Matches?? We don't need 'em!

[ScotO]

Well it's been a long time and I never did get around to putting a post up about how to start a fire with friction (bow drill), well I was tinkering around in the shop this afternoon and wifey said to build a fire to do some burgers and dogs this evening......so I did.

No matches needed!

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[NortheastAl]

Well it's been a long time and I never did get around to putting a post up about how to start a fire with friction (bow drill), well I was tinkering around in the shop this afternoon and wifey said to build a fire to do some burgers and dogs this evening......so I did.

No matches needed!

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Good job. Nice demo. I saw that done for the first time at Dixon's gunmakers fair in Kempton, PA. Bought a steel there and used that with a flint to start a fire in a similar way. Char cloth is what I used to catch the spark on and turn it to an ember. I made the char cloth out of cotton muzzleloader patches wrapped airtight in tinfoil and put on a charcoal fire until charred. Would work real well in place of the leaf under your bow block, too. Ever see a fire piston? Heck of a convenient way to start a fire without matches.

 

[ScotO]

Thanks Al. We've been working on showing the kids in our scout troop how to do this. The winter Klondike event (a rally where the different troops compete) this past year would have been theirs if they could've gotten the friction fire going. Its a good thing for anyone who spends time out in the big woods to know......it could save a life!

 

[NortheastAl]

Scotty, these are essential skills that go to the basic core of being self sufficient, as well as being able to survive in an emergency. You are doing well by showing the scouts these skills. If the you know what were to ever hit the fan I'm not sure many would have the basic knowledge of how to take care of themselves and their families. It is a shame.

 

[PapaDave]

Great video Scotty.
Maybe your wife could be the cam operator next time? Running around with the camera seems to have taken a toll on your lung power.
I've never done that, and didn't know how. Now I do. Thanks.
Now, get back to work on the house (says the guy whose stove room is still torn up).

 

[Get Wood]

Scotty, you make that look too easy. Good job.

 

[ScotO]

Scotty, you make that look too easy. Good job.

GW, if you'd seen how many times I tried to do it and failed, you'd laugh! I tried COUNTLESS times over the years to get a friction fire going, I could always get smoke going but no ember. It just took practice and figuring out some really simple tricks (namely the right wood to use) before I could figure it out. Now, it's something I can do with a little bit of confidence. I recommend anyone that goes into the woods on big hunting or hiking trips learn how to make fire. It could be a lifesaver, but it's also a very rewarding feeling to know you can do it.

 

[ScotO]

Great video Scotty.
Maybe your wife could be the cam operator next time? Running around with the camera seems to have taken a toll on your lung power.
I've never done that, and didn't know how. Now I do. Thanks.
Now, get back to work on the house (says the guy whose stove room is still torn up).

LOL....yeah, I usually get my youngest son to do the camera operatin'......but he didn't get home from South Carolina til after 8:00pm (he was a beach bum with his friend and their family all last week!)

Now, GET YOUR LIVING ROOM FINISHED UP! CHRISTMAS IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!

 

[basod]

Nice video Scotty. Brings me back to my pyromaniac youth, my brother and I would compete to get bow fires going.
Had the GF's grandson for a week this summer and got him starting the fireplace with a magnesium stick - he collected every single stick from the yard and surrounding woods

 

[PapaDave]

Dude, I'm on the SO schedule for stove room work.
I think my wife hates me, because it's not done yet.

 

[ScotO]

Dude, I'm on the SO schedule for stove room work.
I think my wife hates me, because it's not done yet.

Naw, she don't hate you.....that's just a ploy to get you going on it. Wife does it to me all the time.....and it works!!

 

[ScotO]

Nice video Scotty. Brings me back to my pyromaniac youth, my brother and I would compete to get bow fires going.
Had the GF's grandson for a week this summer and got him starting the fireplace with a magnesium stick - he collected every single stick from the yard and surrounding woods

I was the same way, Basod! We'd build fires at every single opportunity, with whatever we could find. We'd use magnifying glasses, lighters, flint and steel, whatever we could....but I never mastered the friction fire until not long ago......

Makes me feel like Tom Hanks when he was stranded on the island in the movie Castaway.......

"FI-RE!! I.....I.....HAVE CREATED.......FI-RE!!"

 

[basod]

I got to ask though I might have a penny in pocket for the bearing ....
Where am I going to carry the lathe to make the dowel and bearing block?

 

[ScotO]

I got to ask though I might have a penny in pocket for the bearing ....
Where am I going to carry the lathe to make the dowel and bearing block?

LOL....yeah, I cheated a little on those parts.....
Funny thing was, the local troop had "family day" camping this weekend in the Black Moshannon State Forest, and they had requested I make up a bunch of fireboards, drills and bearing blocks for the kids to practice and show their skills to their parents and the other troops. It's a lot easier to mass-produce those things with a lathe.

We've used smooth dimpled stones for bearing blocks out in the woods, a straight, dead ash elm or poplar stick for the drill, and a split piece of ash branch for the fireboard and had good results. Even seen guys making the bowstring out of sinew or yucca leaves on the 'net. I've never gotten THAT carried away with it........YET.....

 

[charly]

Thanks for showing that Scotty!

 

[basod]

WILSON I MADE FIRE!

 

[NortheastAl]

I got to ask though I might have a penny in pocket for the bearing ....
Where am I going to carry the lathe to make the dowel and bearing block?

I thought the same thing, but knowing Scotty, he may just have a lathe in his pocket or backpack.

 

[fishingpol]

Good stuff Scott. I also possess those fire making tools. Although the rawhide needs replacing. The socket(not in pic) I made out of walnut for durability. The board and drill are centers of a balsam fir I believe.








I learned back in the 80's from the book "Two little savages" from Ernest Thompson Seton. It is a great book for young uns to learn some woodcraft skills. Here is the page from the book.

I use the fine bark of red cedar and make a nest under the hole in the board. Once the ember is formed, I just keep blowing on it in the tinder. Once the tinder is is real smokey, it is just about there.

 

[fishingpol]

My drill I made about eight sided with a small block plane as it grips better than a smooth dowel. The cedar bark is just scraped off the side of a tree with a knife. The finer the tinder the better.

 

[ScotO]

My drill I made about eight sided with a small block plane as it grips better than a smooth dowel. The cedar bark is just scraped off the side of a tree with a knife. The finer the tinder the better.

I'm going to make some drills out of eastern cedar, as well as a fireboard or two. I really like that ash, it gets an ember almost every single time I try it. And it does it quick.

I hear-tell that willow also works good for the board. I'll be cutting a huge willow down soon, I'll make some boards out of it and try them out this winter.

 

[schlot]

Ahh Klondike days were good times with us to. One year the troop used a broken set on my skiis is to build their sled. They had a blast.

 

[Mr A]

Is that a fly on your thumb?

 

[WellSeasoned]

Scotty, just saw this video, and its AWESOME! I have studied and practiced survival, and right when you were beginning to use the bow, I thought, he forgot to put on a bandana to catch his sweat that could drip off his head, potentially ruining any ember! Well, you certainly didn't need it because that was one of the fastest fire starting I've ever seen w/o pausing the camera to make the whole process shorter! My hats off to you, and think you should try out for some sort of survivor man show (I don't mean that new naked one, unless of course thats your thing ). Good video dude!

 

[MrWhoopee]

Nothing new there, Heidi's been starting fires without matches for years.



She's gotten real good at it too.

 

[ScotO]

Is that a fly on your thumb?

no, that's actually a 4lb blacksmith hammer.....from months ago!!