Bow Drill Emergency

[rich59]

I am still having problems getting the smoking 'coal' to light a tinder bundle. Maybe my tinder isn't good enough (I'm going to get a modern firesteel in order to practise the procedure of turning smoking tinder into flame), maybe my coal isn't big /hot enough.

A good way to practice is with a load of char cloth - to use one bit at a time - and a steady heat source you can come back to to light each new bit. I have done this with a candle in my shed.

 

[rich59]

my bows are strong i just keep putting them over my knee

Aw, throwing away good kindling there.

 

[Silverback]

Just bringing this thread back up as I have been bowdrilling like a mad man for most of today and can now confidently claim to have cracked it, getting an ember every time in around a minute . My bearing block was seriously letting me down so I used an ice cream scoop as I didn't have time to source an alternative and boy did that baby spin (need to hold the handle on the scoop and not the bowl though as things get a tad warm ). I used both elder and hazel for the drill on a pallet board hearth with a hazel bow and paracord string. The hazel produced an ember slightly quicker than the elder but the elder held a nice tight cherry in a very short space of time and needed less trimming between uses due to the hollow centre keeping the bottom flat and preventing it from pointing. Interestingly I used the cheapo type paracord as opposed to the 550 superior stuff and it actually holds up much better than the good stuff as the outer frays away very quickly on the 550 but not so on the cheapo brand. It is so true that as soon as you have achieved that first ember its onwards and upwards in terms of progress

 

[Toadflax]

Just dropping in my two penny worth (as a novice, so can't claim lots of experience here).

Got myself a modern firesteel last week and had a go at using it over the weekend, and realised that my whole firelighting technique needs to be learned properly - i.e turning an ember or spark into fire.

So my advice would be (as was suggested earlier in this thread) - if you aren't experienced in lighting a fire, learn how to light a fire consistently using a reliable souce of sparks (e.g. a swedish firesteel) before you try and do it with a bowdrill. There's nothing more demoralising than wearing yourself out to get a smoking ember using a bowdrill and then losing it because you can't then generate fire.

Hope this helps


Geoff

 

[rich59]

Just bringing this thread back up as I have been bowdrilling like a mad man for most of today and can now confidently claim to have cracked it, getting an ember every time in around a minute . My bearing block was seriously letting me down so I used an ice cream scoop as I didn't have time to source an alternative and boy did that baby spin (need to hold the handle on the scoop and not the bowl though as things get a tad warm ). I used both elder and hazel for the drill on a pallet board hearth with a hazel bow and paracord string. The hazel produced an ember slightly quicker than the elder but the elder held a nice tight cherry in a very short space of time and needed less trimming between uses due to the hollow centre keeping the bottom flat and preventing it from pointing. Interestingly I used the cheapo type paracord as opposed to the 550 superior stuff and it actually holds up much better than the good stuff as the outer frays away very quickly on the 550 but not so on the cheapo brand. It is so true that as soon as you have achieved that first ember its onwards and upwards in terms of progress

A celebration is in order.....

:You_Rock_

 

[Ogri the trog]

Two seperate skills for sure.
Getting an ember is very different from blowing that ember into a flame. All I can offer is to use an ember extender - char cloth, Cramp Ball fungus etc etc. It'll give you a lot longer time frame in which to work.
If you really want to practice the ember to flame piece, use the end of a cigarette (yours or a friends), just pinch out the burning end from the rest of the fag and get it into a tinder bundle, the smoke from your tinder should mask the smell of the ciggy if you really don't like the odour of cigarette smoke.

And yes celebrations indeed - silly grins all round!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Silverback]

Two seperate skills for sure.
Getting an ember is very different from blowing that ember into a flame

Aye for sure - I got a flame on 3 occasions (didn't try with most of the embers due to a lack of viable tinder) My proudest one however was gently nurturing an ember on top of a piece of bark until it eventually spread enough to ignite - that was the last one of the day before it got to dark to see . I do however appreciate that the weather at present offers excellent conditions and don't always expect to be so successful however it's excellent practice for trickier conditions

 

[jasons]

Aye for sure - I got a flame on 3 occasions (didn't try with most of the embers due to a lack of viable tinder) My proudest one however was gently nurturing an ember on top of a piece of bark until it eventually spread enough to ignite - that was the last one of the day before it got to dark to see . I do however appreciate that the weather at present offers excellent conditions and don't always expect to be so successful however it's excellent practice for trickier conditions [/QUOTEWe need to have go at the hand driil now mate

 

[Stew]

If you want a quick ember then try Lime. I was amazed at how fast that formed!

 

[jasons]

Try useing a stone bearing block it works a treat for bow drill

 

[Callan]

I find half a coconut with beeswax of someting to lubricate the drill is really good as a top socket!

 

[kb31]

if you rub a bit of soap in the handhold
you get a set like a f1 car

 

[rancid badger]

For fire by friction, read; savage amusement. it took me 6 weeks to figure it all out and ended up with a wonky elbow to boot (or possibly shoe) its hard work till it all falls into place and then, quite literally, like magic you conjure up flame!
a couple of years back I demo'd f.f.l. at chopwell forest festival and caused several complete pile ups of onlookers and punters. the corner site on the circuit came to a complete standstill.
I set to with the first session with a small handful of people looking on. I was concentrating on the task (my first public attempt) and fairly quickly got my ember, tipped it into my tinder bundle and then nearly swallowed the damn thing as I lifted it to blow it to flame! I was completely surrounded by what was estimated to be about 70 people, I had started with about 6! and was totally oblivious to the gathering crowd.The applause was amazing!
Fire by friction is one of the most satisfying skills to learn,its not easy but keep trying and just do it yourself.
p.s. most of the stuff you read on the subject is cow poo!

 

[Jodie]

There was a demo on this at last week's Kew festival and it was pretty
impressive - especially as it rained solidly for most of the afternoon! It's
good to see it done up close.