Magnifying glass not working

[MidnightHunter]

Hi everyone,
in my last run I ran out of matches and water. So I wanted to use the magnifying glass to start a fire. It was daytime, the sun was up and it was bright. Good weather I'd say. But I was unable to start the fire. the button wasn't there. So I couldn't make water and died :p Now my question: Did I do something wrong or is it maybe a bug?

[Modi]

maybe you weren't standing in direct sunlight? i imagine trying to light a fire in a shadowed area might be difficult.

[MidnightHunter]

Originally posted by Modi:

maybe you weren't standing in direct sunlight? i imagine trying to light a fire in a shadowed area might be difficult.

I tried various places. I was at ML at the camp office. I tried it at the back door in the direction of the lake (where the sun was rising on the sky) and on various places around the lake. But maybe you are right and I should have tried when I could see the round sun on the sky? So that would have been in the morning. Because after that this image of the sun disappears.

[Modi]

yeah you need direct sunlight in my exp, you'd need to be able to see the sun in the sky.

[MidnightHunter]

Originally posted by Modi:

yeah you need direct sunlight in my exp, you'd need to be able to see the sun in the sky.

Oh dear. Okay thanks :D So probably the weather was too bad after all. I think matches are the most important item you have. And next time I light a candle in my house I will definitely value it :D

[Modi]

i never use matches to see, i just walk around in the dark lol, and i use the lantern, but i only sprk it a few times to get mny bearings i rarely fully light it. and when outdoors i use the magnifying glass whenever i can instead of matches....also remember you can light a fire with a lit flare as well.

[MidnightHunter]

Originally posted by Modi:

also remember you can light a fire with a lit flare as well.

Oh no :O I had four of them. I didn't know that. Thanks a lot!

[joefitts63]

I just started a fire with the magnifying glass. It definitely does work.

[emmietiie]

It works only when the sun is high enough and the weather is 100% clear. It's not enough that the sun is visible.

[wilemon]

BTW These magnifying glasses deteriorate...I have one on my desk 100 years old...works fine..my only complaint about this great great game is the really unrealistic deterioration of things,.I also have a hunting knife used by my father and grandfather to skin maybe 100 or more deer..works fine.

[emmietiie]

Originally posted by wilemon:

BTW These magnifying glasses deteriorate...I have one on my desk 100 years old...works fine..my only complaint about this great great game is the really unrealistic deterioration of things,.I also have a hunting knife used by my father and grandfather to skin maybe 100 or more deer..works fine.

They have a condition but they don't deteriorate from use. At least I haven't see it happen yet.

[Glue]

The magnifying lens works great. The catch is, when the sun is shining, you can only use it in a area that has no heavy wind (so no wind at all or on the far side of your house/shed/tree/big rock etc...) and it has to be at least 2 hours into the day or before the last two hours of the day (i think... i just know that from experimentation). It will even work inside the fishing huts, which is where i usually need it anyways.

[Brock]

You can use the magnifying glass in indoor/outdoor places like the fishing huts, even the ones with doors closed....
Hmmm something's just occured to me, does the magnifying glass work in the mountaineers hut, being as there's a dirty great hole in the roof?
I've never tried that.

[listless]

Originally posted by Brock:

...does the magnifying glass work in the mountaineers hut, being as there's a dirty great hole in the roof?

I believe it does.

[iwasa]

The state of the sun is very important as to whether you can use the magnifying glass to light a fire. Basically, as noted by others, the sun has to be clearly in the sky. No intervening clouds or haze.

Many a time, during the march to the Fire badge, I would go out see the sun clearly in the sky, head out to a spot to light a fire (I tended to make trails of burned out campfires as a guide in bad weather) and by the time I get to the spot, I can't make the fire because now the sun is hazy. Everything was still nice and bright except that the sun was "hiding'. Grrrr.

The magnifying glass is the one everlasting fire starting tool that we have except it works only in the right conditions.

[ccwylde70]

The other thing you might want to be sure of when trying to use the magnifying glass (when you feel you've met all these mentioned conditions) is to make sure you have 'tinder' selected along with the glass and the wood ... I know, sounds like a no brainer, but it occurs to me the default with magnifier is no tinder unless you specify it as well ...