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Reference.org
Fire piston
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<p>A fire piston, sometimes called a fire syringe or a slam rod fire starter, is a device of ancient <a href="/facts/Southeast_Asia/VafwT517">Southeast Asian</a> origin which is used to kindle fire. In Malay it is called "gobek api." It uses the principle of the heating of a gas (in this case air) by rapid and <a href="/facts/Adiabatic_process/rJj42U5h">adiabatic</a> compression to ignite a piece of <a href="/facts/Tinder/uJRA7NP2">tinder</a>, which is then used to set light to kindling. </p>