The Numyth Vulcan fire piston is one of the coolest ways on earth to make fire. Making fire from nothing is in itself pretty cool, but using the fire piston makes it that more interesting.
Fire pistons work in a similar fashion to diesel engines. A piston compresses air which in turn heats the air to the point of ignition. A fuel source such as char cloth is ignited by the super heated air in the cylinder. As long as you have a fuel source to ignite, a fire piston can be used indefinitely. The only thing needed to make fire is a fuel source; other than that a fire piston is self contained and reusable.
It may be a little confusing without actually seeing it in action, so check out the video below to see the magic of the Numyth Vulcan fire piston!