I haven't managed fire with the bowdrill/firedrill yet, although I have managed blisters and cursing. It's on my bucket list.

But I have learned to make fire with old-school flint and steel using found tinder. (I'm not talking ferro rods, which are blowtorches in comparison).

Upon reflection, the takeaway for me was not the method of making spark, but the concentrated discipline of finding, preparing, and using natural tinder that can take a spark from anything.

Is that the most important part of the equation? I begin to think it might be. It requires you to be intensely aware of the environment you walk through, and to align yourself with it.


Edited by dougwalkabout (11/18/18 11:46 PM)