The Fire Piston is a unique fire starting tool whose origins can be traced back to the mid-1700’s. It uses the heat generated from rapidly compressing the air to ignite a piece of tinder, which can then be used to light kindling. A very effective tinder to use with the Fire Piston is charcloth, which lights easily and give you a nice glowing ember that can be transferred to some dry grass or other kindling. Each Fire Piston body is machined from a solid piece of 6061 aluminum, with brass end caps on each end. There is also a small liquid-filled compass in one end and a lanyard made from 550 FireCord from Live Fire Gear. The lanyard bead is also machined from solid brass. This variant has a black anodized body with a stainless steel piston with a built-in ferrocerium rod in the end-cap and a striker milled into the piston shaft for use as an alternate means of getting a fire going. These Fire Pistons are built to last a lifetime, and are great for any camping or hiking pack, emergency pack or “go-bag”. They also make great gifts for your friends and family that are always hard to shop for! Dimensions: Diameter: 0.732″ Length: 4.78″ Weight: 5.3oz. Handmade by my partner and I in Centerville, Utah – these are not mass produced, cheap Chinese junk! If you are looking for that, then look elsewhere, as there are plenty of other cheap listings made from some unidentifiable Chinesium metal that will be sure to not impress you.