- Joined
- Oct 21, 2007
- Messages
- 88
I've been lurking on this forum for a few years now. Well, lurking would be an understatement, because I read it almost everyday. This thing is a great knowledge share.
So, while my wife was out getting groceries today and my son was napping, I attempted and succeeded at my first friction fire (bow drill) in the backyard. Wow. That's just a really cool feeling making fire with sticks. I was so into it that I showed my wife first thing when she got home. Not only was she impressed, but she wanted to try it too (thanks Man, Woman, Wild!).
Then, after dinner, not content to rest on my laurels, I decided I would try a flint & steel fire. I got the fire started back up, made some char cloth with an old rag and an Altoids tin, and grabbed a piece of flint from our landscaping. Using the spine of my JK Kephart and the flint from the yard, I had another tinder pile burning pretty quick.
Sorry there are no pics. I was by myself when I did the bow drill fire and didn't expect success on the first try. By the time I got around to the flint and steel it was too dark in the backyard for pictures.
Anyway, thanks to the forum for all the excellent knowledge here. By the way, I watched the "Fire Without Matches" DVD by Southern Survivor before attempting all this. Lots of useful tips in there that I am sure would have had me struggling more if I had not watched it first. Highly recommended. I picked it up from Bens Backwoods.
For anyone that hasn't attempted either of these methods yet, you should definitely try it. I was actually surprised at how easy it was. I do have two tips though that it took me a few tries to find out though. First, if you're using Jute rope for tinder and you think you've separated it enough, you haven't. It works best once it's the consistency of a big cotton ball. Two, once the ember is in the tinder bundle, you've got to keep blowing on it. The first try or two I was afraid I would blow too much and put it out. Both times it went out from lack of oxygen. After that, I really started blowing, and that's when the tinder caught.
Anyway, that made my weekend and I just thought I would share. Thanks guys (and ladies).
So, while my wife was out getting groceries today and my son was napping, I attempted and succeeded at my first friction fire (bow drill) in the backyard. Wow. That's just a really cool feeling making fire with sticks. I was so into it that I showed my wife first thing when she got home. Not only was she impressed, but she wanted to try it too (thanks Man, Woman, Wild!).
Then, after dinner, not content to rest on my laurels, I decided I would try a flint & steel fire. I got the fire started back up, made some char cloth with an old rag and an Altoids tin, and grabbed a piece of flint from our landscaping. Using the spine of my JK Kephart and the flint from the yard, I had another tinder pile burning pretty quick.
Sorry there are no pics. I was by myself when I did the bow drill fire and didn't expect success on the first try. By the time I got around to the flint and steel it was too dark in the backyard for pictures.
Anyway, thanks to the forum for all the excellent knowledge here. By the way, I watched the "Fire Without Matches" DVD by Southern Survivor before attempting all this. Lots of useful tips in there that I am sure would have had me struggling more if I had not watched it first. Highly recommended. I picked it up from Bens Backwoods.
For anyone that hasn't attempted either of these methods yet, you should definitely try it. I was actually surprised at how easy it was. I do have two tips though that it took me a few tries to find out though. First, if you're using Jute rope for tinder and you think you've separated it enough, you haven't. It works best once it's the consistency of a big cotton ball. Two, once the ember is in the tinder bundle, you've got to keep blowing on it. The first try or two I was afraid I would blow too much and put it out. Both times it went out from lack of oxygen. After that, I really started blowing, and that's when the tinder caught.
Anyway, that made my weekend and I just thought I would share. Thanks guys (and ladies).
