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"Prison lighters" were depicted in the Netflix series "Orange is the New Black". Making one involves a crafty use of resources by inmates to fashion a lighter from supplies they have available to them.
Steps
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Grab the gum wrapper. Remove the gum itself. Then unfold the gum wrapper until it's fully flat. Cut a thin strip of of the gum wrapper (length-wise). -
Fold the gum wrapper strip. Then fold it in half (length-wise), and cut the edge that you just made by folding it, to make the middle even thinner. You need to do this in order for the electricity to flow from each ends of the battery to the center where they will touch, it should look something like in the picture. [1] X Research sourceAdvertisement
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Attach the battery. Take one side of the strip and attach it to the + side of the battery. Then take the other side of the strip and attach it to the - side of the battery.
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Wait. If the fire doesn't start right away there may be a delay, so wait as it can take 1 second to 1 minute for negative side to touch the positive side, and make it hot enough for the plastic on the other side to catch fire.
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Get the tin foil. You're going to want to cut it into a thin line that's just a bit smaller than your pinky finger, and fold it (length-wise). Next cut the edge that has been made when you folded the strip to make it thinner than the strip itself, in order for both the negative and positive side connect and heat up.
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Place the negative and positive sides of the battery on the tin foil. Take one side of the tin foil strip and put it on the plus side of the battery. [2] X Research source
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Do the same with the other side. Again there may be a delay it can take 1 second to a 3 minute for the tin foil to catch fire. [3] X Research source
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Community Q&A
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QuestionThe positive side gets very hot and I got a burn. Am I doing it right?Community AnswerYes, you are doing perfectly right! It happens with everyone, but it also depends on the discharge of your battery. Try using different batteries.
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QuestionIf I'm short-circuiting, it would it burn my fingers unless I have gloves. But at prison, would they let anyone have safety gloves?ListennuiCommunity AnswerNot likely, but just as you can improvise a lighter, you can improvise gloves by wrapping any cloth around your hand a few times.
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QuestionI'm making the tin foil one, and it gets really hot, but never lights on fire. Why?ListennuiCommunity AnswerThat may happen if heat is dissipating from the tin foil faster than it can be generated. Insulating the tin foil and/or blocking any wind from cooling it should yield faster results. Also, it could be that the battery lacks sufficient charge to produce the necessary heat.
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Tips
- Have a paper or something to make the fire catch off the tin foil, because the tin foil burns out really fast!Thanks
- Wear gloves when doing this as the battery can get really hot, and you can burn yourself.Thanks
- It's always a good idea to have a fire extinguisher in case something goes wrong.Thanks
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Warnings
- You may burn your hands when the battery heats up!Thanks
- This is a fire starter, meaning you can start a big fire by mistake; be careful.Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- A gum wrapper (has to have plastic on the inside) or tin foil.
- A battery (any)
- Scissors
References
About This Article
Article Summary
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To craft a makeshift lighter, you'll need to find a stick of gum and a battery. First, remove the gum itself and flatten down the wrapper. Then, fold over the wrapper and cut off the edge to make the middle of the wrapper very thin. Once you've done that, attach one end of the long, thin wrapper to the plus side of the battery, and attach the other end to the minus side of the battery. Hold the wrapper like this for a few minutes, and it will catch fire. For more tips, like how to make a lighter out of tin foil, read on.
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 90,577 times.
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"It helped me to know how to protect myself in prison."
