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Bow Drill from Scratch in the Wild
Wildwood Trackers Study Group - Nov 2001
Page 1 of 3
(Photos by Walter Muma)

 

In November 2001 eight people from Wildwood Trackers gathered at a large semi-wild area west of Toronto. The objective was for each of them to construct a bow drill set from scratch in the wild using only a knife, and then use it to make a fire.

The following three-page report of the meeting gives an overview of making a fire using a bow drill. These pages are adapted from the full report, which is on the Wildwood Trackers website, in the Meetings - 2001 - Nov 2001 section.

 
Our first activity was to make tinder bundles from cedar bark.

Here we are peeling bark from a standing dead cedar tree.

 
Peter showing how to fluff up the cedar bark into a tinder bundle.
 
Close-up view of the cedar tree that provided us with tinder.
 
People at work on various aspects of their bow drill.
 
At work in the woods, amongst the cedars.
 
Close-up of working the bow.
 

Click on the small photo to watch a movie of the bowdrill being "cranked"

Windows Media format (WMV)
320x240, 556 KB

 

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