A little advice?

[Chevy1121]

I'm new to survival, but no stranger to the outdoors. That being said I have a multitude of questions maybe someone can answer them.
1. I'm trying to learn the bow drill method. Is there an easy way to start a fire primitively?
2. Can all woods make a coal? I've been reading http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/bowdrill/index.html but was just curious if someone could paraphrase the good woods to use.
3. Does my notch need to cut through all the way to the bottom of the fireboard?
4. Will the coal get hard when close to ignition or will it remain a fragile bunch of powder?

Any help would be much appreciated guys.

p.s remember i'm new to this so any an all advice will be taken with the up most respect and desire to learn.

[LDS]

We have some folks here that have been trying to start a fire with a bow drill for years and have not accomplished the task yet. Others favor specific woods and others that can walk out into the back yard, pick up a couple of sticks and a weed, rip the bootlace out of their shoe and have a fire going in a couple of minutes. some will claim it is all about the materials and others will say it is all about technique.

In my area I have seen fire started using horseweed spindles, almost all hardwoods,espically maple, willow and cedar. I have also started fires using a kit made from wood purchased at Home Depot. The most important requirement I have found in the wood used is that it has to be dry and it should not be leaking sap!

What they used to call "squaw wood" I find almost perfect in any species available. Those small dead limbs sticking out from the trunk that you can snap off with your hands. They almost always work for me. So do spindles made of Yuca and horse weed.

I have found that success with friction fire is directly related with success in other matchless firebuilding skills such as flint and steel. Many people can not get their fire due to not realizing when the coal is ready and how to handle it. They also never prepare the tinder bundle properly so they never get flame and blame it on the wrong wood or poor coal.

Your "coal" is not going to be a ball of wood glowing and ready to spring into flame. It will be a pile of black, smoking, hot dust that will fall apart if not cared for. It needs to be shifted to the fine tinder as gently and swiftly as possible, where it probably will begin the "glow" and then smoke intensly and burst into flame.

"Fine Tinder" should be dry fiber about the consistancy of a ball sewing thread somewhere around the size of a tennis ball.

Always use a solid "plate" of something under the hearth board so you can transfer the coal with little distrubance. Some people even place their tinder bundle right under the hearth board so they can flip the hot dust right into the fine tinder.

Many times people will have a good coal and not recognize it because they do not have a glowing chunk of wood in front of them. They never recognize the "coal" take it to the tinder and never get their friction fire when it was right there in front of them. If you have smoke pouring from your spindle there is a fire about to start if you know what to do with it.

Whether you cut your V all the way through the fireboard is up to you and your technique. I cut it all the way through so I can flip the "coal" into the tinder easier. I find that my "coal" forms in the bottom of the spindle hole where the V intersects and not in the dust beneath the notch.

One trick I use to get people on the learning curve quicker is to use charcloth under the hearth board. That way the hot coal is flipped into the charcloth, the charcloth shows the glow and can be transfered to the tinder easier. Very soon the student is making the transfer of coal to tinder without the charcloth.

That is it without the mumbo jumbo, latin plant names and 40 reasons why the wood in your hemisphere will not work.

[dixieangler]

1. I'm trying to learn the bow drill method. Is there an easy way to start a fire primitively?

If there is, I am all ears. Just kidding. The firebow is more efficient at generating enough pressure and friction to light wood dust.

2. Can all woods make a coal? I've been reading http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fi ... index.html but was just curious if someone could paraphrase the good woods to use.

Theoretically. If the wood is dry enough. No water or sap content. The harder (more dense) the wood is, the harder it is to generate the necessary pressure and friction. Hardwoods are such woods as oak and hickory. These are the kinds of woods I like to use for a handhold or socket. Typically soft wood is the best like cottonwood and velvetleaf but many medium hardness woods like willow and maple will work well also. You will find that wood density "does" make a difference whether the wood is freshly fallen, seasoned, or turning softer as it begins to decay. It is better to do a fingernail etch test first to tell if a wood is good for friction wood rather than knowing names right now. If the wood is solid and etches but is not rotten, you should be good to go. If it does not etch, it is probably too hard. Just press your fingernail into the bare wood.

3. Does my notch need to cut through all the way to the bottom of the fireboard?

It would be better if it did so the dust will collect separate from the board.

4. Will the coal get hard when close to ignition or will it remain a fragile bunch of powder?

It is fragile so treat it like a chicken egg. I will stress to you that you will know when you have a coal just by smoke rising continuously from the dust pile separate from the spindle and board smoke so pay attention to the dust pile. Do not stop spinning until you see the continuous smoke of the dust pile or you drill to the bottom of the board. The coal should remain lit for a good long while since you just put a lot of energy into generating it. Wave your hand briefly over the coal gently to add air and expand the coal to the surrounding dust. This will give you a larger coal. Be patient, determined, and persistent. Keep working at it and it will happen. Hope this helps. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[Chevy1121]

Thanks a lot for the advice fellas, guess I'm gonna give er another whirl today.

[Chevy1121]

Well, the wrong end is smoking haha. My handhold is burning first lol.

[Chevy1121]

Ok, update: I've fixed the hand hold problem and got a pretty good one. Now, I have smoke literally rolling out of the board but no coal is forming.

Using maple, possibly my fire board is too thick?

[Chevy1121]

well gentlemen I had a coal after 4 hours of practice... and well... my dog stepped on it.....

[dixieangler]

Well, the wrong end is smoking haha. My handhold is burning first lol. Ok, update: I've fixed the hand hold problem and got a pretty good one. Now, I have smoke literally rolling out of the board but no coal is forming.

Using maple, possibly my fire board is too thick? well gentlemen I had a coal after 4 hours of practice... and well... my dog stepped on it.....

Put some plant laves in the socket to oil it. Any non-toxic plant leaf that has some oil content to it when you break the green leaf open. Just put some of the crushed up leaf in the socket to cut down on socket friction. Basically a lube. You want to minimize friction at the socket and maximize it on the board. Maple does work but is a hard one to start off with. I got my first ever coal on Willow. Glad to hear you got a coal It feels great doesn't it? Knowing you no longer need to use modern fire starters. You should have all distractions and impediments out of the way and that includes the dog. Now you need to keep practicing and using other kinds of wood also so you can have consistency getting coals. I try to make it a regular routine practice of working the firebow for a coal at least once a week. If you don't practice and try other woods then you will have a hard time or fail when you really NEED to do this and get another coal. Great job

BTW, keep your set with your spindle and board with that first coal burn hole for a keepsake

[Chevy1121]

Well I'm sure you haven't heard the end of me trying to start a fire but thanks for the keep sake idea and all the advice its always appreciated.

ps when you say willow. do you mean weeping willow?

[dixieangler]

ps when you say willow. do you mean weeping willow?

Just about anywhere you live there is some water around somewhere and where there is water, there is willow. There are many varieties of willow that grow near water sources other than weeping willow so not necessarily weeping willow. The leaves and the method of airborne seeds via willow down (fluff) is roughly the same as weeping willow. The inner bark is reddish in color but the outer bark can be kind of brown, gray, or reddish. Kind of hard to mistake it for something else. Any form of Salix (scientific name).

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SALIX

This is the particular variety that grows here in FL where I live.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SACA5

The leaf is always the same. Long with tiny serrations on the edges.


And alternate on the stems which do hang down or weep.


BTW, my second coal ever came on Maple. Since then I have used Velvetleaf, Mimosa (invasive), Hibiscus(ornamental), Beautyberry(for board only), Palasoxia(for board only), Grape Vine(for board only), and Cypress and Pine(for board only). Do not use the last two unless they are completely dry of water and sap and it does take some searching to find the right light colored water and sap free wood from those. Not just any Cypress or Pine will do so it would be better if you focused on other woods right now. I have used many other woods also but do not post them because they did not work for me. You probably have other woods to use and try where you are also.

[LDS]

I grease the spindle and socket with ear wax.

Works great and is always there.

[Chevy1121]

You boys are alright thanks for the tips.

[dixieangler]

I grease the spindle and socket with ear wax.

Yep, and in a pinch (no plant laves) I rub the top of the spindle against the sides of my nose to lube the spindle top with oil from the nose skin glands. I don't do it very often though (only if I don't have anything else) because it can cause the sides of my nose to break out in a rash.

[Chevy1121]

Ok gents I've mastered maple, got at least 20 coals today and started around 6 fires with tinder bundles. thanks for all your help!! its really somethin else to see that first flame!!

[LDS]

Yep, it is a rush to make fire the first time without modern gear.

The work reminds you that it was easier to keep the fire going that start a new one. I once started a fire in my woodstove and it burned from October until April without striking a new match.

The old folks used to carry coals in a bucket from one cabin to another if their fire went out.

There was a term called "lighting a shuck" that was used for moving fast enough to carry a fire from one house to another by lighting a bundle of corn shucks. As in "I'm going to light a shuck out of here!".

Even Rome had a group to tend the eternal fire. The Vestal Virgins had that job. They were the most respected women of the Empire.