I have created fire.

J

JackBauer24

Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
850
Man it feels extremely good. I know it's no big deal but it felt great. I've been messing with it, spending an hour or two here and there in the back yard. I always end up with a pile of brown mess and no fire. I think I'm using too soft of a base to be honest. Yesterday I got one that was a shade harder and after a ton of smoke I moved it and I noticed it was still smoking. So I blew on it and got a nice 3-4 millimeter sized ember. I think it's still too soft of wood though. It was a real suprise because I was about to give up for the day.

edit: I guess you figured it out, but it was the fire drill method.
 
Congrats!! It's a nice feeling that fire is close at hand if you must, but be careful, starting fire is addicting.:thumbup::D
 
Depends a lot on the wood you chose:
certain types hard to ignite
certain types are almost too easy
also depends if your wood is dry enough.
Once you've got your ember, well prepared tinder fungus (and various other DRY tinder) is priceless
 
Ravaillac said:
Depends a lot on the wood you chose:
certain types hard to ignite
certain types are almost too easy
also depends if your wood is dry enough.
Once you've got your ember, well prepared tinder fungus (and various other DRY tinder) is priceless
Click to expand...

everything was very dry yesterday. That was part of the reason I decided to try it agian.
 
I lit my first primitive fire a couple of weeks ago, with a piece of flint, some steel and some cramp ball fungus. It is a very satisfying feeling isnt it?
 
Ravaillac said:
Depends a lot on the wood you chose:
certain types hard to ignite
certain types are almost too easy
also depends if your wood is dry enough.
Once you've got your ember, well prepared tinder fungus (and various other DRY tinder) is priceless
Click to expand...

Please say what types of wood are easy and difficult. Also is it necessary that the base be of hard wood? I'm a tenderfoot here and I've been a city dweller all my life. Some of this stuff is hard to visualize without having a teacher there to show you the right (and wrong way) of doing things.
Thanks
 
The best thing for a long time, is to know how to make fire with a few sticks and a piece of rope. It really feels great making your first fire......and soon many more...:D

Congrats!!!
CZ
 
Ravaillac said:
Depends a lot on the wood you chose:
certain types hard to ignite
certain types are almost too easy
also depends if your wood is dry enough.
Once you've got your ember, well prepared tinder fungus (and various other DRY tinder) is priceless
Click to expand...

Ravaillac,
Please advise which are "almost too easy." Now, that would be my type of wood.:thumbup:
 
Congrats, I know you have been after fire for awhile, so you deserve the accolades. It sure takes the wind out of you though. I find I'm good for about three good tries before I am wiped out.
 
IUKE12 said:
Congrats, I know you have been after fire for awhile, so you deserve the accolades. It sure takes the wind out of you though. I find I'm good for about three good tries before I am wiped out.
Click to expand...

I lose my temper before I physically wear out. Sometimes I keep dropping things, other times the dog keeps running off with my tinder. Either way, about 3 is what I'm good for too.
 
First of all, my hat is off with respect to anybody who can make fire with a bow and drill. Congratulations Jack :) I've tried it this past year, no joy. It seems to be a very exacting technique.
 
Using a bow and stick is the ultimate test of how bad do you want a fire? The two times I have managed to get one going I was sweating like a pig. I think the activity it's self generates more heat then fire actually will.:eek:
 
Congratulations!

I first tried the bow drill when I was 15 or so I messed with it on and off,gave up tried again,I think I was around 19 when I got a fire! It's addictive once I spent most of an afternoon seeing how many coals I could get,so far my record is 12 in a day.But thats with a well seasond set,that only takes a minute or two to produce a coal.
 
B Finnigan said:
Using a bow and stick is the ultimate test of how bad do you want a fire? The two times I have managed to get one going I was sweating like a pig. I think the activity it's self generates more heat then fire actually will.:eek:
Click to expand...

no kidding. by the time you have fire you surely don't need it for heat. Maybe to dry out your clothes though.
 
I went at it fairly seriously this past winter. I made it a point to use only wood that I could find around my house naturally (I didn't see any point in going to Home Depot to find the perfect dry woods) So I batoned off a slab of birch, found a nice straight piece of cherry for a drill, made a bow and went at it. Several, several times I got a lot of smoke but no coal. And yes, I know, you guys will say I should have kept at it. And I should have. But I didn't.

I can make fire with a lot of things, flint and steel and char cloth and tow, fire steel and petroleum jelly cotton balls, bic lighter, and milkweed fluff, etc.

But as I said: my hats off to you guys that can do it with a bow and drill!

Ever see the movie, Quest For Fire ?
 
Coldwood said:
I went at it fairly seriously this past winter. I made it a point to use only wood that I could find around my house naturally (I didn't see any point in going to Home Depot to find the perfect dry woods) So I batoned off a slab of birch, found a nice straight piece of cherry for a drill, made a bow and went at it. Several, several times I got a lot of smoke but no coal. And yes, I know, you guys will say I should have kept at it. And I should have. But I didn't.

I can make fire with a lot of things, flint and steel and char cloth and tow, fire steel and petroleum jelly cotton balls, bic lighter, and milkweed fluff, etc.

But as I said: my hats off to you guys that can do it with a bow and drill!

Ever see the movie, Quest For Fire ?
Click to expand...

no, haven't seen that. I with you about buying the wood. I felt the same way. I would ask people who know how to go about it and they'd suggest getting wood from lowes. While I guess that's a good way to actually do it once, it wasn't what I wanted to do.
 
Coldwood said:
I went at it fairly seriously this past winter. I made it a point to use only wood that I could find around my house naturally (I didn't see any point in going to Home Depot to find the perfect dry woods) So I batoned off a slab of birch, found a nice straight piece of cherry for a drill, made a bow and went at it. Several, several times I got a lot of smoke but no coal. And yes, I know, you guys will say I should have kept at it. And I should have. But I didn't.

I can make fire with a lot of things, flint and steel and char cloth and tow, fire steel and petroleum jelly cotton balls, bic lighter, and milkweed fluff, etc.

But as I said: my hats off to you guys that can do it with a bow and drill!

Ever see the movie, Quest For Fire ?
Click to expand...


Hi Coldwood.

Birch and Cherry would be the last woods I would use for friction fire, just edging out Oak and Ironwood by a bit :rolleyes: Go out in the woods and find some American Basswood (Tilia americana) and make both drill and hearth from this material. Sure, there are other materials, but you need success. You said you had lots of smoke with the hard woods, so your technique is probably ok. Basswood usually has lot of suckers including dead pieces so you should not have too much trouble in finding good pieces and Basswood is found in just about every continental U.S. state. If you can't find any dry Basswood, then cut some green (preferably off one of the suckers so as not to kill the tree, or a branch) and let it dry.

You mention that you did not see much point in going to Home Depot to find perfectly dry woods............ You seem to be worried that somehow you're cheating. Don't worry about that, what you need is to succeed! (hey more poetry :) ) Once you succeed, you know what it feels like to do it correctly and more importantly, you have established that, yes, you too, can do it.

So get out there and either post your results and questions or email me directly. You are going to make fire, mister! :)


As far as I can determine, the states in white do not have Basswood, all the rest do.
NOBASSWOODINWHITESTATES.jpg


Doc
 
JackBauer24 said:
I would ask people who know how to go about it and they'd suggest getting wood from lowes. While I guess that's a good way to actually do it once, it wasn't what I wanted to do.
Click to expand...

Thank you, my point exactly. What kind of a survival situation is it when you have the perfect woods to work with? I admire people who can do the bow and drill, but if I carry in the necessary makings, I can get a fire going faster.
 
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