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- Sep 24, 2011
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I accept the challenge!
-
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Ethan's November Challenge, FIRE!!
- Thread starter Moosez45
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2009
- Messages
- 1,425
I'm in! Beckerhead #15.
OK. Here we go!
This is a shot of the area I visited today to do this part of the challenge.
I had my BK-7 and the little BK-13 that came with it. (Of course I had other knives along, as well...)
First (IMHO) the easiest, Ferro-rod/fatwood scrapings combo.
Luckily it was sunny today, so my second method/tinder combo is magnifying lens/inner bark.
If you watch closely, you can see smoke coming from the tinder bundle in this photo.
And here we have flames.
In the next picture you can see my BK-7, some gathered firewood and prepared cotton in a little Altoids tin for char-cloth making.
Ferro-rod again, but this time paired up with "fluffy plant-bulbs" for tinder.
As soon as the fluffy material burst into flames, I added some fatwood scrapings followed by some twigs of different sizes.
Next, I added some thumb sized wood and also put my Altoids tin into the fire.
I only needed a small fire. (Note the smoke coming from the can.)
And here's the finished product...
...which brings us to my next method/tinder combo in the form of flint&steel/inner bark.
Fire!!
That's it for now. More to come soon...
The saga continues ...
The weather was OK today, so I decided to go and try my luck at bow drilling.
On my way in, I started to collect material for my tinder bundle in a plastic bag. Mostly dry grass, some dry ferns and very little fine cedar bark fibers.
I had to pick all these from the sunny areas, since everything else was wet.
Then, I got the necessary pieces together.
In this picture: BK-7, soon to be my spindle, hearth-board, hand-piece and my folding saw.
Here I'm well into the exercise...
The first hole got me to the smoking stage a few times, but produced no coal before it became useless.
So, I made a second one and carried on.
In this photo you can see some smoke coming from the tiny, little ember (finally...).
Then, after some fanning, I carefully transferred my smoking coal to my tinder bundle and successfully blew it into flames.
This whole bow-drilling exercise took a long time and some very hard work (mind you, there was a lot of moisture in the air..).
Also, it wore me out a little and definitely makes me appreciate modern fire-making tools a lot more...
I had success with bow-drilling before, but I don't have a lot of experience with this method.
Obviously, I have to practice more, to get it going a little faster and easier ...
Finally, here's a picture of the area.
There you have it!
Five fires, four different methods and the use of various natural, locally available tinder.
This concludes my answer to Ethan's November challenge.
Good luck to everyone!
OK. Here we go!
This is a shot of the area I visited today to do this part of the challenge.
I had my BK-7 and the little BK-13 that came with it. (Of course I had other knives along, as well...)
First (IMHO) the easiest, Ferro-rod/fatwood scrapings combo.
Luckily it was sunny today, so my second method/tinder combo is magnifying lens/inner bark.
If you watch closely, you can see smoke coming from the tinder bundle in this photo.
And here we have flames.
In the next picture you can see my BK-7, some gathered firewood and prepared cotton in a little Altoids tin for char-cloth making.
Ferro-rod again, but this time paired up with "fluffy plant-bulbs" for tinder.
As soon as the fluffy material burst into flames, I added some fatwood scrapings followed by some twigs of different sizes.
Next, I added some thumb sized wood and also put my Altoids tin into the fire.
I only needed a small fire. (Note the smoke coming from the can.)
And here's the finished product...
...which brings us to my next method/tinder combo in the form of flint&steel/inner bark.
Fire!!
That's it for now. More to come soon...
The saga continues ...
The weather was OK today, so I decided to go and try my luck at bow drilling.
On my way in, I started to collect material for my tinder bundle in a plastic bag. Mostly dry grass, some dry ferns and very little fine cedar bark fibers.
I had to pick all these from the sunny areas, since everything else was wet.
Then, I got the necessary pieces together.
In this picture: BK-7, soon to be my spindle, hearth-board, hand-piece and my folding saw.
Here I'm well into the exercise...
The first hole got me to the smoking stage a few times, but produced no coal before it became useless.
So, I made a second one and carried on.
In this photo you can see some smoke coming from the tiny, little ember (finally...).
Then, after some fanning, I carefully transferred my smoking coal to my tinder bundle and successfully blew it into flames.
This whole bow-drilling exercise took a long time and some very hard work (mind you, there was a lot of moisture in the air..).
Also, it wore me out a little and definitely makes me appreciate modern fire-making tools a lot more...
I had success with bow-drilling before, but I don't have a lot of experience with this method.
Obviously, I have to practice more, to get it going a little faster and easier ...
Finally, here's a picture of the area.
There you have it!
Five fires, four different methods and the use of various natural, locally available tinder.
This concludes my answer to Ethan's November challenge.
Good luck to everyone!
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,860
I accept the challenge. #54
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2006
- Messages
- 5,510
I accept the challenge, Beckerhead #333
"I accept th Challenge"
Handdrill
[video=youtube;9mqATBlBldw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mqATBlBldw[/video]
Bowdrill
[video=youtube;iPRgUnshUvc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPRgUnshUvc[/video]
Ferro
[video=youtube;bIieJdygFME]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIieJdygFME[/video]
More later!
THANKS!!
Flint and Steel/Chared punk
[video=youtube;YUU1Bgx35so]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUU1Bgx35so[/video]
SUN
[video=youtube;W386w8kysz4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W386w8kysz4[/video]
Handdrill
[video=youtube;9mqATBlBldw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mqATBlBldw[/video]
Bowdrill
[video=youtube;iPRgUnshUvc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPRgUnshUvc[/video]
Ferro
[video=youtube;bIieJdygFME]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIieJdygFME[/video]
More later!
THANKS!!
Flint and Steel/Chared punk
[video=youtube;YUU1Bgx35so]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUU1Bgx35so[/video]
SUN
[video=youtube;W386w8kysz4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W386w8kysz4[/video]
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2010
- Messages
- 492
Here is my attempt at Mr. Becker's November challenge. Today was such a nice day, that I had to get out and "play" with some firecraft skills. I know it is alot of pictures, but I wanted to catch all of the "important" bits on camera...... Thanks for looking, and thanks for the chance!
Magnifying glass and basswood inner-bark.
Punkwood with ferro-rod.
Hand-drill (mullein spindle/basswood hearth) cottonwood inner bark.
I need more speed, dust is brown.
I got it!
Flint and steel with chaga/cottonwood bark
Bowdrill=failed (mullein and box-elder) I am way better with hand drill because I cant get a proper bo-drill "form" when i cannot kneel, and lock my wrist.
Oak shavings lit with ferro rod, and pine resin added. The resin went up like crazy!
BONUS FIRE
(I didnt know if all of the pictures would turn out, so I did an extra fire.)
Basswood charred inner-bark with punky cottonwood shavings... lit with flint and steel.
I put the bark in the tin, and threw it in the fire.
After it cooled down..
One strike with the flint and steel.
Magnifying glass and basswood inner-bark.
Punkwood with ferro-rod.
Hand-drill (mullein spindle/basswood hearth) cottonwood inner bark.
I need more speed, dust is brown.
I got it!
Flint and steel with chaga/cottonwood bark
Bowdrill=failed (mullein and box-elder) I am way better with hand drill because I cant get a proper bo-drill "form" when i cannot kneel, and lock my wrist.
Oak shavings lit with ferro rod, and pine resin added. The resin went up like crazy!
BONUS FIRE
(I didnt know if all of the pictures would turn out, so I did an extra fire.)
Basswood charred inner-bark with punky cottonwood shavings... lit with flint and steel.
I put the bark in the tin, and threw it in the fire.
After it cooled down..
One strike with the flint and steel.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2011
- Messages
- 2,009
Beckerhead #143, I accept the Challenge.
Once again the monthly challenge gives me the kick in the pants I needed to get out and learn, fail, succeed, as well as gain new skills. Being a store bought tinder nut I had to leave my "crutches" at home and make things happen.
I had a few goals with this challenge. #1 Actually go into the woods and not stay in my yard. #2 Make a real sustainable fire not just a pile of charred tinder. #3 Include my girlfriend so she could learn a thing or two. #4 learn a thing or two myself so that I could pass along the skills I gained.
This challenge took me three outings to complete. In Maine November means deer hunting season so you will see the blaze orange for safety. My girlfriend and I drove out to a camping spot that we frequent that has a great pond and a nice safe spot for making fire. I did have a bucket of water ready in case the fire got out of control.
Fire #1. For this fire I used an Esee ferro rod and used Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seed down. This one was quite easy, the only trick was that it ignited so fast and didn't last long so I had to add some pine needles and dried up fern to the bundle to aid in catching the kindling on fire.
My BK 11 and the bundle of Milkweed down.
Action shot of the Esee ferro rod doing it's thing.
After adding oxygen and kindling. FIRE!
Fire #2. Since Maine is the Pine tree state for this fire I used pine pitch/sap from an Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) for tinder and an Esee ferro rod for ignition. Once ignited the pitch burns well and is easily worked with. I had to spread it out for more surface area so it would catch the sparks better.
My BK 2 and two piles of pitch.
Action shot. Lots of sparks. Just before ignition.
End result once the kindling caught fire.
Fire #3 The tinder for this fire was some dead and dry grass I found along the road out to this outing. For the life of me I couldn't figure out exactly what type or grass it was. All I know is that it went up in flames very fast once the ember was formed. The ignition method was my fresnel lens for light refraction. I have had this thing for a while and only used it to burn a tick I found on my leg. Now that I know it works I carry it in my wallet everyday.
My BK 10 (thanks Moose), tinder, and fresnel lens. The rock was used to grind up some grass into fine powder for the center of the bundle to aid in forming an ember.
Trying to get the beam of light just right.
Blowing the ember into flame.
The bundle burned very fast and it started to burn my hand before I got to the pre made kindling tee pee. I dropped it short of the tee pee and had to slap shot it home with a stick. Fresnel lens still in hand. From there it took off like a rocket.
Fire #4. Bowdrill and Cedar bark from a Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) This one was very stress full. Since I was new to this method I did alot of research and tried a few different woods since most of what was preferred isn't common were I live. For spindles I tried Maple, Cedar and one that I couldn't identify. For hearths I used Maple and Cedar. The harder woods gave me a nice black dust but glazed over soon after and no ember. The Cedar gave me a dark brown almost black dust and as my technique improved I was rewarded with a few embers. I ended up using a cedar spindle and hearth board, maple bearing block and bow. After getting a few embers and a fire for this challenge I do not feel I have mastered this method, but am very interested in mastering the bow drill. Maybe after a few hundred proven sets I will feel better.
While I was trying to get an ember My girlfriend and I heard a few close gunshots. Nothing out of the ordinary during hunting season in Maine. Then we heard 2 more, then 2 more. After that we noticed on the ponds surface it looked like a stone skipping across the water. Then we realized this guy was trying to skip BULLETS across the pond. Very very dangerous.I grabbed my signal whistle and gave 10-15 loud blasts and shouted some bad words. The shooting stopped and we heard a 4 wheeler speed away around the pond.
My BK 7 was used to make what you see here. The spindle on the far left and the bottom two hearth boards were all made from cedar and the successful combination. 550 cord was used to string the bow. I forgot to include the tinder bundle in the pic, sorry!
Getting some RPMs going.
Finally the ember after I tapped it loose. The ember is sitting on a hornet nest my girlfriend found.
Blown into flame.
This made me happy. FIRE!
Fire #5. Hand drill and a chunk of Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) or true tinder fungus. This is the black almost charred looking fungus that mostly grows on Birch trees. It is said that it can be made into a tea, help relieve a headache and deter insects when burning. For me this one was a real mind blower. I did some research on natural tinders and tinder fungus kept popping up. After looking at the pictures I knew I had seen this stuff before. Not knowing what it was at the time I didn't give it a second thought. Knowing how awesome Chaga is now I keep my eyes open for it. My girlfriend and I made a special trip down every logging road I know in the area to find this stuff. I have a chunk the size on my head drying right now! When it is dry the brown inside has a cork like feel to it.
The plan was to create and ember in the Chaga, give it oxygen to build it into a big ember to ignite dried grass. It works alot like natural charred cloth.
My BK 9 with chunks of Chaga and dried grass. I don't know what the drill was made out of but it fit the criteria in my research. Long, straight, dead, dry and soft enough to dent easily with my thumbnail.
Working up some heat.
Bingo! The ember.
Blowing the Chaga for more heat to ignite the grass.
FIRE! Note the Chaga smoking like crazy. It smoldered a long time and didn't go out easily with water. Great for transferring fire if you had to.
For this challenge I would say my strength would be with the ferro rod. Weakness? Bow drill, easily. So many variables and I was going too hard and trying to force the ember into forming. From years of aggressive sports, having to use finesse don't mix well with me. Once I slowed down and focused on my form it got easier.
After it was all said and done I make sure I have a lighter with me on my outings!
I had a great time and plan to work on these skills more in the future.
Thanks for the challenge and good luck to everyone else who enters.
Be safe,
Jeremy
Once again the monthly challenge gives me the kick in the pants I needed to get out and learn, fail, succeed, as well as gain new skills. Being a store bought tinder nut I had to leave my "crutches" at home and make things happen.
I had a few goals with this challenge. #1 Actually go into the woods and not stay in my yard. #2 Make a real sustainable fire not just a pile of charred tinder. #3 Include my girlfriend so she could learn a thing or two. #4 learn a thing or two myself so that I could pass along the skills I gained.
This challenge took me three outings to complete. In Maine November means deer hunting season so you will see the blaze orange for safety. My girlfriend and I drove out to a camping spot that we frequent that has a great pond and a nice safe spot for making fire. I did have a bucket of water ready in case the fire got out of control.
Fire #1. For this fire I used an Esee ferro rod and used Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seed down. This one was quite easy, the only trick was that it ignited so fast and didn't last long so I had to add some pine needles and dried up fern to the bundle to aid in catching the kindling on fire.
My BK 11 and the bundle of Milkweed down.
Action shot of the Esee ferro rod doing it's thing.
After adding oxygen and kindling. FIRE!
Fire #2. Since Maine is the Pine tree state for this fire I used pine pitch/sap from an Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) for tinder and an Esee ferro rod for ignition. Once ignited the pitch burns well and is easily worked with. I had to spread it out for more surface area so it would catch the sparks better.
My BK 2 and two piles of pitch.
Action shot. Lots of sparks. Just before ignition.
End result once the kindling caught fire.
Fire #3 The tinder for this fire was some dead and dry grass I found along the road out to this outing. For the life of me I couldn't figure out exactly what type or grass it was. All I know is that it went up in flames very fast once the ember was formed. The ignition method was my fresnel lens for light refraction. I have had this thing for a while and only used it to burn a tick I found on my leg. Now that I know it works I carry it in my wallet everyday.
My BK 10 (thanks Moose), tinder, and fresnel lens. The rock was used to grind up some grass into fine powder for the center of the bundle to aid in forming an ember.
Trying to get the beam of light just right.
Blowing the ember into flame.
The bundle burned very fast and it started to burn my hand before I got to the pre made kindling tee pee. I dropped it short of the tee pee and had to slap shot it home with a stick. Fresnel lens still in hand. From there it took off like a rocket.
Fire #4. Bowdrill and Cedar bark from a Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) This one was very stress full. Since I was new to this method I did alot of research and tried a few different woods since most of what was preferred isn't common were I live. For spindles I tried Maple, Cedar and one that I couldn't identify. For hearths I used Maple and Cedar. The harder woods gave me a nice black dust but glazed over soon after and no ember. The Cedar gave me a dark brown almost black dust and as my technique improved I was rewarded with a few embers. I ended up using a cedar spindle and hearth board, maple bearing block and bow. After getting a few embers and a fire for this challenge I do not feel I have mastered this method, but am very interested in mastering the bow drill. Maybe after a few hundred proven sets I will feel better.
While I was trying to get an ember My girlfriend and I heard a few close gunshots. Nothing out of the ordinary during hunting season in Maine. Then we heard 2 more, then 2 more. After that we noticed on the ponds surface it looked like a stone skipping across the water. Then we realized this guy was trying to skip BULLETS across the pond. Very very dangerous.I grabbed my signal whistle and gave 10-15 loud blasts and shouted some bad words. The shooting stopped and we heard a 4 wheeler speed away around the pond.
My BK 7 was used to make what you see here. The spindle on the far left and the bottom two hearth boards were all made from cedar and the successful combination. 550 cord was used to string the bow. I forgot to include the tinder bundle in the pic, sorry!
Getting some RPMs going.
Finally the ember after I tapped it loose. The ember is sitting on a hornet nest my girlfriend found.
Blown into flame.
This made me happy. FIRE!
Fire #5. Hand drill and a chunk of Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) or true tinder fungus. This is the black almost charred looking fungus that mostly grows on Birch trees. It is said that it can be made into a tea, help relieve a headache and deter insects when burning. For me this one was a real mind blower. I did some research on natural tinders and tinder fungus kept popping up. After looking at the pictures I knew I had seen this stuff before. Not knowing what it was at the time I didn't give it a second thought. Knowing how awesome Chaga is now I keep my eyes open for it. My girlfriend and I made a special trip down every logging road I know in the area to find this stuff. I have a chunk the size on my head drying right now! When it is dry the brown inside has a cork like feel to it.
The plan was to create and ember in the Chaga, give it oxygen to build it into a big ember to ignite dried grass. It works alot like natural charred cloth.
My BK 9 with chunks of Chaga and dried grass. I don't know what the drill was made out of but it fit the criteria in my research. Long, straight, dead, dry and soft enough to dent easily with my thumbnail.
Working up some heat.
Bingo! The ember.
Blowing the Chaga for more heat to ignite the grass.
FIRE! Note the Chaga smoking like crazy. It smoldered a long time and didn't go out easily with water. Great for transferring fire if you had to.
For this challenge I would say my strength would be with the ferro rod. Weakness? Bow drill, easily. So many variables and I was going too hard and trying to force the ember into forming. From years of aggressive sports, having to use finesse don't mix well with me. Once I slowed down and focused on my form it got easier.
After it was all said and done I make sure I have a lighter with me on my outings!
I had a great time and plan to work on these skills more in the future.
Thanks for the challenge and good luck to everyone else who enters.
Be safe,
Jeremy
Last edited:
What a great challenge.Al my fires where started with my ferro rod.I tried a bow drill with no success.didnt know any of the ins an outs.Will keep working on it.
Pic of all the tender.
Piece of fir.
Whittled some shaveing an lit with ferm/100_3748.jpg[/IMG]
ro rod.Took about 8 strikes.
next i found a bunch of dry leaves an plants moss needles up under a huge tree.
took off really quick.
next was birch bark no problem.
next up cattail
Cattail took aspark pretty quick but it would race along the top. need more
practice with this tender.
cedar bark
shave the bark .did not have any luck should cut up more. also afriend said i should
of used the inside. I used outside.
This pic ihave sugar pine needles choped up didnt take off. also fir needles thy litright up.
Pine needls burning.
Old mans beard had to pull a part push back together.Stood it up .made a little cave
at the bottom. Took 10 to 15strikes finealy got it going.Really smokey.
Fatwood this is awesom took off very quick.
Heres the bow drill.Need to do more research an practice.
Thats it for now. hope to win a knife or get a cool number.Cant wait for next
challenge.
Pic of all the tender.
Piece of fir.
Whittled some shaveing an lit with ferm/100_3748.jpg[/IMG]
ro rod.Took about 8 strikes.
next i found a bunch of dry leaves an plants moss needles up under a huge tree.
took off really quick.
next was birch bark no problem.
next up cattail
Cattail took aspark pretty quick but it would race along the top. need more
practice with this tender.
cedar bark
shave the bark .did not have any luck should cut up more. also afriend said i should
of used the inside. I used outside.
This pic ihave sugar pine needles choped up didnt take off. also fir needles thy litright up.
Pine needls burning.
Old mans beard had to pull a part push back together.Stood it up .made a little cave
at the bottom. Took 10 to 15strikes finealy got it going.Really smokey.
Fatwood this is awesom took off very quick.
Heres the bow drill.Need to do more research an practice.
Thats it for now. hope to win a knife or get a cool number.Cant wait for next
challenge.
Ethan Becker
Moderator
- Joined
- Sep 1, 1999
- Messages
- 3,564
WOW.......
I am really impressed.....Some realle creative work and a lot of good results......I would never have figured how many of you would try and succeed at hand drill (I HATE hand drill and have the blistered memories to boot)....Very cool......I am hoping Dresnor's tinder fungus is similar enough to the cracked cap polypore that is common to dying locusts locall.....Gonna give it a shot.....
El Noumero uno with extra accolades for video and incredible élan with the hand drill.........JCLMD
Numba two goest to One legged Josh.....Nice Job......
The third man is.....Dresnor
and a VERRRY honorable mention to Red Mech......
Please send your
forum name
your real one
address
phone no
email
to
beckerkt@gmail.com
I really like that so many of you are pushing your skill to a point of failure.....That IS where the learning real kicks in......So good it is that so many of you tried new tinders and techniques..........We will do this one again.....Fire is GOOD and so did all of you do (how's that for some severely strangled syntax?).........
I am really impressed.....Some realle creative work and a lot of good results......I would never have figured how many of you would try and succeed at hand drill (I HATE hand drill and have the blistered memories to boot)....Very cool......I am hoping Dresnor's tinder fungus is similar enough to the cracked cap polypore that is common to dying locusts locall.....Gonna give it a shot.....
El Noumero uno with extra accolades for video and incredible élan with the hand drill.........JCLMD
Numba two goest to One legged Josh.....Nice Job......
The third man is.....Dresnor
and a VERRRY honorable mention to Red Mech......
Please send your
forum name
your real one
address
phone no
to
beckerkt@gmail.com
I really like that so many of you are pushing your skill to a point of failure.....That IS where the learning real kicks in......So good it is that so many of you tried new tinders and techniques..........We will do this one again.....Fire is GOOD and so did all of you do (how's that for some severely strangled syntax?).........
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2010
- Messages
- 492
Thanks a ton, this was a fun challenge! I love FIRE!
Congrats to all who entered.
2 Emails sent (I forgot to add my "choice" of knife in the first)
Congrats to all who entered.
2 Emails sent (I forgot to add my "choice" of knife in the first)
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2009
- Messages
- 1,425
Pretty speedy decision making. :thumbup:
Congrats to all winners and thanks for the contest!
Congrats to all winners and thanks for the contest!
NixKustoms
Sheath and Knife Maker
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2010
- Messages
- 5,883
congrats guys!!!
Thanks to Ethan and Moosez for the challenge !!
Congrars to OLJ ( I though I had no chance whin I saw he posted) LOL!!
Congrats dresnor !!
And congrats to everyone who entered !!
I picked up some new TRICKS !! VERY COOL EVERYONE!!!!
Moosez what ever # is OK with me .
THANKS
Congrars to OLJ ( I though I had no chance whin I saw he posted) LOL!!
Congrats dresnor !!
And congrats to everyone who entered !!
I picked up some new TRICKS !! VERY COOL EVERYONE!!!!
Moosez what ever # is OK with me .
THANKS
Last edited: