Don't get me wrong, I carry a MagFire with me all the time, and I am rarely without a lighter to boot. The only reason I mentioned Ishi using something modern is that he and his tribe may have been using some modern items for so long that they may have forgotten how to do things the old way. So, when his things were stolen there may have been gaps that he didn't know how to fill with the knowledge he had.

To put it another way, if someone stole my matches, I'd use my knowledge of friction fire making to fall back on. If a person who didn't know how to use friction to start a fire had his matches stolen, he might not be able to fill the gap because he doesn't know how to make matches.

I love studying and practicing primitive skills and take all of the courses in them that I can. When you know how to do something at the absolute bottom of the technology curve then you can improvise in just about any situation.

He had a camcorder, which would have allowed two different ways to light a fire without resorting to friction fire (rubbing 2 sticks together).

Thanks for all the replys but still besides two sticks what could a person do that was not a survival expert do. No he is not going to distoy his camera equipment as it is suppose to be just a person with a knife. When I read this I thought of Tom Hanks in Castaway who did not even have a knife.

The bamboo method looks good but still you need specialize materials. What other options are there?

thanks again.

Friction and sparking are the only 100% reliable options if you have no specialized tools. Just study the elementary physics a little bit and experiment with any available flammable materials.

He should of started looking for something which would generate a spark when struck with his carbon steel knife, such as a nodule of Flint or Pyrites. Flint is usually dark-grey, blue, black, or deep brown in colour, and often has a glassy appearance. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. The tinder he should have then used should have been the blackened wood dust results from the failure to light a fire from the friction fire lighting.

The failure to light a fire by just friction methods would have simply been down to the humidity and the type of wood available to use. The truth about friction fire lighting is that almost impossible without the right wood, technique and favorable conditions. There is an assumption that any wood which can be located and prepared can be used to make fire. Some assume that it is just down to finding some hardwood and softwood and take it from there. Mahogany wood for instance is useless for friction fire lighting. A lot of people assume that the so called primitive peoples just have this skill to light a fire anytime anyplace they find themselves, they do not. Just as everyone here on the forum may EDC a ferrocerium rod and striker, these folks will carry with them their favorite wood fire block, stick and bow, usually around their necks in a leather bag ensuring that the wood is always bone dry. The wood block is the most important piece of wood and the wood that has been found to best for friction fire lighting is from Ivy or even Walnut. The best stick being from bay-laurel.

Further info on fire lighting can be found here at

http://snowy.arsc.alaska.edu/gutenberg/1/4/6/8/14681/14681-h/14681-h.htm#ch22

The Stone Age was in reality the Flint Age.

When Ishi was asked later in life what the most amazing modern thing he had seen since coming out of the woods was he said matches. Although he walked out of the wilderness into a modern world it wasn't cars, planes or buildings it was matches that impressed him the most. He knew the value of fire and anything that made it "instant" and easy was amazing and valuable to him.

After a while he must be realizing that matches are no good at all. Very limited supply, not windproof, not waterproof... That's more like a fireworks impression, I guess. But I can see your point

I'm going to rent QUEST FOR FIRE and practise with all my methods while watching it. One of the artifacts found with Oetzi was the remains of a live coal carried on his person along with sparking kit. I would argue the many 'Sacred fires' of many peoples are just that, recognition that fire is what makes us unique in all of Nature and creation. Primal peoples ( I hate the perjorative primitive) simply didn't wait for a blizzard to start making fire from scratch 24/7. Man standing nekkid in the wilderness with only his knife is mere romantic hubris, aka stupidity.

Or some kind of mental disorder...

I hope it works for you. I've seen Chariots of Fire twice and it hasn't help my fire-making skills one bit.