win-win. When you hover the focused light of the lens over dry tinder, you will see smoke immediately, as in less than 1 second. Hold it for a bit longer and you will see fire. I can see this being a neat science lesson for kids (supervised for safety of course), as this is quite an impressive thing to watch. The sun is incredibly bright, and this is a simple but effective demonstration of it's power.
Paula N Moore
My husband really needed these.
My husband's eyesight has gotten horrible. It's a given that if we are at a restaurant he is most certainly going to ask me what the menu says. So I took a chance on these and bought these for him as a stocking stuffer. He said he did feel "old" to receive a gift like this but hey... when you need it, you need it. And he DID need it. So even though he felt silly at first, he is happy to have these after all. He keeps one in his wallet, one in the car, and one at home. I also kinda enjoy picking on him every time he pulls it out to use but I'm sure I'll be borrowing them here soon too.
John Wright
Perfect!
The best part of the Best Glide ASE Credit Card Size Fresnel Lens is it comes with a protective cover. Although you could buy more lenses for less; The Glides are the only ones in this price range that offer a cover that not only protects the lens but also helps identify it in a crowded wallet or purse.
Yves Guevremont
YOUR survival is YOUR responsibility.
I am compiling a Bug Out Bag [BOB] for every family car. I included these as a key component. My thoughts: expecting [or just hoping] that others will come to your rescue during a natural disaster like flood, hurricane, or a forest fire, or even just a stranded auto ... is not enough. YOUR survival is YOUR responsibility. While putting these BOB's in every car might not be the best location, having them ready is the first step, knowing where they are located is the second step. Hint: I actually plan to store each in a water-resistant plastic ammo box ["Plano"], that includes all items ... plus a small backpack for easy "no hands" carrying. Dave@Texas