GB2 Fresnel Lens Magnifier
$2.99
In stock
Description
GB2 Fresnel Lens Magnifier
Fresnel Lenses make great primary or back-up fire starters for sunny days. Carry one in your wallet and use it to conserve your other more limited resources like lighters, matches, and ferro rods. With a little technique, you can use this to ignite your tinder and get your fire going easily. Be sure to practice this skill before ending up in a situation where you need to rely on it!
Features/Specs:
- GB2 Logo on the case
- Comes with 1 Fresnel Lens
- Magnifies up to 4X, making these lenses great for reading small print, in low light, and viewing small objects
- Constructed of flexible optical PVC so it won’t crack or shatter in your wallet, pocket, pack, or kit
- Credit-card sized magnifier to fit your wallet, money clip, etc. and comes with a protective sleeve
- Measures 3.25 in. x 2 in.
- Helps old eyes to read maps and tiny compass numbers
New to using magnifying lenses for solar ignition? Continue reading and learn how:
Excerpt from my first book Surviving the Wild:
Solar ignition harnesses the power of the sun and magnifies it to transfer heat to a tinder resource. It’s the most renewable resource because it consumes nothing from your kit. Of course, it does have its one limitation of needing sunny weather, but when conditions are right and you’re not in an emergency, you should always go with this easy and reliable method.
Rather than try to light an entire tinder bundle with the sun, it’s best to create a small ember that can be transferred into a bird’s nest tinder bundle and blown to flame. It’ll be much easier to focus the sun on a smaller piece of tinder. One of the best tinder resources for solar is dung from lagomorphs (rabbits, hares, and pikas). These are hind-gut digesters that leave behind pellets that are little more than compressed plant fiber. When these pellets are dry, they make excellent tinder for solar.
Of course, this isn’t all you can use. You can create a similar “pellet” by taking some of your fine material like an inner or outer bark, rolling it, and compressing it into a tight ball with your hands. Your goal is to create an ember that smolders rather than burns, so you remove air (or at least restrict it) from the fire triangle by compressing the tinder. Another good tinder resource for solar is a small piece of dry punkwood.
There are really two things that you need to pay attention to when using solar [magnifying lens] as an ignition source:
- The angle of the lens in relation to the sun. When you look at the light that’s passing through the magnifying lens and landing on either the ground or the tinder, it should be centered. That is, the light should be centered within the shadow made by the rest of the lens. This gives you the best possible angle in relation to the sun.
- The size of the circle of light that you are focusing. While maintaining the correct angle, move the magnifying lens forward or back until the light is as focused and pinpointed as possible. This will give you the most heat. If you focus that spot on your tinder pellet, it should begin to smoke almost immediately. Once smoking, make slow, very tight circles with the light on the tinder to increase the surface area that you’re applying heat to with the magnifying lens. This process should take twenty to thirty seconds with good sun. You’ll know it’s lit when you can take away the ignition source and the pellet still smolders. Once smoldering, simply transfer the ember into the bird’s nest and reintroduce air to the fire triangle by blowing it to flame.
Tip for the Unexpected: Solar is best during the summer months from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon, but it can still be done at other times. All it takes is full sun and clear skies with no obstructions. Shadows from trees and clouds partially blocking the sun will reduce your ability to get a fire going using this technique. Keep in mind that the larger your magnifying lens, the greater its ability to gather and focus light. Double convex lenses work extremely well, as do Fresnel lenses.
Another thing to consider with tinder for solar: stay away from anything that is waxy, oily, or resinous. They don’t work well at all with solar because you end up heating the wax, resin, or oil instead of the tinder, and that makes it wet rather than dry. You want tinder that’s as dry as possible.
What size is this fresnel lens?
This fresnel lens measures 3.25 in. x 2 in.
What material is the fresnel lens made out of?
The fresnel lens is made of flexible optical PVC.
What power magnification does this lens have?
This lens provides up to 4-power magnification. Great for solar fire starting.
44 reviews for GB2 Fresnel Lens Magnifier
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Thomas (verified owner) –
Price is great, fast delivery
Peter Wasserman (verified owner) –
I’ve got them everywhere I can think of. I actually use them as a loop because I can’t see up close lol! Yes the initial purpose of these!
Paul Robischon (verified owner) –
Works great! Keep it in my cache cap.
Peter W. (verified owner) –
Part of my Xmas gift collection and in all my kits and I my coats. This is not only another way to start a fire. It is great for us old foagies to read the small print lol!
Brian S. (verified owner) –
Just like advertising
Jesse (verified owner) –
Good quality. Handy survival tips on the storage sleeve.
Eric Schneider (verified owner) –
Great material excellent buy started smoking the material in under a minute.
Noreen (verified owner) –
Haven’t had opportunity to use this yet, but I love how light and handy it is to carry with me at all times.
Travis (verified owner) –
Fast shipping!
Tommy E. (verified owner) –
It works. I used it to light the fatwood shavings that I purchased at the same time. Both are great products!
Sam D. (verified owner) –
Terry C. (verified owner) –
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Javier (verified owner) –
Awesome…FYI not glass. very lightened some what flexible
david parsons –
small and lightweight replaced the glass mag lens in my fire kit.
Roberto Cantu (verified owner) –
fits in the front pocket of the Cache hat
Seth Hallowell (verified owner) –
Von Medearis (verified owner) –
Steven Wood (verified owner) –
Very good addition to my kit
Jamie R. (verified owner) –
Jacob (verified owner) –
Jacob –
Great for a everyday carry that you don’t even notice is there. Works great as well!
Matthew A. (verified owner) –
Alric Wilson (verified owner) –
Casey Campbell (verified owner) –
Tom (verified owner) –
Micheal Wallace (verified owner) –
Cheap enough and compact enough to keep one everywhere!
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Will J. (verified owner) –
No-brainer EDC for the size and weight.
John C. (verified owner) –
Mark Moscarillo (verified owner) –
Dunlap Rick (verified owner) –
Compact firestarter. ????????????????????
Gregg F. (verified owner) –
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Brendan B. (verified owner) –
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Benny Lane (verified owner) –
takes up no space-and with the Gray Bearded Green Beret symbol-I wanna have it even when its raining!
William L. (verified owner) –
Works as expected, but my area has constant clouds so I will probably use it more for map reading.
Andy Gable (verified owner) –
Excellent firestarter for when the sun it out. Conserve your resources, like matches and lighters with this lens.
Brian Vargecko (verified owner) –
Stephanie (verified owner) –
Does the job as intended. Easy to pack.
Bryan (verified owner) –
Lightweight and a great contingency fire starting method
CHRIS GROSECLOSE (verified owner) –
Great item for emergency, no weight add , I purchased this as something to add to my fire kit that added no weight to my pack. Just a good thing to have if your back woods trip took a turn for the worse and you needed a backup fire source. Again, thank you GBGB for the tip!!
Andrew Bernbaum (verified owner) –
It’s what I’d expect for two dollars. If it works, and I’m sure it will, it will be great to have in my wallet for emergencies if I’m not near my fire starting kit and need a fire.