Today we’re going to cover ways to make fire out of household items, because eventually you’re going to run out of matches and lighters or dirty marauders with no English will steal them from you.

The first method of making fire you’ll want to try, because we’ve all seen it done and it seems so simple, is by using a magnifying glass or some strong eyeglasses and some burnable materials – very dry grass, paper, etc.

If you don’t have a magnifying glass or eyeglasses, you can polish the bottom of a soda or beer can with toothpaste or chocolate until you can see your own reflection in it, then use that in lieu of the glass.

Just make a little nest out of your burnable materials first so that your fire is contained, then position the glass so that the rays of the sun are focused to directly strike your burning materials. But the thing about this method is that it can be really time consuming and it’s not as easy as it sounds. Also, if there’s no sun, there ain’t no fire.

So another method you can try is to rub a battery, preferably a 9-volt, along some steel wool. Just rub the prong- or positive part of the battery along the steel wool, and you’ll have fire in an instant.

You can also make fire with a paperclip and a double or triple A battery and a knife. Take the negative side of the battery and strip off some of the insulation there. You’ll see a little ridge or gap that has a little bit of paper in it. Take the paperclip and stick one end of it below the paper into the ridge. Touch the other end of the paperclip to your tinder – paper, wood, etc – and it’ll light up. DON’T leave the paperclip in the batter for a long time though, because it will end up exploding.

And those are just a few fire-making tips for how to survive the apocalypse.