Hand drill question for PhD research

[lisa]

Hi All,

I am posting to ask a big favour. I am would be so grateful if some of you folks here might help me with some PhD research I am conducting about bushcraft. The research looks at the relationship between bushcraft and indigenous knowledge, and the meaning of bushcraft in the modern world. One of my case studies focuses on friction fire techniques and how they are both taught and learned.

I would specifically love to hear any personal accounts that you guys are willing to provide concerning how you learned the hand drill technique, and perhaps what inspired you to learn it. Descriptions about how it was learned, what sort of learning resources you used, what challenges and breakthrough's you encountered and anything else that was relevant to your story about acquiring the knack of hand drill would be brilliant to hear!

Also, if you have ever taught hand drill, it would also be great to hear how you teach this challenging skill ! Thanks to anyone who can share something of their experiences!!

Lisa.

 

[Toddy]

Up front, it's the one method that I cannot manage. I can reliably light fire just about every other way, but the unbowed hand drill just leaves me aching. Using two loops though, I can get a coal, just not quickly or hot enough to get it to char though.

Not much help Lisa, sorry.

If he doesn't see this, maybe give Richard a pm and ask him; firelighting and methods and research are kind of his thing.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/member.php?u=2238

Very best of luck with your research

cheers,
Mary

 

[cranmere]

I'm like Toddy, I can light fires by various methods but I've never been successful with a hand drill.

 

[lisa]

Hey Guys, thanks, this is actually really useful to hear that you haven't tried it or havent been successful....it would be good to hear why, on both counts, too? A rough hypothesis being that the hand drill is more difficult to achieve that the bow drill? Do folks generally agree with that statement and if so, why!?...This would be really useful to understand, along side descriptions from those who have mastered it .

What fascinates me with you guys starting this discussion about how you haven't yet mastered it....or perhaps havent been driven enough to master it (also makes me ask why, as I am in this camp also), is that I wonder if it is because people consider that it requires a lot more skill/ technique, is a more unforgiving technique (everything really has to be 'just so'), a lot more pain (hands), the materials required are more specific? Or if we just don't have so much of a culture in the Uk of using it? Hmmmm? any thoughts out there ?...and thanks again guys...actually very useful !!

 

[Firelite]

Hi Lisa,

I think the perception is that the hand drill is harder to get right. With respect to why that might be, well I'm not sure because there are fewer components to juggle on the hand drill. I guess that the necessary fitness levels are about the same, too. The hand conditioning is the big thing, I think. In the modern era where there are fewer of us who earn our crusts working hard doing manual labour, many of us have soft pink paws. The time it is necessary to take in order to get one's hands in the state where the hand drill is viable is a reasonably big commitment. I'm not sure there is a cultural aspect - certainly not for me, at least. Having said that, the elemental joy that makes each session with the bow drill special is, in my view, greater when using the hand drill. I believe that is because of the simplicity of the equipment involved. Two other possible reasons for the preponderance of bow drill over hand drill might be that, in spite of the fact the equipment is simpler, the hand drill requires preparation of the drill, which is often cut green. It is easy to go into the woods and prepare a bow drill almost straight away. the other thing might be that, in general, the bow drill gives us our first ember. That is such a memorable moment that I think we all fall a little bit in love with the technique there and then. certainly the pleasure of my first hand drill ember was nothing compared to my first bow drill ember.

Oops, I've rambled on a bit, but that is maybe a measure of the depth of feeling some of us have for this topic.

Good luck with your studies.

 

[JohnC]

I've only helped with it once at a meet a long time ago where it was a hot day, I started off hand drilling at a steady speed, got the set hot with a little smoke, was pretty tired (and sore hands) then Match took over fresh and worked very fast, getting an ember that was then blown into flame successfully (I think you were there Mary IIRC). We were all pretty pleased with the result.

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

Rich59 on here is extremely proficient at hand drill, and has taught it to a lot of people - including me! May be worth a PM to him if he doesn't wander along soon.

 

[Toddy]

Lisa, it's kind of funny in a way, because all three of us (you, me and cranmere) are female and have smallish hands. That said, we're all very capable ladies and we all use our hands....small, strong, and used to work, yet we can't seem to get this technique why not.
I find it frustrating because all I need is a stick and I can't do it. I need a bow and a suitable string or if I'm incredibly lucky and it's really, really baking hot dry then I have once managed it with what I suppose is the fire plough. Those dry conditions aren't the norm for the UK though, and certainly not for my sodden wet bit of it.

JohnC, I was there, and I mind Match being so absolutely delighted to manage it We were all so pleased that the two of you worked it so well together, and it did flame
It was a very good weekend, and the company was excellent.

Mary

 

[lisa]

Thanks all, some really interesting comments and Firelite, that is not rambling, that is perfect...now if you want rambling you should see the awful state of my work thus far !!

Toddy, yes I has wondered too. To be honest I have never felt that motivated to learn it, perhaps put off by seeming difficulty. I have done it a few times when I have applied myself, but like you, only in hot dry conditions. However, several years ago a Rabbitstick in the US, a lovely lady did a hand drill workshop for women and 'older folk', or just those who felt they didnt have as much upper body strength which seems to be required for the technique. Anyway the best tip I learned was to use a kneeling prayer position so your body weight was really over the tip of the spindle, but, the trick here, was to use a splint of wood that was position from under you left knee, and spanned across to the heath board. This meant that you could kneel with your knees together, but the flat board or splint, which you knelt on simultaneously trapped the hearth board, pinning it firmly down. I am not sure this makes sense in the written word !! But might be useful tip to interested folks ? I personally found I could get so much more pressure over it and got a coal. However, I havent tried it since!!

 

[horsevad]

Hi All,

I am posting to ask a big favour. I am would be so grateful if some of you folks here might help me with some PhD research I am conducting about bushcraft. The research looks at the relationship between bushcraft and indigenous knowledge, and the meaning of bushcraft in the modern world. One of my case studies focuses on friction fire techniques and how they are both taught and learned.

I would specifically love to hear any personal accounts that you guys are willing to provide concerning how you learned the hand drill technique, and perhaps what inspired you to learn it. Descriptions about how it was learned, what sort of learning resources you used, what challenges and breakthrough's you encountered and anything else that was relevant to your story about acquiring the knack of hand drill would be brilliant to hear!

Also, if you have ever taught hand drill, it would also be great to hear how you teach this challenging skill ! Thanks to anyone who can share something of their experiences!!

Lisa.

I teach the handdrill - and just about every other fireligthing method - on a regular basis.

The problem in teaching such methods today is the quite short timeframe in which people expect to master the chosen technique. In the stone age, were people relied up on such methods, one can imagine that children and teenagers were investing a considerable amount of time in training such fundamental procedures.

Compare, for instance, the amount of time young people today generally allocates to mastery of a simple game of placing a ball between to wooden post by the means of a kick. If similar amounts of time were allocated to the mastery of fire everyone would be able to light fires by handdrill.

That said, every firelightning technique is probably in some way connected to the biological and geological environment in which it origined. The handdrill is not the most obvious choice in a northern temperate (or boreal) environment.

From a biomechanical point of view the handdrill is considerably easier than the fireplough, but the mechanics of the fireplough allows the user to use pure strenght to generate a larger amount of pressure, which in turn helps to evaporate residual moisture in the chosen piece of wood.

In actual teaching the idea is to strike a balance between procedural and declarative knowledge. The student should achieve enough procedural training that the process is somewhat automatized and thereby committed to muscle memory. At the same time the student should achieve enough declarative knowledge to be able to recreate the process in a different environment, thereby transferring the skill from the learning domain to the applicative domain.

If I can be of further assistance please feel free to contact me by PM or by email: kim@horsevad.dk

//Kim Horsevad

 

[TroubledTalent]

I spent 3 days trying. I used ash, and I left the base in a heated room each night so maybe a cheat?

I watched old Ray Mears, I watch 5 different youtube videos, I watch Ed stafford and after I decided I needed the technique.

I tried paracord and I didn't like the minor stretch factor, so I cut a strap of cow leather and used that in the end.

Once I got it, and worked out the intricacies, I could do it again twice in a row within 20 minutes each time.

Anything else I can answer, please inbox me =]

 

[Alan Halcon]

Lisa,

I'm not sure if you're familiar with this book or not, but it may help you with your research paper

https://archive.org/details/firemakingappara00houguoft

It is very heavy with the handdrill and documents its use across the world.