One hand firestarting-mistwalker I hate ya !!!

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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Ok so mistwalker's thread on starting a fire with one hand, as in the case of an injury, got me thinking so today I had to try it !

First off getting some fatwood, man this ain't easy with your non-dominant hand, made me wish I had my Knatchet !

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Then to gather some cedar bark, I never realised that I usually use two hands for this !

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Now to make some fine fatwood slivers. Here is a tip for ya, jam your knife into a log and then move the fatwood against the blade rather than moving the knife, this does a great job and was real easy even with my left hand !

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Soon had a nice little pile...

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Tinder pile ready, this ain't so hard eh !

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And that's when it all went down hill !!!!!:(

 
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A+ for effort Pit. I could feel your frustration while watching that video.

One thing that struck me while watching your video is that your blade was actually well above your tinder pile. Would it be possible to start with the blade in the pile of tinder so that the sparks are created in the tinder bundle? I am not sure if I explained myself clearly.

I may have to go in the back yard tonight and give this a shot. Good stuff Pitdog, thanks for posting.

Paul
 
Feeling fustrated I set off a little further to get some nice views...

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And then I thought could I do it with man made tinder, I figured I'd get some from my firekit and try. Guess what, not only had I forgot to put my firekit back in I'd also left out my emergency one as well !!!!!
I did have some cotton pads in my FAK though so thought I'd use them !

A note here is that when I tried the first time I was starting to mess up the handle on my Hiker which really pi**ed me off so this time I thought I'd place a glove over the handle, why didn't I think of this before ???

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Can ya believe the very first strike with my left hand !!!!!



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I think if I'd really stuck with it on my attempt with natural tinder I would have got there eventually.......yeah go on say...." Sure ya would Pit !".
 
Man, I don't ever want to have to work that hard. It looked like you were getting good sparks, they just weren't taking. As much as I like playing with my fire steel, I think I would have been practicing my one-hand Bic technique long before you gave up.

Thanks, Pit.
 
Very cool, it really makes you think about the most efficiant way to get something done. Around six years ago I had broken my right (dominant) hand and had it cast to my elbow for six weeks. I learned a whole lot in the six weeks, from how hard it was to write to trying to shift the car with my left hand. I am going to have to give this a try, looks like a great learning experiance.

I have been playing around with a Blastmatch now for a few weeks and have gotten the rythem down. I picked it up thinking it would be nice to be able to cup my tinder with one hand while striking with the other, this has worked well. Maybe a good piece of kit to have on hand just in case.
 
I am going to have to do this soon!!! Nice execution Pit. This should be our homework for December.
 
Would it have been worth scraping off some shavings/filings from the firesteel and using them to aid the natural tinder in the first attempt?

Congrats on not swearing either. The building frustration was nicely punctuated by the puffing. I'd have launched something into the woods by the end of that.
 
+ 1 for the BIC. Fire steels are fun to play with but not a serious tool for fire making when the chips are down. IMO.
 
udtjim said:
+ 1 for the BIC. Fire steels are fun to play with but not a serious tool for fire making when the chips are down. IMO.
Click to expand...

I had a Bic with me and also some strike anywhere matches but I wanted to see if I could do it with the ferro rod ! I'd like to try one of the ferro rods from Goinggear.com, from the videos they seem to work a little better !
 
Great effort on that first time Pit. Funny just how much we take for granted isn't it. That video reminds me of the first few I did of trying the damp cedar bark. It might work better for me if I find some larger cedar trees. Trying to prep tinder with one hand isn't exactly easy when you first try it eh? I like your idea on doing the fatwood shavings I'll have to give that a go while I am practicing.

Glad to see you got out and gave it a go! there are several good lessons in the exercise aren't there?

I wish it would stop raining here for a few days so I could give some other natural tinders a try. I went for a short hike today in the damp foggy woods and as the sun went down I walked back into the yard, into the house, sat down at my desk, and the bottom fell out. It started pouring and very high winds blowing tree limbs down. Oh well...more firewood when I get the chance I guess, and more wood to chop on when I need to let out a little frustration
 
pitdog said:
I had a Bic with me and also some strike anywhere matches but I wanted to see if I could do it with the ferro rod ! I'd like to try one of the ferro rods from Goinggear.com, from the videos they seem to work a little better !
Click to expand...

I will definitely try the one-handed fire steel technique, because it's a good skill to have. But I'm with udtjim in that, when the chips are down, I'm going for the fastest, most reliable method: I'll flick my Bic!
 
Another A+ for effort Pit.. It definitely looked like your knife was up a bit away from your tinder.. I tried IAW's wet wood fire a few weeks ago, and had a HELL of a time.. Found out my problem was my sparks weren't reach the tinder.. Since I only had the one stick handy I decided to just make my tinder pile bigger.. Made it big enough that my knife rested on the pile, then gave it a try.. On the second strike it caught....

Just my .02...:thumbup:
 
A curse on thee pitdog!! may a strange misplaced opossum pee in thy boots on your next camping trip!! (LOL!) After Mistwalker started all those threads about fire in the rain I just had to prove I could do it..so there I was out in a downpour while my wife and children stood dry on the porch laughing at my cursing and thinking I'd lost my marbles... now you've done it!! No rest until I find the arm sling we have around here and try this on my own..its all your fault. A+ on your effort..We SHOULD think about such things and test ourselves BEFORE we find out the hard way! Excellent thread! anrkst
 
udtjim said:
+ 1 for the BIC. Fire steels are fun to play with but not a serious tool for fire making when the chips are down. IMO.
Click to expand...

Wow Jim, that's the 1st time I think I ever have disagreed with you. :)

I always carry both a bic and a firesteel. However, if god forbid I fell out of the boat while late fall or early spring fishing and needed a fire fast; it would be a ferro rod that will make that fire. A wet bic isn't much use to me.... Thats only 1 example, there are more.

I have practiced making fire with many types of ferro rods and tinder of all kinds, as well as in adverse conditions. I am stupidly(is that such a word:D) confident in my abilities with a ferro rod.

Anyway here is another video of one hand firestarting

[youtube]A6ql8yt_wHo[/youtube]
 
udtjim said:
+ 1 for the BIC. Fire steels are fun to play with but not a serious tool for fire making when the chips are down. IMO.
Click to expand...

Me too. I can flick my BIC with either hand. Also my BIC's are kept in waterproof containers. :cool:
 
right on Pitdog... nice try man...:thumbup: it's not easy at all...

great job too Tony...:thumbup:
 
THIS IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS! So I slipped on my normal outdoor rig..putting things where they would normally be..for starters my knife is on my right side. Try putting your knife in its normal spot and then just getting it in or out of its sheath with your off hand. try just taking it off your belt then getting it back on and re-fastening your belt! brother pit may be onto a "testing method" here!
 
tonym said:
Wow Jim, that's the 1st time I think I ever have disagreed with you. :)

I always carry both a bic and a firesteel. However, if god forbid I fell out of the boat while late fall or early spring fishing and needed a fire fast; it would be a ferro rod that will make that fire. A wet bic isn't much use to me.... Thats only 1 example, there are more.

I have practiced making fire with many types of ferro rods and tinder of all kinds, as well as in adverse conditions. I am stupidly(is that such a word:D) confident in my abilities with a ferro rod.

Anyway here is another video of one hand firestarting

[youtube]A6ql8yt_wHo[/youtube]
Click to expand...

Good video Tony, and yet another reason for me to abandon the "Bushcraft" knife idea and go back to carrying a larger, Bowie type in the woods. I think making the fuzz sticks looks much easier using the method you and Pit used, I just really didn't want to try the Sojourner at busting up fatwood stumps one handed...unless it was for real, then the rules are completely different. Now...if i had a smaller stump to work with the smaller knife would be OK, but the one I had to work with would have been a real test for the knife I was using.
 
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