There seems to be great interest among ATS users in survival
skills. Many thoughtful folks have spent their time posting videos
which unfortunately are commonly over-long, under-descriptive
and sometimes full of poor information.
Having taught these skills for over 20 years I feel qualified to at least pick
which videos might teach the most in the least amount of time. So, I'm
starting a series of "best of" videos on survival. In addition I will fill in
other information that will better illustrate what the videos are teaching.
That said I'm going to start the series with bowdrill firemaking. There are
nearly 20 different methods of friction fire making but I'm choosing bowdrill
because it is the most effective and likely to succeed in a real-life survival
situation.
____________________________________________________________________
Let me preface the videos with some information that is not included in
them:
Which woods will work? The best answer to that is which WILL NOT WORK
because the list is much shorter:
Oak
hickory (bark makes cordage, root bark even stronger)
dogwood
ironwood
osage orange
(extremely hard woods)
All evergreens except cedar (both red and atlantic white cedar)
You don't have to learn ALL your trees to do this, just learn the ones that
won't (or don't easily) work.
Choose wood that is dry but not rotted or crumbly, preferably from
somewhere off of the ground. Never use green wood.
Spindle and hearthboard or fireboard should be same material but a
mix of woods can work also.
Spindle should be 5 - 8" long. Not thinner than pinky finger nor larger
than your big toe.
Spindles can also be made of weedy plants including:
Horseweed (Erigeron canadensis)
Mullein (Verbascum thapsis)
Cattail stalks (typhus spp)
Yucca (yucca spp)
Evening primrose (oenothera biennis)
Hearthboard or Fireboard:
Minimum 3/4" thickness, maximum 1 1/2".
Cut notch (V-shape) into hole about HALFWAY TO CENTER.
Bow:
20" to 30" length. Find a piece of wood around thumb thickness that has a good curve to it. It should have just a little "give" to it. Any type
wood or even a rib bone will work.
Cordage:
Should be very strong and uniform with no knots except where it is tied to
the bow. Keep string dry, if wet it will slip.
OK, the first video is great, this guy uses all natural materials to make a
bowdrill fire - no knife, no premade cordage. Don't count on finding a nice
nodule of flint like this guy uses, flintknapping is a difficult skill and should NEVER be done without eye protection.
His hearthwood is a little too punky but still works. Don't let his accent put you off, it's semicomic but very few people can do what he does in
this video, watch for yourself-
The second video shows proper bowdrill form. She's pretty arrogant in
tone but competent and instructive. Her remarks about "if you don't make
a fire in less than 45 seconds" might be true if you have well-seasoned
wood and a working pre-made bowdrill, but is not true of survival situations
where reality can make things more lengthy and complicated. It's important
to know that women and kids can make fire this way. Watch and learn the
proper form for bowdrill firemaking -
Everybody got all that? Hopefully this will provide enough information for
folks to go try this for themselves.
TINDER - the last step
To make a fire successfully you need to know a little more about tinder.
Notice how they transfer the coal from beneath the hearthboard into the
tinder? A green leaf works best to catch the coal ( you can see in the first
video where his coal burned through his brown leaf)'
Also gently add the brown dust from the top of the hearthboard to your
coal. Your tinder can be any fluffy dry material (they are using inner bark
from trees). Buff the tinder to break it down into finer strands. Put the finest
and fluffiest stuff into the middle of the tinder bundle. BLOW GENTLY or it
may go out. A slow steady stream of air will help spread the coal into the
tinder.
Final Note: WHERE you atttempt to make your fire makes a difference, go
uphill, away from open water and get out into the sunshine if possible.
When making fire this way it's very important to stack the odds in your favor
in every way possible. Doubtless I will have overlooked something so feel
free to ask away. I'll do my best to answer. I hope this helps.
[edit on 23-8-2009 by Asktheanimals]
[edit on 23-8-2009 by Asktheanimals]
