Beckerhead Adventures with a Bow Drill and Fire Plough!

Captain Airyca

Captain Airyca

Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
1,860
Howdy y'all

I haven't posted a thread in a real long while, but I wanted to share with you guys Cameron and I's adventures from today. Today we hiked around the woods and tried to make friction fires. We got pretty close! I tried making a bow drill, and he tried the fire plough.

First step: Gather stuff.
vOpNGaUl.jpg


My supplies. Pretty happy with the madrone branch for the bow.
t7ifhaol.jpg


Cameron batoning with his 14 like a boss. (he only wanted to use 1 knife so the 14 was it!)
BDWK3RVl.jpg


The 9 makes quick work of anything in it's path
H24BQvxl.jpg


Starting to look like i'm doing something
UkRftUhl.jpg


Cameron's "Survivorman" photo
E5hxyHDl.jpg


aaaah batoning
9AkQpqLl.jpg


Ok now what?
U5J9tjWl.jpg


Lots of dust, lots of smoke, no ember :(
R3aiKyUl.jpg


again, lots of smoke, lots of dust, no ember. I think the board I made was wrong - too hard or something.
[video=youtube;Xz0MR1cIbF4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz0MR1cIbF4[/video]

My pride was hurt, so I started a fire real quick in my favorite way.
[video=youtube;qkiuTP7WieM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkiuTP7WieM[/video]

I liked what I made at least!
aeMt3qnl.jpg

Snacks after our hard work.
wRelnl3l.jpg



Any suggestions from bow drill veterans? We were running out of time for me to try and find a different type of wood to try for the bottom board thingy. I'm going to do some research and try it again eventually, I brought my hard earned bow drill kit home so I can improve up on it.

Regardless, we had a ton of fun! Thanks for looking!
 
Last edited:
I'm happy to see the hubby is still interested in the wilds. We gotta get the guy a 9 though. Splitting wood with a 14?!
 
Murphnuge said:
I'm happy to see the hubby is still interested in the wilds. We gotta get the guy a 9 though. Splitting wood with a 14?!
Click to expand...

Lol! I know! But he was doing an experiment to see what was possible with just the one knife. He uses my 9 a lot of other times. :D
 
Just one quick thing before heading off to bed, try using more of the bow, If you refer to the video you posted, you can see that you seem to be using near half, of the bow, if that. Due to that you have to stop the drill from turning at the end of the stroke near the bow AND in the center of the string. If you had used the full length of the bow, you should be able to gain at least 4"-6" worth of usable push/pull on the drill. With that thin of a drill, that ends up being quite a few rotations while maximizing retained heat.
Also, I just noticed that the divot that you set the drill in is rather shallow, see if you can add some depth to that and get the drill to match the hole as close as possible, that is normally done witha knife then the drill in use.
Make your notch like and old fashion key hole, wider on the edge of the board, narrow towards the base of the drill and a small hole for the ember to drop/build in the very center.
Nice snack, my preferences are wild strawberries in NJ and blueberries in Me.

Sorry, I cant be much help on the plough...

Good luck and keep us posted
 
Last edited:
Nice to see you around Cap'n. I concur with Murph, that man needs a 9 of his own! Nice pics, glad to see you are still getting out in the woods with him. The only time I've actually seen a friction fire pulled off, was when E put the spindle on the end of a DeWalt in the shop... It worked!
 
I agree about using the full length of the bow, and also, going faster. I'm no veteran by any stretch of the imagination, but I have done it before, once, with my son in some woods he lived near.
 
Really cool stuff. Keep at it and you'll be an expert in no time. Great advice from other members here too.
 
Hey Captain Airyca, good on you both for getting out there and giving it a shot. A few years ago I did a tutorial on bow drill fire making, seen here. It might help you.

Doc
 
One of the first things that may have hindered a coal was where your right leg is positioned. In my experience it's always been easier to set that leg back, not as far as a lunge, but well behind your torso. This opens up your lungs and helps keep the spindle aligned straight up and down. Especially better if you keep that wrist locked around the base of your knee. Keep it up and don't give up!

give Doc's thread a read, really great stuff in there.
 
Last edited:
NJBillK said:
Just one quick thing before heading off to bed, try using more of the bow, If you refer to the video you posted, you can see that you seem to be using near half, of the bow, if that. Due to that you have to stop the drill from turning at the end of the stroke near the bow AND in the center of the string. If you had used the full length of the bow, you should be able to gain at least 4"-6" worth of usable push/pull on the drill. With that thin of a drill, that ends up being quite a few rotations while maximizing retained heat.
Also, I just noticed that the divot that you set the drill in is rather shallow, see if you can add some depth to that and get the drill to match the hole as close as possible, that is normally done witha knife then the drill in use.
Make your notch like and old fashion key hole, wider on the edge of the board, narrow towards the base of the drill and a small hole for the ember to drop/build in the very center.
Nice snack, my preferences are wild strawberries in NJ and blueberries in Me.

Sorry, I cant be much help on the plough...

Good luck and keep us posted
Click to expand...

I think you're right about using the whole bow, by the time Cameron took the video I was so tired. We hiked a few miles up a mountain to get where we were at, and then I was spending a lot of time chopping and cutting and other stuff, by the time I got around to actually using my bow drill my arms were like noodles lol. But excuses aside, I'm definitely keeping that in mind for my next run. I also think you're right about the drill hole being shallow, my drill did jump out of the hole a few times.

(and yes wild strawberries are the BEST!)

DOC-CANADA said:
Hey Captain Airyca, good on you both for getting out there and giving it a shot. A few years ago I did a tutorial on bow drill fire making, seen here. It might help you.

Doc
Click to expand...
This is awesome! Thank you so much!!

B34NS said:
One of the first things that may have hindered a coal was where your right leg is positioned. In my experience it's always been easier to set that leg back, not as far as a lunge, but well behind your torso. This opens up your lungs and helps keep the spindle aligned straight up and down. Especially better if you keep that wrist locked around the base of your knee. Keep it up and don't give up!

give Doc's thread a read, really great stuff in there.
Click to expand...

Originally, I had my right leg back like you say, in a lunge, but it was actually easier for me to rest on my leg like that. I don't know why. I'll have to play around with different positions.
 
B34NS said:
give Doc's thread a read, really great stuff in there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that B34NS. Glad you liked it.

Captain Airyca said:
Quote Originally Posted by DOC-CANADA:

Hey Captain Airyca, good on you both for getting out there and giving it a shot. A few years ago I did a tutorial on bow drill fire making, seen here. It might help you.

Doc

-----

This is awesome! Thank you so much!!
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Hope it helps. If you have any questions, you can email me at primitive at cogeco dot ca

Doc
 
Nice to see to two back in action!!
Will you and Cameron be attending Beckerwest this go around?
 
Jonny1280 said:
Nice to see to two back in action!!
Will you and Cameron be attending Beckerwest this go around?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no, we've got a list a mile long of things that are happening right around that time. his next book release(just getting details set on that), I've gotta find a new part-time job that works with school, he's job hunting, grandma is moving from Oklahoma to Oregon and we're helping, and more stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting. Things be crazy but good round here.

We're always in action! Just got some pics this time :)
 
I'm sorry to hear you guys won't be making it, but I'm glad to hear you're doing well and staying busy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top