I've searched the forum and I cannot find anything about fire starting methods. I know a few(rubbing sticks togrther, flint and steel, matches, lighter,) and I have tried a few that I haven't been very successful at(mainly the bowdrill, and the one where you cut out a long, narrow strip out of a block of wood and you take a stick and run it down that strip down to your tinder until it catches fire <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> :. Can anyone give me hints on how to make these two methods work?
Thanks, David

David, Friction fires can be explained in minute detail. But it's like riding a bicycle, you have to achieve your inner balance through experience. I would suggest finding a nearby survival , wilderness class or a reenactor group. Other field methods are flint and steel which predated matches as the universal method, using a a magnifying lens, a modern metal match, plain vanilla matches, lighters, creating sparks with wire from an electrical battery and sparking two appropriate stones to create sparks. I would get real proficient with these methods, and probably more important, nurturng a fire through the stages of tinder, kindling and large fuel woods. It's amazing how many people can't even build a fire even with a blowtorch <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

I will give a shot at the bowdrill.

The board on the ground needs to be a soft wood with a depression just smaller than the end of your drill. There needs to be a notch from the depression out to the edge. The drill needs to be a hardwood. The handle also needs to be a hardwood.

You will need some tinder under the board at the notch. As you spin the drill, it will create friction in the depression. Small fragments of the softwood will heat, smolder and fall out the notch onto the tinder. With gently blowing, it should light the tinder. Last time I tried this was in 1973 at Boy Scout camp. It took some time to get a fire started.

I have been practicing with the magneisun rod and steel. The Boy Scout "Hot Spark" specifically. $2.85 and it fits on your keyring. www.scoutstuff.org Throws great sparks in a small size. My son and I find tinder everywhere we go and give it a try. Last week at my other son's soccer game, we found a river birch. We were able to lite the paper bark peelings in one strike. Burned very fast and hot with the oils in the bark. We found a dried cattail head at the end of the pond in the neighborhood. Knocked off some cattail head into a pile, threw one spark and poof lots of flame.

We found a Fatwood, Lighter wood, or Pine Resin soaked tree stump in the backyard. Dug it up, split into pencil sized bits. Then I split those into pieces 1/2" wide and double business card paper thick. I split the ends several times so it looks like a pitch fork. I weave a cotton ball between the tines. One spark lites the cotton ball which lights the fatwood. The fatwood burns like a candle for at least 15 minutes. I even soaked the fatwood and vaseline soaked cotton ball in a cup of water for 3 hrs. Pulled them out of the water, shook the water off the fatwood and squeezed the water out of the cotton ball. 2 strikes to get it lit. I have had such success with the Hot Spark it has become my primary fire starter.

I have been able to get 0000 steel wool to light easily with two FRESH D cell batteries. I have used a 9 volt as well. 0000 Steel wool will also catch sparks from the Hot Spark and burn slow enough to allow you to light more difficult tinder.

I will second the opinion made that getting it lit is only half the battle. Proper laying of tinder, small, medium, and large sized kindling, and a good stack of firewood before you ever strike anything is more important. Most people start with too little wood and don't lay the fire before trying to get it lit. Lay your fire and leave a small opening for your firestarter to enter.

Get good at building a fire with matches or lighters. At the same time try to get tinder going with alternate methods. Then marry the two processes together. Once you can get a fire going without matches, try it will wet fuel.

The material is critical! I have used Sotal, which is a desert plant with a tall stalk. The stalk is perfect for both pieces of a bowdrill or a fire plough. Technique has to be developed and persistance pays! Softer woods work well or a combination of soft and hard. Definately not hardwood to hardwood. Keep trying, it is fun when you get your first ember !!

Oh, so thats what I was thinking of, friction fires.

IMHO I would say material is critical only in the beginning. Once you get the hang of properly varying speed and pressure at the right times then any soft woods work well enough. This is important to note becuase if you psycologically limit yourself to only attempting fire by friction with the very best material then the method is not all that usefull since the very best materials are not always available. However that being said, I agree that while learning, start with the best materials (i certainly did) and once youre getting a coal with them then go on to other materials. Ideally you'd get to the point where you can get a coal from almost anything other than hardwoods.

A little side note on learning fire by friction. When you get really frustrated (like I once did) and you start thinking that it simply isn't possible to acheive fire by friction and everyone that says it is must be lieing, then take youre spindle and secure it to a handheld power drill then drill that puppy in to your fireboard and see how you'll make a nice coal in about 5 seconds <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. What does this acomplish you ask? Well for me it gave me the will and determination to keep pluggin away at the bow drill method until I got it. Now I'm pretty darn good with a bow drill and sort-of starting all over again with trying to learn to reliably make a coal with a hand drill. Some day.... Some day... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

In response to: widget
The material I use when practicing fire starting is dryer lint. The guy I talked to, my Wilderness Survival m.b counselor said that's the best stuff to use when staring a fire because it's VERY dry.

RC, make sure SPECIFICALLY that it is COTTON dryer lint. ALL cotton, no synthetics in it at all. Most synthetic fabrics are acrylic or polyester, which are plastic threads -- they don't really burn, they just melt.

And don't let the lint sit around sucking moisture out of the air. As soon as the dryer cycle finishes, yank it out and put it in a sturdy freezer bag or something to keep it dry.

Sue

Dryer lint is good, easy to ignite. I was referring to the material for the bow drill or fire plough, the wood used to make the friction to light the tinder. Sotal is a plant stalk, a wood substance that really works great for the first time friction firemaking attempts. No lint needed really, it makes a fine powdered ember that can be transfered to tinder such as a bundle of dry grass.