Posted on 07/09/2006 1:39:37 PM PDT by Momaw Nadon
I am going camping next weekend and think it would be cool to start a campfire using a fire bow drill.
I have all the parts, but can only seem to get just a bit of smoke at best. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
I put pine tar on the string to keep it from slipping.
The wood for the fire board is cedar, and the spindle is made of poplar.
I watch Survivorman on the Science Channel, and he makes it look so easy, but it is not easy!
I like the Survivor-woman, running around the woods in her skimpy little loincloths and hand sewn little bikini tops struggling to contain her mighty clevage. Bathing among the reeds, the water glistening off her naughty little,.....parts.
You get the picture. There's lots of educational things to see and learn here.
I have old men non-native Americans who do it regularly...it's part of their hobby...It does take some getting coordinated.
Flint and Steel is a LOT faster.
Lol...Too funny.
"Mighty clevage!"
Does she have to cook you pasta, grill your meat and make you mashed potatoes while wearing lots of make-up and looking trashy too?
I was watching a documentary on the USMC Mountain Warfare school and that is one of the skills they had to demonstrate. It looked pretty tough.
If you are having to do this in front of anybody, like your kids, have another tough guy backup. A magnesium bar with the striker and a steel knife will make a fire quickly and still make you look like a survivor man.
Full editing authority is a start. :)
Well, I'm a little spoiled by modern convinience I guess. I've scraped lint from my blue jeans to use for tinder before too.
I recall my old Boy Scout days when I worked my butt off trying to make fire with a fire bow. I still had the fire bow until a move that I made about 15 years ago.
I ain't goin' there.
I suspect if they had dryer lint back in 1790, they'd have used it too...
We used steel wool in Scouts. Works pretty good with or without the bow thing. Another is a candle with a core of newspaper. The flame burns through the thin coating of wax and then ignites the newspaper next to the small kindling.
Go to you nearest Boy Scout Store and buy the kit. That one works every time. To find the one nearest you go to http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=xx&c=lc type in your Zip code and press enter. Address and phone # will appear. Give them a call to see if they have one in stock.
Mind you, I've never done this, though I've seen it done at a "Jungle Book" training session. A bit of "char cloth" is the ticket.
http://charcloth.webhop.org/
http://www.rogueturtle.com/articles/charcloth.php
http://www.northwestjournal.ca/I1.htm
I don't know how he does it
He can stop the filming and use his Bic.
1. LOL!! Youse guys ain't right!!
2. This is survival stuff, it didn't even dawn on me what I said was so funny,,, had to read it again !! :-) OY VEY!!
"Thanks, I don't have any shortage of that stuff!"
What? A Freeper that wants to make his own fire has a surplus of dryer lint? Dude! You don't have a laundry line? Please tell me you're not in one of those gated communities that frowns upon these things!
Just giving you a hard time...good luck in your quest for homemade fire. I think the last time I made fire (outside of The Bedroom, of course) was at an Army Survival Training Course in 1988. That was the first year I ate snake and 'gator, too. Good Times! :)
Any deer jumping out of da brush to knock you down while you were working on building dat fire der, hey? ;o)
A Zippo, extra box of flints, extra wicks and a biggie bottle of go juice.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.