fire by friction, finially

J

j_d

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Jan 14, 2006
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283
After wanting to do so for 20 yrs or so but only messing around with it a couple of times I finially started compiling components for a fire drill. I was playing with it last night and managed to burn myself with two different coals but it was dark and I hadnt collected any tinder. I thought I would give toilet paper a try but that doesnt work.

Today I scrounged up some tinder, mostly some really fine papery bark material, (cambium i think) that I was able to shred/tease into a good nest. The stuff worked good and I have finially accomplished flame by friction. My family has a sense of humor and was refering to me as lord of the flame. I didnt mind.

Anyone that hasnt used one shold give it a try. It is amazing how fast it works when you have the right material and technique. I had to experiment with a couple types of cord before setteling on paracord. We are getting smoke in 3-4 seconds and a coal in 15-30 and we are new at this. I am using basswood as a hearth board and basswood and also yucca stem as the drill. The yucca seems to give more dust and bigger coals but the basswood drill is a little faster I think.

Josh
 
I got my first flame by friction yesterday as well. I am amazed at how satisfying something so primitive can be. I even started a couple more fires today by friction:thumbup: but my friends aren't calling me lord of the flame, they are calling me the caveman of the prairies:o
 
Basswood is almost the perfect wood, aside from yucca which is magical in its properties on this task. Congratulations! I haven't tried TP, but now I want to test it out when cut up into ribbons.
 
We call it firebending around here. We use a wood burning stove to heat with, so when winter comes along, we get to use alot of different methods and tons of practice. My wife will come in and stoke up a good fire from a tiny little coal, stand up and go "Unh, firebender, yeah." and walk off. She's a show off. :D Moose
 
I like the fire bender, thats cool. Does anyone have any other suggestions on different woods to try?
Thanks,
Josh
 
I too finally made my first friction fire a couple of weekends ago. The materials I used were cedar for the fire board, white pine for the spindle (a a bigger branch for the bow), birch for the bearing block and 550 para cord.

It was a great feeling when everything finally fell into place. Here is a quick Youtube memorializing the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJyk2HaiBXM
 
Thanks guys. I also have some poplar I will be trying out. We dont have much in the way of cedar or pine around here but if given the chance I'll need to try it out. Bean, that was a good video. I'm sure your kids will remember it forever. You obviously have it down but one thing I found helpful (off another video I watched before I did mine) was to place my left foot as close to the hole as possible and brace my left wrist on my shin for support. That cedar bark looks really good too. I wish I had some of that around here.
Regards,
Josh
 
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