How to Make a Lighter

Making a Lighter From a Battery and Foil

Take safety precautions. Safety is obviously important when dealing with fire, but you’re also dealing with electrical charges and batteries, which contain dangerous ingredients. Wear gloves. Although there aren’t many safety measures available in prison to make the infamous lighter from “Orange Is the New Black,” you’ll want to take safety precautions and protect your hands. Keep a fire extinguisher and garbage receptacle ready. If you need to dispose of batteries, be sure to recycle them. Some municipalities and states, like California, require batteries to be recycled, and your community might have battery collection procedures. Dispose of the battery immediately if it starts to leak. This could be battery acid, which is dangerous and corrosive.

Use new batteries. You don’t want a leaky battery. Plus, you’ll need a charge to generate the flame. Most batteries will work, but a AA alkaline battery is common for this type of lighter and a good size. Use two batteries if possible, or a single 9 volt, because one AA battery might not provide enough power.

Prepare your foil. You need metal foil to make this lighter. If you don’t have kitchen aluminum foil available, you can use a gum wrapper or foil from a cigarette lighter, for example. If you’re using a AA battery, try folding over the foil once and making a strip about a centimeter wide and three inches long. This way, it forms a small bridge over the battery when each end is connected. Make the metal strip small enough to heat up easily, but not so small that it quickly burns up or breaks apart. You might have to play with the size and the shape of the metal strip to see what works best.

Prepare a transfer source. This type of flame will start quickly and burn out quickly. So, have a flammable source on hand to transfer the fire, if you want to keep the flame going. Sheets of loose paper, newspaper, or dry leaves will work well here. It is important to transfer the fire and not let the battery itself light on fire, since it could explode.

Find the positive and negative ends of the battery. On most batteries, this should be clearly marked. On a AA battery and other cylindrical batteries, the positive (+) end or terminal—known as the cathode—has a small convex bump, while the negative (-) end or terminal—known as the anode—has the inverse: a small concave indent into which the bump can fit.

Attach the foil. When you’re ready to light a flame, attach one end of the foil to the negative side of the battery. Then, carefully attach the other end of the foil to the positive end, and voila! Fire!

Making a Pencil Grip Lighter

Plug up one end of the pencil grip with a tin foil ball. Use a foam pencil grip that’s about an inch and a half long. You don’t need a particularly ergonomic pencil grip that will bend easily. It should be firm and straight. Form a small foil ball. It should be just large enough to cover the hole at one end of the grip and squeeze securely into the end of the hole.

Tear little pieces of cotton and form them into small balls. The pieces should be about as big as peas. Then, put a thin layer of Vaseline or other petroleum jelly between the pieces. As the petroleum jelly is heated to liquid, it’s fumes become combustible.

Place the cotton inside the gripper. Insert the cotton from the open end of the grip down toward the foil ball at the other end. Add cotton until the foam cylinder is full.

Insert the paperclip. Use your hands to straighten a paperclip and place it a quarter of the way down the pencil grip on the tin-foil-ball side. You’ll need to squeeze in the paperclip along the wall of the pencil grip, between the grip and the foil ball.

Take two rubber bands and tighten them around the pencil grip. Use small rubber bands about 3/4 in. or 7/8 in. long (sizes 37 or 8, respectively). Wrap one rubber band about a centimeter below the top and one rubber band about a centimeter below the bottom of the grip. This will secure in place the mechanism you have so far, and get you ready to wrap the grip with foil.

Wrap the pencil grip with aluminum foil. Use a long strip of aluminum foil about the width of your thumb. Wrap the foil around the circumference of the pencil grip from top to bottom.

Secure the foil with rubber bands. Wrap rubber bands over the foil and around the pencil grip. Take two rubber bands, and wrap one around the top and the other around the bottom of the pencil grip. Leave about a centimeter of space from the rubber band and each end of the grip.

Light the top interior of the gripper. Now you have your homemade lighter, and you’ll use the cotton balls as wicks to melt and light the petroleum jelly. Hold the lighter by the bottom of the straight paperclip. Use a match to light the other end at the inside top of the pencil grip.