Just Enough Rope to Light Yourself!
Today I’m going to talk about the venerable rope lighter that found popularity with sailors, shepherds and trench soldiers in WWI because of its simplicity.
But First, a bit of history….The first use of tobacco on sailing vessels dates to about 1580’s-ish. It was allowed only during daylight hours, only at the front of the ship and completely banned at night. This is because the fire hazard on board was so great that one stray ember could destroy an entire ship and its cargo. Since open flames were discouraged a “burning wick” was kept up front for the sailors to use to light their pipes. It was a piece of cotton rope nailed in a convenient spot and left to smolder. No definitive dates were given for the inception of the rope lighter but seeing the prohibition on flames and the cotton rope would only smoulder, it stands to reason that it didn’t take long for the rope lighter to come about. The only other references I could find have it as a type of trench lighter popular in WWI that was copied by soldiers from sailors. Regardless, it is a reliable and timeless design that would do well in any fire kit.
The rope lighter consists of a piece of cotton rope with one end charred, placed in a metal tube that can be capped or plugged. Some versions even have a sparker attached to its side to ease in lighting.
Mine is homemade and a bit more rustic so my lighter has a wooden plug connected to a short piece of chain thats hooked into the rope. The rope is held in a section of copper tubing with the . There is no sparker attached so I have to apply sparks with my flint and steel or ferro rod.
The theory is that you pull up on the plug, exposing the charred end, apply sparks and vola….Fire! Well, sort of. It's a hot and contained burning ember that you can apply to tinder to grow a larger fire from or your pipe to light your tobacco.
Now for the really neat thing, it is windproof. That's right, totally windproof. The more air that moves across the lit end, the hotter it burns! This is what makes it ideal for starting a fire.
When I have my fire lit, I just pull on the bottom end of the rope, drawing the burning end into the metal tube and wood plug right behind it to cut off the air supply. Thus extinguishing the rope. But wait, it gets better, this leaves a new charred section ready to catch another spark and will continue until the rope is used up.
You can find various flavors if rope lighters on Amazon. I've done the homework already and picked one that I like, so head over to my products page for the link and to purchase.
As always, thanks for reading!
