Soaking Wet Hand Drill Fire

[Mossman]

I'm trying to learn the hand drill and heven't been having mush success so have done a bit of searching about for video demos on youtube and the like and stumbled across a guy doing it with soaking wet equipment!!!!

It looks real enough to me but I was wondering what everybody elese thinks, is it legit?

http://learnbushcraft.co.uk/index.php?mod=hand_drill_with_wet_kit

 

[Cobweb]

I reckon so, it's sound theory. I don't think it would work if your kit was immersed in water for a long period of time, say lover than five minutes, the wetness would have had time to penetrate the wood and it would require a lot more effort to dry it out.
He's only approximating the drying action is a fire in a localised area, it would work!

 

[WoodWildling]

I dunno - i was always told to scrupulously (sp?) keep the drill equipment dry and away from the weather. It takes less effort then because you have no excess water to dry out.

Wild

 

[Shewie]

Not something I`d ever thought of trying but it sounds believable enough. I suppose by taking the time to dry the bits out then there`s no reason why not. Good find though Mossman, not seen those vids before.

Oh and welcome to the forum by the way

 

[Fieldfare1]

practising the hand drill now and was looking for info.. wont try that wet stuff yet but good idea if you let yr rucksack get a soaking!! any ideas for limiting blisters?? I can do the bow drill so might try it with that his website shows this too, has anyone tried it yet with the bow drill?

 

[rich59]

Avoiding blisters is by conditioning your hands to hand drilling over the previous weeks by practicing every couple of days - stopping before blisters occur. The hands toughen up wonderfully.

That was a neat, small set he had there! Must have been very dry before he dunked it in water. That drill was of a very small diameter which means he could work with less pressure than I do - his posture was comfortable for sitting but would be difficult to get much downward pressure I guess. I find small diameter drills seem worse for encouraging blisters. I must try these ideas.

 

[Fieldfare1]

Hey thanks.. sorry for ages to reply.. have got the handrrill at last... blisters now limited, to be honest a few times i couldn't tell when i'd created a blister until i stopped.
Found a new vid from the same chap... floating with a 4 inch drill... amazing, now thats something i've got ot get!

http://learnbushcraft.co.uk/index.php?mod=bushcraft_fire_short_handdrill

can anyone else do this?

 

[rich59]

Wow, what a video.

Yes, I can get a coal with floating, but I have never tried it with a drill that short!!! Floating uses different muscles and so one needs to practice it to get good at it. Alternating between floating and the more usual technique of passes down the drill is quite useful to give different muscles a rest.

I can also say I can do the wet leaves trick without his added extender (as long as they are not too wet).

This guy is a real pro and he is pushing his limits to get this to work.

 

[Broch]

I've only had success with bone dry equipment. There's a huge difference between wet wood and wood that's been dunked in water. If his drill was really dry before the video the water would have evaporated off after the first few spins.

I confess that I have never managed to get a hand drill or bow drill to work using timber from the woods - only when I have prepared the tools and dried them at home. I'm not sure it's even possible in the UK except in the longest dry summer to do it from scratch but I would be please to hear from anyone that has genuinely been succesful

Cheers.

 

[Barney]

I wanna be able to do that!

 

[rich59]

I've only had success with bone dry equipment. There's a huge difference between wet wood and wood that's been dunked in water. If his drill was really dry before the video the water would have evaporated off after the first few spins.

I confess that I have never managed to get a hand drill or bow drill to work using timber from the woods - only when I have prepared the tools and dried them at home. I'm not sure it's even possible in the UK except in the longest dry summer to do it from scratch but I would be please to hear from anyone that has genuinely been succesful

Cheers.

2 seasons ago I went down to my allotment. It was an average cloudy day if I remember - sometime from spring to autumn. Certainly hadn't rained that day, but it was not an exceptionally dry or warm spell. I found a straight dead shaft from the centre of a dense elder and broke it off at the base. I found some ivy wood in a rubbish pile. I found 2-3 cherts (pebbles) and split them to make a range of sharp edges. Then I smoothed off the tip of my elder shaft by friction on some concrete. I broke the ivy by pressure and found a relatively flat surface in the broken end of one piece to form a hearth board. I managed to hand drill enough to burn in a socket and then used the sharp stone edge I had made to rub away a notch. Then I hand drilled in the usual way - slowly at first, with lots of rests to get the wood heated through. Finally I went for it and got a coal.

On another occasion I went down to my local woods and collected similar stuff on an average cool cloudy day not in the winter. I could not get it to work while in the woods. Then I walked home with the kit and tried again - got a coal first time.

I concluded that doing it under an open sky and away from the higher humidity of a damp woodland may be a key part.

 

[Broch]

Thanks for that Rich; I'll have another go. I've only been doin this stuff for 40 years obviously gave up to easily on this bit!!

Cheers

 

[fireman sam]

Don't know if you guys have seen this new vid from the same guy, which is, to be frank, almost unbelivable. In it he creates an ember with upwards strokes of the drill only - without a single downward stroke at all!!

Can't quite belive it as I can't even do it with multiple downward strokes and have never seen the likes of Mears etc do anything even aproaching this level of skill.

Is this guy known for being 'the man' when it comes to the handrill, as if not he should be. Would love to be able to do this.

Check it out

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AooZSDchZhs

 

[Broch]

I've just had a go with a piece of dowel and it is possible to exert downward pressure with your hands moving up the drill; it's all in that rotating hands motion.

Don't think I'd ever get a fire started though!!

 

[Tourist]

First the disclaimer: I have no business or personal relationship with the LearnBushcraft people other than having attended a day with them.

I did bow drill with the guy for a day. Mighty impressed with his teaching technique and his way of getting the message over. I can now knock out coals using a bow drill with no problems.

The wet fire gear vids that they have produced are kosher. He shows and explains on the day how to do it. It is absolutely amazing to see the gear get a thorough soaking and then two minutes later produce embers, which get dropped in a tinder bundle and get blown to produce flame.

I can highly recomend LearnBushcraft if you want to learn how to make fire by friction from scratch or just get your hit an miss technique sorted.

 

[Fieldfare1]

Well now he's gone another step further... he does a notchless ember on some windswept wintery mountain-side......

check this out...

http://learnbushcraft.co.uk/index.php?mod=notchless_ember_snowy_mountain


Tony