Fire, fire...!

[falcon]

Got to tell this to someone who might be half interested in humouring me...

Finished my "domestics" at 4.30pm and went off to the garage to kill time before the footie results. Spotted my bowdrill kit lying under the bench and thought I'd have yet another go at moving on from glowing coal and smokey tinder (it's at this point that I usually run out of time, patience and energy).....

Anyway, at about the seventh attempt, breathless and getting ever nearer collapse, I decided to increase the size of my bundle of straw and rosebay willowherb for one last attempt......end result, a garage floor with a pile of flames leaping from the straw and smoke billowing all over the place. After a quick stamp on the floor to extinguish the fire and the windows open for 10 minutes, as well as a quick jig of celebration around the lawn I've retired to the house (stinking of smoke according to my other half) for a "tinnie" to celebrate. Sad or what.............!

As they say, can anyone else remember "the first time"?

 

[Tony]

Mate, that isn’t sad, that's fantastic :biggthump Well done that man, it's not something just anyone can do. A fine example of perseverance and how it pays off ): Now you just need to make yourself a set out of oak and have a go!! :rolmao:

 

[TheViking]

I'm still dreaming... :roll: Gonna have a serious go one day, when we have passed the winter!

 

[Stuart]

As they say, can anyone else remember "the first time"?

Oh yes!

well done :chill:

 

[deirdre_frances]

Fire! Fire!
Yes, I remember the first time I lit a fire.
In my friend rosemary's shed with dramatic results!!
(We used petrol instead of methalated spririts as silly young teenagers!!)

deirdre

 

[Nightfall]

It is a thrill to see a ember form for the first time. :super:

 

[grumit]

i still remember my first time it was'nt that long ago either but what a great feeling it is well done :wave:

 

[jason01]

Well done! It wasnt long ago for me either, I still get a kick out of it everytime and I think I always will. Its a kinda magic!

Jason

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

Our so called modern societies have smothered us. I see desperate people driving cars as if to leap into the heavens, bungie jumping or other silly diversions. And at the end of the day it's still that ho hum I feel emptyness. But then something so ancient, so deep in our collective consciousness and yet so simple as making fire still has meaning. One of us should have been there, dressed in a great bear skin, burning herbs from the forest and dabbing some sort of red ochre mixed in fat and dung mystical design on your forehead :You_Rock_

 

[tomtom]

It is a thrill to see a ember form for the first time. :super:

its still a thrill to see the ember any time.. but the first time is best!

 

[Jon]

Well done. After months of trying I succeded once and then never dared try again incase I couldn't do it again ! The moment for me was when you're blowing and blowing and suddenly you have fire in your hands. somhow I expected fire to start in tiny part of the bundle and then spread through the bundle, but it doesn't work like that. Just suddenly "pop" and the bundle is alight. The grin lasted for weeks. My other halfs reaction to my amazing achievment was along the lines of "thats nice dear, are you coming in? your teas ready."

Jon.

 

[Ed]

After months of trying I succeded once and then never dared try again incase I couldn't do it again !

:yikes: practice makes perfect. After I got the technique cracked I was trying it every spare minute till I had it pretty much perfected.... keep at it and don't stop till you can do it every time

Ed

 

[Tony]

And try it with multiple woods and mixes of wood. Then try it in the poring rain, then make it and try it in the poring rain

 

[al]

my first time was with a handrill,what a feeling , well done mate it aint easy and its not given to you on a plate either

 

[steven andrews]

I feel that I should attempt making fire by friction. Could you please post a link to a good description of how to do it?
Cheers guys..

 

[grumit]

here you go hope it helps http://users.hunterlink.net.au/~madms/fires.html

 

[masongary44]

Nice one,

Its the best feeling in the world knowing you can make fire anywhere, any-time gives you a strange kind of confidence when you are out with not much equipment

 

[tomtom]

what is everyones prefered cordage to use for a bowdrill.. i have been having a lot of slipping on the nylon cord i have been using, any tips

 

[al]

i use good para cord but want to be able to make natural cordage for it so any tips welcome, ive used leather boot laces before but found they tend to go very quickly

 

[tomtom]

i am told that nettle cordage is not strong enough to use on a bowdrill i dont know about willow bark.. but i am told that rawhide is the only natural thing strong enough