How to make fire by rubbing wood. Starting a fire by friction (personal experience, observations)

The ability to start a fire without matches or a lighter is invaluable, especially when faced with extreme survival conditions. Various circumstances can lead to matches becoming damp, a lighter being lost or running out of gas. In this case, making fire by friction can save you from cold and hunger, despite the fact that this process is very labor-intensive and lengthy. They knew how to make fire without matches (by friction) back in ancient times, since there were no other ways to keep warm, protect yourself from animals at night and cook the food you got.

Starting a fire by friction

There are two main ways to start a fire by friction:

Method using a hand drill.

For this you will need: a base and a dry wood rod, tinder, and ignition material. You need to make a groove in the base where friction will be carried out with a wooden rod. Another groove is removed from this groove; coals and other friction products will come out of it. After this, a rod made of durable wood is installed in the groove. The friction of the rod against the base is carried out by rotating it with your hands around its axis, resulting in coals. After this, the coals need to be moved to previously prepared tinder, and when the flame starts, move to another material for igniting the fire (logs, branches, etc.).

Using a bow drill.

The principle of operation is similar to the previous ignition, with the only difference being that a clamp is attached to the top of the rod, which allows it to be rotated more quickly without injuring your hands, the danger of which arises when using a hand drill. This is a more efficient way.

Making fire by friction: process technology

Before starting a fire, you need to prepare tinder, collect firewood, prepare a nest for coal, make a bow with a drill and prepare a wooden base.

Dry fibrous material is used as tinder: moss, lint from clothing, bird feathers and down, thin wood shavings. For firewood, you need to collect thin dry twigs, which can be found in dead wood, the lower tier of trees. Branches lying on the ground are most likely damp and damp; it will be difficult for them to catch fire. Green wood should be avoided as it does not burn well. The bundle of tinder should be wrapped in a denser material, such as leaves or dry grass. In this case, you need to leave a recess for coal and gaps for air ventilation.

The next step is making the bow, for which you need to choose strong, elastic wood. Once a suitable material has been found, a bow 30-60 cm long is made. It should be a thin, light rod, not too curved and at the same time rigid enough so that it does not bend during rotation. To make a bowstring, a cord, rope, or twine is used, which is attached to the bow so that it is slightly slack.

For the base you need to prepare a dry wooden board. To make it, you need to choose light and soft wood. Its length should be 30 -32 cm, width 5-8 cm, thickness 2.5 cm. Next, a drill is made at least 20 cm long, the diameter of which should be 2-4 cm. The lower end of the drill should be rounded, and the upper end should be sharpened with a knife .

For the spindle you need to make an upper support from stone or wood. The stone should fit comfortably in your hand and not be too small. It should have a notch and smooth edges. A support block can be made from wood using hardwood by drilling a hole to about the middle of the block with a knife.

The support should be such that the spindle rotates freely around its axis, while maintaining a stable position of the narrow end. To make the upper end less likely to wear out, you can lubricate the hole in the block with resin.

Starting a fire

On the base you need to make a mark where the wooden drill will spin. Then drill a recess in this place with a diameter equal to the diameter of the spindle and a depth of about 5 mm. A hole is cut underneath for the tinder.

After this you need to burn a hole:

The wooden base is placed on a flat piece of ground.
With your left foot you need to stand on the base at a distance of 2-3 cm from the funnel. The second leg is bent at the knee behind.
Hold the spindle with your left hand, and hold the bow in your right hand.
The bow string should be looped at the top, pointed end of the shaft so that too much tension is not created. If it is difficult to tighten, you need to loosen the string.
The rounded end of the spindle is inserted into the hole on the base, and a support block is held above it.
You need to take one end of the bow and begin to rotate the spindle around its axis, pressing its lower end to the base.
If done correctly, black charcoal will form around the drill and smoke will appear.

Then you need to make a chimney: you need to cut a V-shaped hole from the edge of the newly formed burnt funnel, not reaching the middle of the funnel. When the spindle rotates, coals are formed that will fall out through this hole. You need to place a flat base underneath to collect the coals; a flat wood chip will do for this.

After this, they begin to lay out the firewood as follows: they are laid at right angles with spaces between the rods for air circulation in the order tinder - kindling - fuel. In this case, the kindling is not placed on the surface of the ground, but on a bed of leaves or dry branches. You should also leave a hole for placing coals inside.

Now you need to turn the drill again on the base to get charcoal, gradually increasing the rotation speed. The coals will fall through the hole onto the tinder, which will soon begin to smoke. An indicator that they have formed will be darkening, redness or lightening of the tinder. Then you need to carefully remove the board, support the smoldering coals with air (with a wave or a gentle blow), gradually surrounding them with tinder. When the first flames appear, the burning tinder should be placed in the hole of the prepared kindling and the fire should be fanned.

The main mistake when using the friction fire method with a bow is that inexperienced tourists place the kindling material in the immediate vicinity of the friction point, hoping that it will ignite on its own. They do not take into account the fact that this will only produce smoke, and for a fire to start, you need to place the coals in the kindling material, fanning it.

Starting a fire by friction: other methods

Fire with stones

In addition to using a hand or bow drill, there are several other methods of producing fire using the friction method:

You will need a regular nail and a die to drive it in. This needs to be done for several minutes, turning the nail around its axis. It will get hot enough to ignite the tinder.
You need to make a small base with a split from pine. The tinder is placed there so that there is a little space left under the board. Next, you need to find a rope, it is better if it is made of natural fiber. You need to take it by both ends and begin to “saw” the wooden plank from below with quick movements. When smoke appears, it needs to be fanned to create fire.
The easiest way: place a piece of cotton wool between two dry wooden planks and begin to rub them against each other. After a few minutes the cotton wool will begin to smoke.

Spring has arrived, which means it's time to go outdoors. What can you do to have fun in nature, besides a field kitchen and setting up a camp? We invite you to try several ways to start a fire without matches or lighters. It’s exciting, and most importantly, if the result is positive, you will gain invaluable experience that may be useful to you someday in life.

Every experienced hunter, fisherman, and just an avid traveler should know how to make fire without matches. This is the basis for survival in any unforeseen situation. Fire is life, and it is extremely difficult to do without it in harsh camping conditions. Matches can simply become damp, and then traditional and not so traditional methods and methods of making fire come to the rescue. Some of the methods described below have been familiar to people since ancient times, while others are modern know-how; they were invented recently and in some respects are not inferior to traditional methods of making fire. Lighting a fire without matches is a painstaking and time-consuming task. You can find yourself in the wilderness under absolutely any conditions, and only a fire can save a person.

1. Making fire using friction

This is perhaps the most famous and accessible way to get fire. It is long and painstaking, so you need to prepare for the fact that it will take a lot of time to get the first spark.

There are certain criteria for the success of such an event, one of which is the correctly selected wood as a rod and plank. The wood should be dry, not damp. A rod is a wooden stick that must be rotated on a piece of wood around its axis to create fire, creating the effect of strong friction.

The best types of wood suitable for producing fire by friction are walnut, cypress, cedar, willow, aspen, and pine.

It is necessary to collect the tinder into a compact pile. Don't put too much tinder on the wood base. The tinder itself is made from dry leaves or grass; it is a lightweight material that should ignite from a spark. A V-shaped hole is cut in the wooden backing and some tinder is placed in the recess of the hole. After this, the wooden rod is placed in the recess and the rod begins to rotate. To make it more convenient to rotate the rod with your hands, you need to take a wooden stick to create a rod at least sixty centimeters long. You need to press the rod onto the wooden backing very carefully, while quickly rotating it between your palms.

After a spark is obtained, dry moss, juniper, and aspen bark should be placed on the board.

Another interesting way to make fire without matches is the Fire Plow. To make fire using this method, a wooden base made of dry wood is useful, in the middle of which a recess is cut for the rod. You have to forcefully move it up and down. As soon as the tree begins to smolder, it is necessary to add tinder.

A bow drill is another versatile way to make fire without using matches. Unlike manual friction, producing a spark from a bow occurs more quickly. Since the bow maintains ideal pressure and maximum rotation speed of the wooden shaft. As a result, strong friction occurs, which helps to get fire in a short time. What is needed for this method? This is, first of all:

Wooden rod;
Wooden backing;
Bow and weight;

When friction occurs, the weight is pressed onto the end of the rod, and the rod rotates with the help of the bow. In order not to break the rod, you need to use a less dense and hard weighting material.

You can use water or oil as a lubricant, this will make the process go faster. Let's talk about the onion itself. You can do it yourself. The length of the bow should correspond to the length of an ordinary person's arm. It is better to choose a flexible and pliable vine; the bowstring is made from rope or shoelace. The bowstring can be made from absolutely anything, but it must be strong and not break during the making of fire. It is simply pulled over the ends of the vine branches and the bow is ready to use. A hole is cut in the wooden backing and a wooden rod is placed in the loop of the bowstring. One end of the rod should be placed in the hole in the backing, and the other in the bow string. The bow moves in a forward motion, and through this process, fire can be quickly produced. Tinder is added to the smoldering coals, and the fire slowly but surely flares up.

2. Making fire using lenses

We all know the standard physics course at school, from which we remember that a beam of solar energy passing through glass is concentrated at one point. The temperature is so high at this point that just holding a paper napkin to it will cause it to light up. This method of making fire is good for everyone, but there is also a significant disadvantage. You can get fire using a lens only in dry and sunny weather. What will you need?

Lens of any type;
Tinder collected from dry leaves or grass;

If you don’t have a lens, then regular glasses, a piece of glass, the bottom of an aluminum can, or even ice will do. By the way, you can dwell in more detail on making fire using ice. It would seem that these are two mutually exclusive concepts: ice and fire. But thanks to ice, you can light a fire, which is especially useful in winter, when it is difficult to find dry leaves or grass. The principle of operation of this interesting method was also described by Jules Verne. You need to create a lens from ordinary ice, but the ice should be as clean and transparent as possible.

Thanks to the coordination of the sun's rays, even paper can be set on fire. It is not always possible to find pure ice in nature, but you can freeze plain drinking water. The resulting piece of ice is carefully processed and polished using improvised means. Ice can also be frozen in a spherical container, such as a shallow saucer. But you need to remove the ice as carefully as possible so as not to damage it. Ice melts quickly and such a lens should be used as quickly as possible.

As for simple lenses, it’s enough to just take some dry twigs, leaves, grass and build something similar to a nest. After the lens is pointed at the tinder, you must carefully monitor the appearance of smoldering and smoke, and try to fan the fire.

3. Making fire using chemicals

Simple knowledge of elementary chemistry will help you make fire. Some chemicals are flammable when rubbed or mixed. But when using this method, you must exercise individual caution so as not to harm yourself. It is important to prevent physical contact of the chemical with the metal surface. The following compounds promote ignition:

Potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) and regular sugar in a ratio of nine (sugar) to one (potassium permanganate);
Potassium chlorate and sugar (proportions three to one);
Potassium permanganate and glycerin;
Sodium chlorate and sugar (proportion three to one);
Potassium permanganate and any antifreeze;

Now the question is: where to get these chemical elements? Potassium chloride is included in some drugs against throat diseases (Furacillin). And potassium permanganate and glycerin can be found in the first aid kit. The most basic example: take a small piece of cotton wool, add potassium permanganate, then sugar and begin to rub this kind of tinder with a stick.

After a couple of minutes, the cotton wool will ignite. A common mistake made by inexperienced people is that they do not follow the correct dosage of ingredients.

4. Making fire using flint, steel or flint

Another method, rooted in centuries-old history: making fire using flint. Flint was especially popular in the eighteenth century before the invention of ordinary matches. To strike a spark and make a fire, it is enough to have a silicon stone. A couple of blows are enough and you can bring tinder from leaves or dry grass to ignite the fire. Flint was often used in camping conditions or in war. And also, many people wear it in theirs. The chair must be metal.

If you're lucky, you can make sparks for a future fire using silicon. Flint, consisting of hard rock minerals, can be easily found among stones. By the way, flint steel was used in ancient firearms.

5. Condom

After we have examined the traditional and quite familiar methods of making fire without matches, we can turn our attention to alternative methods of making a flame. Let's talk about the most interesting of them. A condom is not only a means of protection, but also an excellent means of starting a fire without matches. It needs to be filled with water, the main thing is not to overdo it.

The result is something like a lens. The light from the sun passing through the condom is focused on the pre-prepared tinder on a wooden backing. As a result, the tinder begins to slowly smolder, all that remains is to fan the flames of the fire. This is such an interesting and creative way.

6. Flashlight

You can make fire using a regular flashlight, if you don't feel sorry for it, of course. The flashlight will have to be broken. The electrical part of the light bulb on the lantern is carefully broken (we need to expose the electric arc itself).

We quickly place a little tinder, bring the bare arc and set the tinder on fire.

7. Skating

If we don't wash, we'll ride! In this case, you will need regular cotton wool. This old prison know-how consists of forming a kind of roller from a simple piece of cotton wool.

The roller begins to roll out over the wooden surface. After some time, the cotton wool begins to smolder, the cotton wool increases in size, becoming saturated with oxygen. Oxygen itself is a catalyst for the combustion reaction.

8. A can of Coca-Cola and a bar of chocolate.

How can these delicacies help in making fire, you ask? Everything is very simple. The ingredients for success are a sunny day, chocolate and a soda can (tin). Open the chocolate and start rubbing it on the bottom of the tin. Of course, it’s a pity for chocolate, but you don’t have to sacrifice anything to make fire!

This clever polishing will make the tin bottom shiny and shiny. After polishing, the Coca-Cola can turned into a kind of parabolic mirror. We turn the polished bottom towards the sun and try to set fire to the previously prepared tinder.

8. Wool and batteries

Wool and regular batteries can also come in handy when performing the difficult task of starting a fire without matches.

We simply stretch the woolen fabric (preferably the wool is natural) and quickly begin to rub a piece of wool with a battery. The optimal battery power suitable for such actions is approximately 9 W. After much effort, the wool slowly begins to ignite, all you have to do is blow lightly on it and add tinder to make the fire start faster.

10. Firearms

You can get life-saving fire if you have a firearm. The shot is simply removed from the cartridge itself, the cartridge case can be filled with tinder in the form of dry moss, leaves, rolled dry bark, and a blank shot can be fired at the place where the fire is planned. The rest is just a matter of technique, you need to fan the fire and throw dry branches into it.

A rather exotic method at first glance, but still very effective in emergency situations.

As you can see, there are many ways to start a fire if you don’t have matches. It is important to know some basic rules, folk tricks and tips that can keep you warm in the forest or even save your life if you suddenly get lost. Experience accumulated over centuries allows us to obtain life-saving fire from almost any available materials. This does not require special skill; it is important to apply the maximum amount of effort to make fire. Fire is life. And a cheerful, crackling fire will warm you in any situation and in any weather.

Let's say you went outdoors or on a hike and are completely sure that you are equipped with everything you need. Unfortunately, you discover that you forgot your matches! Learning how to make fire using friction can save your life in an extreme survival situation.

This article provides a detailed description of one of the most interesting and complex methods of making fire using a bow spindle (“Indian fiddle”).

Preparation

Find tinder. As a rule, these are dry, fibrous materials that are flammable from a spark (lint from clothing, bird plumage, thin wood shavings, dry moss, crushed fibers of dry plants, the inner layer of cedar, birch bark, spruce cones, pine needles, tinder fungi, burnt cotton and linen, wax paper, dust produced by wood-boring insects)
Kindling and fuel.
- Gather a few handfuls of kindling. Long, dry rods about the thickness of a toothpick are best. Gradually increase the rods to pencil thickness.
- Use wood as fuel. They burn well, give a lot of heat and smolder for a long time. Soft conifers burn quickly and produce a lot of sparks.
- Try to avoid wood lying on the ground (it will most likely be damp or damp). Instead, collect firewood and kindling from dead wood. Look for dead branches that are tangled in bushes or the understory of trees. It should be noted that mixed dry and wet wood burns for a long time, and the smoke released from the wet wood will drive away insects.
Do "nest" for coal. Wrap the tinder bundle in a denser material such as dry grass or leaves. Make sure you leave a recess for the charcoal and small gaps for ventilation.
From flexible elastic wood (hazel, bamboo) make onion.
Wooden board. For making boards, those that do not contain juice are best suited. Choose a light, dry tree and shape it according to the following dimensions: thickness - 2-3 cm, width - 5-8 cm, length - at least 30 centimeters.
Spindle (drill) It is recommended to make it from hard wood that does not contain resins or other juices. However, you can use the same wood as for the board. The main thing is that the wood is dry and light.
Find or make a top support for the spindle. may be made of wood, bone or stone.
Prepare coal collector. To insulate from the cold ground and move the coals into a pre-prepared nest with tinder, you can use a dry leaf, a wood chip, bark, a piece of paper, etc.

Making fire

Voila! Now you can warm up and relax near the long-awaited fire...

Possible problems and their solutions

Practice. Practice at home in your free time to develop experience and habit.
If you get a good hot coal, the tinder will literally burst into flames in your hands, so always prepare kindling and wood for the fire in advance.
The shape of the chimney is important, but not essential, provided it is slightly wider at the bottom than at the top. It is recommended to use a narrow chimney with a cutting angle of about 60 degrees (1/6 of the pie) and U shape, but V-necks work too. The chimney is where hot wood powder is collected and mixed with air, allowing it to turn into coals. A wider chimney usually means you'll have to create more tinder (hot wood powder), but it will also allow for more airflow.
Maintain the position of the bow relative to the middle of the spindle. If the string moves closer to one end of the drill, a torque imbalance will occur and the drill will likely pop out of the socket (support block) or hole in the board. To return the string to its original place, change the angle of the bow as you move back and forth. The string should always be parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the drill. Never point the tip of the bow at the ground or sky. Learn to control the bow in a horizontal plane.
The hole in the board and the tip of the spindle that fits there should be rough, not shiny and smooth. Roughness increases friction. If they become smooth, then pour some sand into the hole. This is an old Indian trick that many settlers lost sight of.
If you're tired, don't be afraid to take short breaks. The process of making fire using the bow spindle method takes a lot of energy, unless you are one of those people for whom this activity is natural and everyday. If so, then you're in luck. For the rest of us, rest breaks can mean the difference between a warm, cozy night in the friendly surroundings of the forest and a cold, dark night in an inhospitable wilderness environment. Try to almost completely fill the chimney cutout with dark wood dust, and then take a break or pass the baton to your partner while the sawdust is still wet.
If you have two people, you can act in tandem. The first person remains in charge (or leading) and sets the pace of work, while the second person adds effort to each movement. Such cooperation greatly facilitates the extraction of smoldering embers, especially in the first couples.
It has been found that it is easier to work if your hands are a little sticky (like resin).
Place the tinder nest under the chimney opening and you won't have to risk moving the coals. This technique will significantly reduce your effort.
If you know you'll have to make a fire this way and don't have a flashlight, make sure you allow plenty of time for this procedure before nightfall. Experienced campers have been doing this for years and still have difficulty working in the dark. Even if you have a flashlight, do this during daylight hours. You'll be glad you did.
Do not allow the board to wobble while drilling.

Warnings

The spindle, board and socket become very hot.
This method of making fire does not always work and takes a lot of time and effort.
If you no longer need a fire, cover the ashes and make sure they do not pose an environmental hazard.
Be very careful about what wood/leaves/branches you burn. For example, it is very poisonous, so make sure you do not use it as fuel. Do some research so you know what you can (and can't) burn in advance.

Necessary equipment

Knife or sharp stone
A board made from soft wood (such as cedar or linden)
A spindle (drill) made from the same or softer wood (such as poplar root)
Bow made of elastic wood (hazel, ash, acacia (wattle), mulberry (mulberry), maclura or “bow tree” (osage), yew, bamboo)
Rawhide or durable
A support block (socket) made of something smooth, a piece of hardwood or stone with a recess.

In English terminology the word wattle is the common name for trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia, primarily growing in Australia and South Africa.
Osage or Osage-Orange(inedible American orange) is the tree from which the American Indians made their bows. It is considered the best wood for making homemade bows. Its mechanical properties are similar to yew. Other names: Bois d'Arc ( tree of bows), Maclura aurantiaca (orange maclura) or Maclura pomifera(maclura), Bow wood, Horse-apple, Adam's apple, False orange. Maclura fruits are widely used in folk medicine.
The best drill-board combinations:
Willow - Linden
Willow - Willow
Hazel - Linden
Willow - Maple

Fire is one of man's greatest achievements. Just think, without him we would have lived in the Stone Age... Tools, food, water, clothing, warmth, etc., came to us thanks to his work. Now imagine, you are in nature and have nothing to light a fire with... Any person would be confused, but not . After all, you can make a fire yourself using the method of the Native Americans. The method of making fire by rubbing wood against wood has been known for a very long time. When friction occurs, a small coal appears, which, if treated with care, can ignite a fire. There are many other ways to make fire (sparking, chemical reactions, etc.). However, in my opinion, this is the easiest way to start a fire without matches.

Step 1: Which wood is best to use?

Preferably, for the support board, it is better to use medium-hard wood, such as poplar, maple (the best option), willow, aspen, larch, cedar. For the spindle, it is better to use hard wood. The project used aspen as the support board and oak as the spindle. Very dry wood must be used. For the handle, use a wooden block or stone with an indentation on one side that will fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Step 2: Spindle

The spindle will spin on a piece of wood. We are talking about a stick with a diameter of about 2 cm and a length of about 20 - 30 cm. The lower end of the spindle should be made rounded.

Step 3: Wooden Base

A medium-hard board 1.3 – 2.0 cm thick, at least twice as wide as the spindle. It should be very dry. Make an indentation at one end. To do this, place the tip of the knife on the board and twist it to make a shallow hole.

Step 4: Rail and Bow

The handrail is a piece of hardwood that should fit comfortably in your left hand. Cut a hole at one end. You can use a stone with a recess. Just make sure it's large enough so that your fingers don't touch the spindle while turning.

The bow stick should be flexible and slightly curved. Tie one knot at the bottom. Now let's bend it and tie a knot in the upper part to regulate the tension of the bowstring. Make sure the thread has enough length to wrap around the spindle and not slip around it as it rotates.

Step 5: Making a working recess

Place your left foot on a wooden base. Place your right knee at a comfortable distance behind your left leg. Now we begin to turn the spindle in this way: holding the bow under your right hand. The rope should be at the top of the spindle. Let's place it so that the lower end, the one that is more rounded, is in the recess. Rotate the spindle clockwise so that the rope rotates with it. It should spin in the bowstring.

Hold the spindle using a wooden handle with your left hand. We hold the bow with our right hand and begin to move slowly, moving it first towards ourselves and then away from ourselves. Don't worry about the rotation speed, just work towards getting the spindle to rotate smoothly. Use your left hand to apply force that is not too great, but firm enough so that the spindle does not jump out.

If this happens, cut the grooves deeper. Now you can spin faster and press harder, while remembering to use the entire string and keep your bow hand straight. Keep cranking and don't stop even when you see smoke.

Step 6: Blow Out the Recesses

Once this is done, allow the hole to cool and then wipe the top tip of the spindle with some kind of lubricant, oil or soap to minimize friction in the groove of the wood holder. If you are outdoors (without lube), rub the tip in your hair and over your nose. Just remember not to mix up the ends of the spindle, as a lubricated tip will not cause friction. Now cut a triangular notch near the work hole in the wood base. At this point, the formed coal will fall onto the tinder. Just experiment with the size of the indentation because if the indentation is too small the charcoal will not have enough oxygen and if it is too large the spindle will fly out. Place bark or a thin piece of wood underneath to catch the coal.

Step 7: Tinder

The tinder should be dry, thin, and fluffy. When you find the material you want, place it between the first two layers of clothing so it dries and burns faster. You should rub it between your hands until it forms a lump. Then place it in the hole under the charcoal hole.

Tinder Materials:

Poplar - The inner layer of cambium on old dead trees.
Wormwood - The outer bark of the trunk of large bushes.
Juniper - The outer bark of the trunk of mature trees.
Yucca - Fiber made from crushed dry leaves.
Nettle - Fiber from crushed dry stems.
Cattail - down from the fruit.
Various herbs, dry leaves.

Step 8: Putting it all together

Prerequisite: keep your back straight. Start slowly and remember that it's not about speed, it's about using the entire bowstring. Apply more and more effort, increasing the weight in relation to the speed. Continue twisting until you feel pain in your arms. Look at the black dust in the groove that formed while you were turning the spindle. Keep spinning and eventually the coal will glow red. Remove the bow from the spindle and place your tinder on the coals in the wooden base, and in a quick motion turn it over so that the resulting coal is poured into it. Remember, long, steady breathing is better than short breathing. When the flame starts to flare up, don't be afraid to burn your fingers. Place it in the stacked firewood and begin to fan the fire.

Step 9: Practice

This activity involves constant practice. One of the recommended ways to learn to do things right is to use bad wood. Use oak or some other hardwood tree and practice every free minute. You will improve your technique, although you will not receive coal. Then when you feel ready, switch to poplar or some similar wood and you will be surprised. I once did this 6 hours, 5 days a week for an entire summer. Later, when I was given cedar and yucca, the fire was obtained on the first try. If your bow breaks, don't despair. Simply remove the spindle, remove any dust from the recess and try again.

Happy May holidays to everyone!

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Manual drilling method

A hand-made wooden flint consists of two parts that must be very dry: a long and thin rotating stick, which I will call a drill below, and a wider and flatter hearth chip. The drill needs to be inserted into a small recess in the fireplace and, holding it vertically, begin to quickly rotate with your palms. A recess is usually cut out next to the recess, where the wood dust produced by friction accumulates, in which the desired spark appears. Until recently, manual rotation was the most common method of making fire in the world. Today it has almost disappeared from human life, although some tribes in remote areas continue to use it.

This method of ignition was common in warm and dry regions. In colder and more humid areas, this method is unreliable, as the wood easily becomes damp, absorbing moisture, which prevents the fire from starting. In addition, the spark produced in this way is very small and in humid air can go out without having time to flare up.

North of the equator, an improved device for making fire appeared - the so-called bow drill, which became widespread among the indigenous tribes of North America. If you move even further north, you will find that many tribes there use the bow drill. On the other hand, there are surprising exceptions: the manual ignition method continued to be used in North America along almost the entire Pacific coast. It was used by the Tlingit Indian people who lived in the Sitka area of Alaska, and by the Bilhula Indians of the Salish group who lived in the Bella Bella area of British Columbia. Some fire starter kits found in these areas in the 19th century contained hearth boards that were completely burnt in the fire - this treatment of the wood not only protected the board from moisture, but also made it easier to light.

I think that hand drilling was used in these areas mainly in the summer, since winter conditions were clearly unsuitable for this. However, even at this time of year the task of making fire is quite feasible. Countless times have I started a fire with relative ease in the wet, cold British winter. Two of my colleagues were able to get the coveted spark even in the ice of the Arctic. But the reliability of this method directly depends on the natural conditions in which it is used. If you are not a master, then in damp and cold weather it is better to opt for a different method of making fire. Save your energy for something else where the chances of success will be higher, and if you are a beginner, be patient in advance.

While the method of making fire by hand drilling remains almost unchanged throughout the world, the materials used by different native tribes are very diverse. This led to many variations of the basic method. The bushmen of the African Kalahari Desert simply broke off a branch of a dried bush and immediately got down to business. Other tribes, on the contrary, prepared drills from living wood, clearing the branch of bark and straightening it during the drying process. Of course, such sticks take longer to dry, but the African sun allows you to use them on the same day. The result is excellent drills that last for a very long time and are a pleasure to use.

Hearth tablets are even more varied. Most often, simple wide and flat chips are used, but sometimes a thin stick with a diameter not exceeding the diameter of the drill is used. An unusual focal adaptation is used by the indigenous people of the West Indies, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. They tie two short sticks, the thickness of a human finger, tightly together, lay them on top of dry tinder, and begin to “drill” at the junction of the two sticks. The hot wood dust formed as a result of friction falls through a thin crack onto the tinder placed below.

Hand Drilling Set from West Papua Province, Indonesia. Note the extremely shallow grooves

Hand drilling in action. West Papua Province, Indonesia

The recesses for wood dust that are cut into the hearth stick are no less varied. Some are deep and wide, others are smaller and narrower, and still others are no more than a shallow cut. In Gabon, on the west coast of Central Africa, some tribes did not use gouges at all, the natives simply drilled their hearth board, and the friction ignited the wood dust that collected around the drill. But only certain types of wood are suitable for this method, which greatly limits its use. The hearth chips found in these areas are made from a very light wood similar to the hibiscus used by the Polynesians.

How to make a hand drilling kit

Both parts of the device for manual drilling are equally important: if one of them is missing, it will not be possible to get a fire. However, a drill requires more attention to detail than a hearth. Making a fire will be possible if you use absolutely dry wood of a suitable size for the hearth board. But you will only succeed if you are extremely careful when choosing a drill stick. The natives, whether African or Polynesian, spend a lot of time searching for the ideal material for their manufacture, but at the same time they are always open to alternative options. If during a hunt or transition they come across a suitable branch, the natives will definitely cut it off and save it for the future. When you're just learning survival skills, it's a good habit to get into. It is important to know that some types of trees are better suited for this method of ignition, while others are almost impossible to make a good “flint”. Therefore, it is better for you to conduct your first experiments with the most suitable types of wood, then you can move on to others. But the most important thing to remember is the condition of the tree. Try to find a dried tree of some soft species. Find an area where the wood is completely dry, but has not yet begun to decompose and does not crumble in your hands; a piece of such wood is most suitable for a hearth board. You can check the quality of the wood by pressing on it with your thumbnail: if the nail does not go into the wood, and only a faint mark remains on the surface, you have found what you need. If no mark remains, it means that the tree died recently and is still too hard. To make a drill, it is better to take soft wood or plants with a loose core.

Suitable materials for making a hand drill

Alder, aspen, balsam fir, bamboo, baobab, buddleia, poplar, elderberry (pictured above), false golden yellow greevia, hibiscus, horse chestnut, ivy, lime, marula, mongongo, mullein, Norway maple, poplar, brachychiton, cattail, bush sage, dasylyrion, sycamore, teasel, white pine, willow and yucca.

Suitable materials for making hearth boards

Alder, aspen, balsam fir, baobab, cedar, clematis, elderberry, hibiscus, horse chestnut, ivy, juniper, lime, marula, mongongo, Norway maple, poplar, brachychiton, dasylirion, sycamore, white pine, willow and yucca.

How to make a Drill

A good fire drill should be level, smooth and, with a length of 50–70 cm, have a diameter of approximately 1 cm. I will tell you how to make an “ideal” and “composite” drill. The choice depends on the material available and how urgently the fire needs to be lit.

Ideal drill

To make a high-quality drill that can serve you for years, you need to cut an even and smooth branch, preferably from an elderberry, and if it is not nearby, then from another suitable plant. Unlike a dry branch, a live, freshly cut twig is easy to straighten, which is very important, because with a crooked drill you are more likely to rub blisters on your palms than to start a fire.

Cutting the stem for the drill

Select a stem with a thick woody layer

I. Look for a branch that is 12mm thick at the base and as straight as possible (for at least 60cm). Like many shrubs, elderberry has a soft core that is surrounded by a relatively thick layer of wood. For a drill, it is better to choose a branch with the thinnest core at the base, because it is with this end that we will make fire. In any case, at the base of any branch the core is thinner; closer to the top of the branch, the volume of the core increases, and the woody sheath becomes thinner. Having found a suitable branch, cut it as close to the main trunk as possible and, most importantly, try not to split it. A small hacksaw is great for this (you may have one in your camping knife), with which you will need to cut the branch first on one side, then on the other. If you only have a knife, make a few small cuts around the stem, then quickly break it off and cut off any rough edges.

II. Then carefully scrape off the bark with the butt of the blade (the dull edge), completely exposing the wood. It will be damp at first, but will air dry very quickly.

III. Then, using a knife, cut off the bumps and side branches so that you get the smoothest possible stem. And lastly, slightly round the drill end of the rod, and the thin tip can simply be cut off and left flat.

Cleaning off the bark

Straightening the future drill

IV. Now you need to straighten the workpiece. It may happen (if you're lucky) that the drill bit will already be straight and you won't need much time to get it perfect. But more often than not, some effort will still have to be made. Look at your future drill as if it were a gun barrel, and by rotating, determine the degree of its curvature. Then, bending the rod, try to straighten it as much as possible. Take your time, although in any case you will gain the skill only after breaking a few pieces. When the natives straighten their drills, they heat the blanks over the fire of a camp fire, thanks to which the wood, firstly, becomes more pliable, and secondly, dries faster. After you have spent some time straightening the rod and are satisfied with the result, let the workpiece dry a little. After some time, check the drill; it is likely that slight curvature will appear again. Straighten the workpiece again, this time you will feel that the rod has become stiffer, but after this straightening it will most likely remain straight. I have often cut branches like these on a hot summer morning and used them to start a fire later that evening, but they are usually stored somewhere warm and dry for a couple of weeks. Inspect the workpieces often and straighten them, then you will have truly perfect drills.

Compound drill

There are situations when it is necessary to get a fire as soon as possible. In this case, of course, you should look for a completely dry branch of a suitable size. But if you don’t have one, you can pick up a short dry branch and securely attach it to a smooth, damp branch, so you will get a drill of the length you need. The Navajo Indians of New Mexico sometimes used the shaft of an old arrow for this purpose. There are several ways to attach this “drill bit”, but next I will talk about a method that can be used in almost any situation.

I. Find a piece of dry branch suitable for making a drill tip, approximately 9 cm long. Sharpen one end to form a tetrahedral pyramid about 7 cm high, try to make the edges of the pyramid as even as possible. Set aside the finished tip.

Preparing the tip

II. Find a straight and long enough branch of suitable diameter from which you will make the “body” of your drill.

III. To attach the tip of the future drill to this branch, you will have to work a little. First, you need to use a knife to split the found branch from the thicker end. The length of the split should not exceed 10 cm, then, with extreme caution, split the resulting shares again, but at an angle of 90°. Thus, you will get a stick, divided into four parts at one end.

Split the appropriate branch

IV. By dividing the end of the stem into four parts, you will have a “nest” that your pyramid tip will fit into nicely.

V. Insert the tetrahedral part of the tip into the split branch so that the edges of the pyramid are between the split ends.

Attach the tip to the drill body

Finished drill

VI. Then you need to tightly tie the resulting connection, for which you can, for example, use a strip of willow bark about 6 mm wide (or something similar).

VII. After tightly screwing the tip to the main rod, lightly tap the drill end on a hard surface to force the tip into the socket even more tightly.

How to make a hearth board

You'll be surprised at what can be used as a hearth board. Sometimes it turns out that large wood chips that look completely unsuitable for this purpose can make an excellent fireplace, of course, if the wood chips are dry and properly prepared. For someone who is just starting to acquire survival skills in the wild, it is best to choose a stick that can be turned into a flat and fairly long plank approximately 1 cm thick. It is advisable that the dimensions of the hearth plank be approximately 20 cm in length and at least 3 cm in width. When starting to make fire, you must hold the hearth board level and rigid, for which you press it to the ground with your foot. If this cannot be done, then the rotation of the flint can tilt the hearth and precious wood dust will crumble. To make it convenient for you to work, try to make your board as even as possible, then the wood dust will collect in the right place and in sufficient quantity.

Hearth made of willow

How to make fire with a hand drill

Making fire this way is quite simple. But the process of learning this itself can be quite difficult. Some people may try to convince you that it is impossible to start a fire by manual friction, but in fact this is not the case, although, of course, you will need some skill and good technique. You should not be upset by the first failures - you need to go through this in order to eventually learn how to make fire by friction.

There are many ways to make wooden flint parts, but for a beginner, the following option seems to me the most reliable.

Making a notch for the drill

Insert the drill into the hearth

I. Using the point of a knife, make a small indentation, slightly larger than the diameter of the tip of the drill, in the center of the hearth board, closer to one of the ends. This is necessary so that at the very beginning of work the drill does not jump off the board.

II. Find the position that is most comfortable for you, which will allow you to quickly rotate the drill and at the same time put pressure on the hearth.

III. And now one important point: before starting work, be sure to moisten your palms; you can use water or saliva for this. Then rub your palms together a little until you feel that they do not slip.

IV. Grabbing the drill at the upper end, begin to vigorously rotate, at the same time try to press as hard as possible on the hearth. Use only your palms; your fingers should not touch the drill. As you rotate, your arms will inevitably fall down; when they drop almost to the hearth, hold the drill with one hand at the recess, and with the other quickly grab its top, continuing to hold the drill tightly. Hold the stick again with your palms and repeat this action until the result is achieved.

V. After two or three such transitions, smoke should emerge from the recess. Continue turning, but don't go too hard, as at this stage you are only preparing the drill and hearth board for starting the fire.

Hearth with a recess and wood shavings placed underneath

Rotate to get smoldering wood dust

VI. Now cut out a sector in the board equal to approximately 1/8 of a circle. Imagine that you need to divide a round cake into exactly eight pieces, with the tip of the piece in the center of the hole you drilled.

VII. Now you are ready to start the fire. Place thin wood shavings or a dry sheet under the indentation and press the hearth into the ground again. Wood dust should collect on these shavings, not on the ground. In this way, the future spark will be protected from moisture, and, in addition, at the decisive moment, thanks to this substrate, it will be easier to ignite the tinder.

VIII. When the preparation is complete, wet your hands again and get to work again. Start relaxed but decisively and, as soon as you notice that the stream of smoke has become denser and larger, increase the speed of rotation and the pressure on the hearth board. After several cycles, the smoke will envelop the ignition area in a thick, swirling cloud. Once this happens, keep a close eye on the wood dust that collects in the hole you've cut: when you see the wood shavings that have accumulated in the hole begin to smoke, stop.

How to ignite tinder

Now, thanks to the resulting smoldering wood dust (I will call it coal), you can get a real fire.

I. Carefully lift the hearth board from the backing.

II. Transfer the coal to the tinder, preferably in the driest place with the thinnest fibers, and carefully roll it up.

III. Blow lightly on the coal a few times, this will be enough to increase the heat and ignite the tinder.

Chapter 3. Beam drilling

Over the past 10 years I have taught hundreds of people of all kinds ages - from seven-year-old children to those well over 70 - make fire by friction, mainly using the beam drilling method. No matter what your life experience or social status, if you are new to making fire, you have the same opportunities as everyone else. Everyone faces the same problems, setbacks and challenges, and no one has any unfair advantage when it comes to the difficult task of making fire and surviving in the wild.

I once had the opportunity to teach Jake, a former Marine, how to use a bow drill, who, about five years before we met, served in Afghanistan, where he was ambushed and seriously wounded. The year before, Jake had already attended our basic course, during which he learned his first bow drilling skills. He was now undergoing advanced training.

At the beginning of the lesson, I briefly reviewed the principles of bow drilling and set the students the collective task of making a kit for this method and building a fire. I was immediately drawn to Jake's positive attitude, wide, easy-going smile and great sense of humor. He was literally eager to complete the task, because, as I knew, Jake had not yet achieved much success in starting a fire.

“Dan, if by the end of this week all I have learned is that I can make fire by friction, I’ll be happy,” he said with a smile, showing me the completed kit. Jake was so enthusiastic that he not only took part in the production of the general set, but also made his own. Having finished cutting out the recess, he immediately squatted down and began to furiously rotate the drill, but the stick kept popping out of the hole in the hearth. Again and again he put the drill back in and started the process again. Finally, the drill jumped out again and flew away like an arrow into the blackberry bushes growing nearby. Jake stood up and, cursing, threw his bow to the ground. His hands were shaking from fatigue and disappointment.

“My hand doesn’t work anymore,” he muttered through his teeth, taking a drag from his cigarette. He threw the cigarette butt into the campfire and went to the bushes, intending to find a drill. When he returned, I noticed a familiar sparkle in his eyes.

“Nothing, this time I will definitely succeed.” Chuckling to himself, he knelt down again and began to work.

I saw that he needed to press the drill harder to improve the grip of the flint parts. This is the skill that most students have to learn when trying to master this method of lighting. Jake almost made it, but the effects of his injuries prevented him from succeeding.

“Jake, you need to press the drill harder against the hearth. I want to try something if you don't mind." I remembered that there is one simple method that can help in a situation where a person has injured his arm far from civilization.

I asked Jake to go and cut down a tree about 8 cm thick and about 2 m long. When he brought the cut trunk, I cut a hole in one of the ends into which I was going to insert the top end of the drill. As a result, we made a huge stop, which not only firmly pressed the drill to the hearth board, but also gave stability to the entire device. Thus, all Jake had to do was hold the rest with his left hand, completely concentrating on working with the bow.

Not even a minute had passed after we installed the device, and in Jake’s fireplace the coal that had been withheld for so long was already sparkling. A few more minutes - and a bright flame soared above the dry logs. Jake stood near the fire and smiled widely. I completely shared his feelings: sometimes even the smallest achievements feel like huge victories.