Before you buy a fire piston, take a look at these 10 questions:
  1. Who has the best fire piston? No fire piston is made alike.  Wood, horn, antler, and metal
    were traditionally used through the 18-1900’s.  Plastics are new.   Bores are harder to drill smooth
    and can cause variation but a well made plastic piston will work with the same reliability as a
    more traditional model.  Some makers line their bores with metal. This virtually eliminates blow
    out, which can happen with traditional models, though makers now take precautions to prevent
    that as well.  More traditional fire pistons are not made alike either.  It takes precise drilling to
    make a good bore.  Those makers who pay others to make parts for them often have varying
    bores.
  2. Which style of fire piston do I like best? Fire piston makers on are all working hard to
    stand out from each other with the look of their fire pistons and with their service.  You can even
    ask if they are willing to build something to your specifications so that you have the opportunity
    to purchase exactly what you want.  Decide what material you want it made from and then
    choose design.
  3. O-ring or string gasket? One is not more reliable than the other.  Its personal choice, Do you
    want less maintenance (oring) or more traditional (string)?
  4. How much am I willing to spend? Many of the fire piston makers make cheaper models.  
    You may wonder how well they work in comparison to the other models.  Check the feedback on
    eBay and forums to see what everyone is saying.   Again, you can ask if the seller has a more cost
    effective model that they can list up for you.
  5. How many customers are returning to purchase again? We have had this question a
    few times.  You'll have to check out eBay for this one.  Take the number of Members who left a
    positive feedback and divide that by the number of All Positive Feedback left.  You will get a
    decimal number.  Move that decimal to the right twice, take that number now on the left and
    subtract that from 100.  You have the percent of return customers.  (example: 500/600=.833333,
    83.3333. 100-83=17%)  The higher the number, the more return customers.
  6. How soon do you need your fire piston? Each fire piston maker has a different shipping
    speed.  You can ask directly, in forums or check their eBay feedback to find out.  Make sure you
    read the positive feedback as well as some buyers are reluctant to get a negative feedback in
    return but will comment in a positive feedback.  If you see a high number of comments about slow
    shipping speed, chances are you will not get your item very quickly, if at all.
  7. How much am I paying for shipping? Shipping rates from maker to maker are very close to
    the same.  This should cover Priority mail within the US. Buyer beware of no guarantee for
    priority, or if the seller is shipping with standard shipping while still charging for priority mail.  
    (standard shipping is around $3.00, Priority is around $5.00) And the difference in shipping
    speed is up to two weeks!
  8. Will a maker fix or replace a fire piston made by someone else? This question we get
    on a daily basis.  While most makers have fantastic service if they have problem, they are being
    asked if they can fix poorly made fire pistons from one maker.  Personally, we can not guarantee
    the work of another maker.  A main problem is a varying bore and that can not be fixed easily.  We
    do understand your frustrations with the poor communication and service regularly provided by
    the other maker but we just can not be spending all our time fixing someone else’s fire pistons.  
    Your best bet is to request a refund and purchase a more reliable piston elsewhere.
  9. On eBay, how do you give feedback if you are only partially satisfied? Ebay has
    changed their feedback system a little.  Now you can rate four areas with stars.  This is
    completely confidential so you do not have to worry about receiving poor feedback in return.  Be
    honest as other buyers are looking for your true experience.
  10. Will you receive feedback in return? Take a look how many pages of feedback customers
    are giving to the fire piston maker . Than click on the tab that says Feedback Left for others.  The
    number of pages here should closely resemble the pages that were left for them.  This will tell you
    how much the maker values their paying customers.
I originally put together the following for eBay but figured it could be useful
here as well since many of you have also been on eBay looking at fire pistons.  
We have had many questions about our fire pistons as well as others so I have
attempted to answer them all here.  We want to make sure that you get the best
experience when choosing and using your fire piston.  (Even if its not ours!)
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