Fire making is perhaps one of the most important skills to be first learnt, as it is a source of heat, a means of purifying water and cooking food. I was once told you should always have three means of making fire on you, preferably two physical means i.e. matches, flint and steel, etc. and the knowledge to make others i.e. bow drill, hand drill, etc. The theory of fire making is relatively simple, but, in practice it can be very frustrating, especially in wet or windy conditions. The key to success is preparation, practice and a bit of luck in finding the right materials for the job i.e. dry wood and good tinder. However, at the end of the day sometimes you just have to make do with what’s available, don’t give up and except its going to take some time to start a fire.
Figure 1.1 : Matches, Lighter, Magnesium block, Firesteel.
When you have them they make life so much simpler, especially when your cold and wet. Matches have the advantage that there’s nothing mechanical to go wrong compared to a lighter, however, they can suffer in damp conditions. Therefore, they need to be treated with varnish (full length) and stored in an air tight container. I use an old 35mm film canister as a match box, with red strike anywhere matches (not brown safety matches). Using Evo-stik, glue a piece of course sand paper onto the outside of the canister for a striking surface. Pack the canister with cotton wool (excellent tinder for sparker) to stop the matches rattling i.e. to prevent the matches from igniting by their own friction. Also include a spare piece of sand paper (wrapped in foil) in case the external piece becomes wet or worn. When striking a match, pressure should be applied down the match to avoid snapping (do not bend). Support the match with the forefinger when striking and once lit, cup it in your hands to protect it from the wind. Then enlarge the flame by lighting a stripe of birch bark or a bundle of pine needles, before transferring the flame to the main fire.
Disposable gas lighters have the advantage that they can be submersed in water and still work. They produce a hot continuous flame which is an advantage when trying to light damp tinder. Their main disadvantages are that grit can jam and prolonged use can melt the mechanical mechanism. When empty it can be used as a sparker, however, you need good tinder (cotton wool).
Figure 1.2 : Striking a match, lighting a bundle of pine needles
After matches and lighters this is the next simplest method of starting a fire. Like a lighter it has the advantage that it can be submersed in water and still work (can rust a bit). A firesteel is the modern equivalent of the traditional flint and steel, however, a firesteel will produce more and hotter sparks, allowing it to ignite a wider range of tinders. To generate sparks, the firesteel is scrapped with the attached steel plate. However, to produce a spark large enough to ignite poor quality tinder the back of a knife should be used (ground square on the side of an oil stone for best results). Alternatively, the can opener attachment on a Swiss army knife also works well. The basic technique is, hold the knife handle in one hand and firesteel in the other, rest the back of the knife on the firesteel, use the thumb of the hand holding the firesteel to push the back of the knife down the firesteel with a firm, strong action. The hand holding the knife handle acts as a pivot, controlling the speed, power and final finishing position of the knife tip. An alternative technique I some times use is to hold the knife using a throttled grip, as this gives more control. For safety the blades edge is covered with a piece of old denim. Take great care when holding the blade in this position, if in any doubt hold the knife by the handle. Push the blade down at least half the firesteel, to remove sufficient material to generate a large spark. Tips:
A useful compliment to a firesteel is a magnesium block. Using the back of a knife scrap a small pile of magnesium shavings, which can be ignited with a firesteel. Magnesium burns at a very high temperate allowing it to ignite poor quality tinder. Tinder of choice for a firesteel is cotton wool, just a few sparks and you have a flame. To waterproof the cotton wool work in petroleum jelly until saturated. To light, tease out some fibres to catch a spark, igniting the petroleum jelly, this burns for a long time as a result less tinder is required. A natural alternative is scrapped birch bark or when no dry tinder is available a feather stick (described later, figure 1.11.2). When trying to light a feather stick a slightly different technique is required. First produce a very fine feather stick, a mass of thin wood curls. Place the firesteel on the branch just above the wood curls, then using the back of a knife scrape the last 1 cm or so of the firesteel. The aim this time is to produce a single, large, very hot spark, that will land in the wood curls. Tip, the best technique is to use a strong scoping action i.e. a twisting action instead of a sliding one, when a flame is produced angle the feather stick to catch the remaining curls, or other feather sticks (these do burn quickly, good idea to make a few).
Figure 1.3 : Firesteel, thistle (top), birch bark (bottom)
The original implementation of the modern firesteel was the flint (quartz, flint the darker the better) and steel (hard carbon steel). When the steel is struck against the flint, the harder flint shaves off small pieces of steel, the energy involved causing them to glow red hot. Note, if the steel is too soft the flint will cut into the steel rather than shaving off small pieces of metal. Obtaining the correct metal for the steel can be difficult. To make one yourself, the normal advice is to use an old file, but this can be easier said than done as modern files don’t work i.e. they are made out of the wrong mixture of metals. Tip, a good test for a suitable file is if it is completely covered in rust. An alternative method I saw on a YouTube video was to use an old hacksaw blade as shown in figure 1.3.1. At first the blade I had did not work, it had to be hardened to get a spark i.e. heated using a blowtorch until red hot, then quenched in water. To strike a spark, hold a fragment of the blade vertically (angled slightly towards the flint) between your thumb and finger tips, striking it down against a sharp edge on the flint i.e. the steels edge is scraped along the edge of the flint (non-toothed side). The trick here is not to hit the flint hard, but to hit it fast, varying the angle of the flint slightly to get a spark. To catch these sparks a good tinder is required, normally charred cloth as shown in figure 1.3.2. To make char cloth you need to heat a cotton fabric to a high temperature in the absence of air. This drives off the flammable materials in the fabric as a gas, leaving a carbonised cloth (the same process as making town gas, leaving coke), capable of catching a small spark, smouldering with a hot ember. To make char cloth is quite simple, place a roll of cloth into a small tin e.g. in this case pieces of old jeans and an old paint tin. Make a small hole in the lid and heat. Tip, don’t pack the tin too tightly, as the cloth at the top of the tin will be insulated from the heat i.e. will not char. As the tin is heated, smoke will be driven out of the hole, which can ignite. The cloth inside the tin will not ignite during heating, as air cannot enter the tin whilst these gases are being driven out (assuming the tin has a tight fitting lid). When the tin stops smoking (reduced smoke) take the tin off the heat and allow to cool. To ensure the char cloth does not ignite you can plug the hole with a stick. Alternatively I now use a counter sunk bolt loosely secured in the hole with two nuts (on the inside), such that the bolt has 5 – 10mm of free travel, allowing smoke to be released when under pressure, but blocks the hole whilst cooling. When cool remove cloth and store in a sealed plastic bag or container. Normally not all the cloth will be charred and must be removed (a lighter colour can be reheated), good char cloth has a pure black colour, is soft to the touch, easy to tear, but retaining its shape and fibres when handled. A quick way to make this type of tinder is to use cotton wool, flatten out and set on fire. Allow to burn until completely blackened, then pat out (the charred / burnt cotton fibres catch the spark). Place the tinder on top of the flint, along the edge where the spark is to be struck (the bulk of the tinder forward of the impact point). When a spark is caught, gently blow to enlarge the ember. Once established the ember is very robust and easy to handle. An alternative approach is to strike a spark down onto the charred cloth. Place a square of charred cloth onto a sheltered dry surface (approx. 2cm square). Hold the flint and steel above the tinder as close as possible to maximise the heat of the spark when it lands. I find this technique slightly easier than the first as the tinder does not get in the way when striking a spark. However, you do need a larger piece of tinder i.e. to maximise the chance of the spark landing on the tinder and a good sheltered working position to use this technique. Tip, the frayed edge tends to catch a spark easier than the centre. When a spark is caught, the charred cloth burns to produce a very hot ember allowing it to ignite most tinders, as shown in figure 1.3.3. In this example wood shavings have been used (placed on small bed of dried willow herb, not really needed) ignited using a firesteel. An additional pile of shavings are then placed on top and blown to flame. Tip, blow from the base using a hand to hold the wood shavings in place. The char cloth burns like a piece of charcoal maintaining its shape and glowing red hot when blown on.
Figure 1.3.1 : Flint and steel, charred cotton wool tinder
Figure 1.3.2 : Charred cloth
Figure 1.3.3 : Starting a fire with charred cloth
Figure 1.4 : Bow drill components
The bow drill is constructed from five components; bow, cord, drill, socket (bearing block), and fire board (hearth). The bow can be made of green wood, approximately an arms length in size, slightly curved, but not overly springy, as excessive flexibility makes it difficult to maintain a good tension on the drill. The bows cord is made from para-cord, owing to the high load and wear rate involved in rotating the drill (natural fibres can be used but must be significantly thicker). The cord is secured to the bow using a figure eight knot (top) and a clove hitch (bottom, easy to adjust to vary tension). The drill and hearth should be made of dry, dead, free standing wood. Alder, Horse-chestnut and Sycamore (best) all work well (Alder hearth, Sycamore drill shown in figure 1.4) also Hazel, Willow and Birch (difficult). The drill should be 20 - 30cm long, it can be shorter, however, a longer drill gives you more time to correct the travel of the cord whilst drilling, i.e. starting with the cord in the middle of the drill, as you start drilling, the cord will move up or down the drill, this can be corrected by angling the bow head accordingly. Also a longer drill gives your bowing hand more ground clearance, reducing the chance of scrapping the skin off your knuckles. The drills diameter should be 2 - 3cm, smaller diameters can be used, however, the wider the diameter the higher the angular velocity at the outer edge of the drill, therefore, the larger the frictional force i.e. heat, making it easier to produce an ember (so the theory says). This of course can be taken too far, if the drill is too wide, it will be difficult or impossible to maintain rotation for the required time. A smaller diameter can be used, however, this reduces the contact area between cord and drill, minimising grip and increasing cord wear (slippage). For me the main disadvantage of a smaller drill is that it produces less wood dust i.e. a smaller ember, which requires a lot of care and coaxing to flame. Saying this smaller drills do work if suitable wood is scarce, as shown in figure 1.8.1, a 1cm hazel drill. The socket end of the drill should be carved to a point approximately the diameter of your little finger, whilst the drilling end almost flat, with a very shallow point just to locate the drill during the burning in phase (described below). Finally the socket or bearing block. The books say that the socket should be made of a hardwood, bone, stone etc., however, I find a split birch branch works fine, shown in figure 1.6. A small hole should be carved into this approx 1cm deep into which the drill will be located. The key to using this type of wood i.e. of a similar hardness to the drill is to form a hard, polished surface within the socket and on the drill tip (described later). Saying this a hardwood socket does have the advantage that it is easier to use i.e. easier to maintain a hard polished surface. An example of this type of socket is shown in figure 1.6.2 made form Pittosporum, a small evergreen tree with distinctive waxy crinkled leaves (the spoils of the strong winds). The wood is split and roughed out using an axe and saw. The socket was then carved into a shape that fits comfortably in the hand and minimises its weight (the intent was to split the log through the centre so that the grain was perpendicular to the drill to prevent splitting, but due to the offset centre this didn’t quite happen). Note, when cutting out the socket’s hole, divide the process into quarters. Imagine the wood’s grain is aligned North-South, push the knife tip into the wood with the cutting edge pointing North (slightly off). Then with a scoping action rotate it round to the West position, stop when the cutting edge is back inline with the grain, trying to continue the cut can lead to splitting or cracking. Lift off the knife and repeat the process North to East. Rotate the wood round and perform two more cuts, South-West and South-East, repeat until the hole is of the required depth. Stone bearing blocks are a useful alternative (significantly reduces friction in the bearing), but must be made in advance. Choose a flat stone (fine grain that can be polished smooth) that fits in the palm comfortably, using a power drill with a masonry bit and grind stone, drill out a suitable recess (use water to cool the bit and to create a grinding paste). Alternatively you can find suitable stones on the beach, holes and depressions worn out by the sea, as shown in figure 1.6.3. These are never as optimal as a hand made one but still functional.
All friction not involved in forming the ember i.e. relating to the cord and socket, must be minimised, to allow the same force to produce a faster rotation. The main source of unwanted friction is in the socket. When using a wooden socket I’ve tried water, oil and grease to reduce friction, however, these quickly disperse and have little effect. The best method is to use a waxy leaf (holly, rhododendron) in the socket to form a hard, polished surface, as shown in figure 1.6. Stone sockets don’t require this special treatment.
Figure 1.5 : Drill points
When placing the drill into the bow ensure that the drill is on the outside of the bow string, don’t have the bow string too tight and ensure that the cord is not crossed as shown in figure 1.6, as this will cause excessive wearing (bowing hand at the bottom of figure 1.6). If required, cord tension can be increase by pressing down on the cord with the bowing hands thumb. To start bowing, place one foot on the hearth and place the socket against your shine to minimise wobble (the biggest problem when learning). I prefer to have the hearth angled forwards approximately 45 degrees, instead of the 90 degree show in figure 1.4. This allows me to easily see if an ember has formed and I find it gives me an easier bowing position. Start off slow, don’t apply too much downwards force on the socket, just enough to stop the drill jumping out of the bow. Make sure the bow is clear of obstacles to prevent material being dragged onto the hearth. Keep a nice steady pace until the first signs of smoke appear, then increase speed until the smoke thickens (smoke goes from white to ‘green’), increasing downwards pressure if required. Tip, as you increase speed ensure that you use the full length of the bow, as this helps conserve energy. If you find the cord is slipping on the drill, reduce your downwards pressure, if this does not work, increase tension by pressing down on the cord with your thumb, otherwise stop and retention the bow. From my experience, drill speed rather than downwards pressure is the key. Again, this of course can be taken too far, if not enough downwards pressure is applied the drill tip will glaze over and not burn in correctly. The correct balance of pressure and speed is something that comes with experience. If you find that the drill tip becomes glazed / polished, add a pinch of sand or charcoal into the hearth and increasing downwards pressure a little will help. Tip, don’t be in a rush, start off slowly warming up the drill and hearth, gradually increasing speed and pressure.
Figure 1.6 : Bow drill loading and socket
Figure 1.6.1 : Upside down ‘V’ notch
Figure 1.6.2 : Hardwood socket
Figure 1.6.3 : Natural stone sockets
There are a number of different techniques that can be used for the hearth. In the basic technique a small depression is carved out approximately a drills radius from one edge (just large enough to locate the drill). Tip, don’t position this hole too close to the edge as the drill can break through this edge i.e. making the hole unusable. The small drill point is then located in this depression and the drill burned in i.e. the drill is rotated until the complete face of the drill is charred. A ‘V’ notch is then carved from the edge to the centre of the burned in hole, as shown in figure 1.7 (the first 3 holes). Tip, when using a very narrow hearth cut the notch on the thicker side to prevent break through i.e. the drill can wear away the notched side faster. Wood dust will accumulate in this notch during bowing, hopefully forming an ember (if the friction involved produces enough heat). Experimenting, I find that you don’t always have to cut a full notch i.e. completely through the hearth, a smaller notch will also work (the bottom of the double hole pair). My theory is that a larger notch must accumulate a large amount of wood dust to allow an ember to form, smaller notches tends to compact the wood dust, keeping it close to the drill making it easier to form an ember (it’s a theory). Tip, when a hole in the hearth is about to break through the bottom, a new hole and notch is normally started, however, if you have a spare drill or the current drill’s tip can be flattened an old hole can be reused, which can save time (figure 1.7, first hole, second wear ring visible, due to new slightly larger drill). Note, repeated use of a drill and hearth will cause the drill to become pointed i.e. wear from almost flat to a cone shape (mirrored in the hearth), both of these factors increase the contact area between the drill and hearth to such an extent that it becomes difficult to rotate the drill i.e. cord slippage, difficult to maintain rotation. In these situation try re-carving the drill head flat, however, in general it may take a little longer but its always easier to produce an ember with a fresh hole and drill.
Another technique is the double hole method (the hole pair). Two overlapping holes are drilled out and a channel (notch) cut between them (the lighter diamond shape at the middle of the figure eight shape, figure 1.7). Wood dust produced by this initial drilling will not produce an ember, but should be kept and used in the tinder bundle. The first hole drilled (the back hole) should be approximately 1cm deep. When the second hole is drilled wood dust accumulates in the notch to form an ember. This technique works well, one small difficulty is removing the ember. The best technique seems to be to carefully lift it out on a knife’s tip and place the ember on a pile of previously drilled wood dust.
The final technique I’ve used is the parallel stick hearth, as shown in figure 1.8. Using this method the underside of the hearth is drilled away first (to half the sticks thickness) to allow wood dust to fall through when the other side is drilled, forming an ember under the hearth (top and bottom holes should be offset). Again this technique works well, the hole joining the top and bottom drilled holes usually needs to be enlarged with a knife to prevent it from becoming clogged with wood dust. The key advantage of the last two techniques is that a ‘V’ notch does not need to be cut if a suitable knife is not available. Tip, whatever hearth is used ensure that there is sufficient wood surrounding the drill hole to contain it within the hearth. This technique can also be used with a sold hearth i.e. producing an ember under the hearth (drawing in figure 1.4). I find it useful when the first attempt fails due to the drill breaking through an edge as shown in figure 1.6.1 (first hole on the left has broken through). Turn the hearth upside down and try again from the other side, inline with the first hole. This technique works best if the ‘\/’ notch is initially cut in two dimensions, wider at the top and thinner at the bottom i.e. such that you see a ‘\/’ from the top and the side. When turned upside down this forms a ‘/\’ notch that has the advantage of forming a top lip on the notch edge (as the notch is now very narrow on top)that helps to contain the drill when drilling (especially useful for thin hearths).
Figure 1.7 : Hearth board
Figure 1.8 : Two stick hearth (left: top, right: bottom)
Figure 1.8.1 : Other bow drill sets (hazel, willow and birch)
A good test for all of these techniques is to examine the wood dust produced during bowing. If it is a fine black powder then there is a high probability that an ember can be formed using this bow drill set. If the dust is light brown in colour / crumbly (wood too soft, punky, not enough heat being generated) or made of small rolls of wood fibre (wood could be damp) then its probably best to chose a new set, or try to dry out the current one. One final tip, its easier to produce an ember during the heat of the day then late at night, this may be due to the moister levels in the air or my lack of energy at that time of the day.
The process of producing a flame from the bow drill is shown in figures 1.9 & 1.10. The initial bowing process is performed as described. When you believed that an ember has formed, stop bowing and let the smoke clear. If an ember has formed the wood dust pile will continue to smoke. Leave the ember for a moment to let it grow, then transfer it using a leaf, or knife tip to the tinder bundle. Alternatively curve a flat ember board, placed under the ‘V’ notch before bowing and roll hearth off when the ember is formed. Next, fold the tinder bundle over to enclose the ember (partly at first so that you can still see it). Then blow the tinder bundle to flame. At first purse your lips together as you would to whistle to produce a focused air flow, blowing gently, adjusting the tinder bundles position until you find the ember i.e. increasing ember glow. Tip, start slowly don’t apply to much pressure on the ember, blow gently to increase the embers size. When established fold ember into the bundle, increasing pressure on the ember (tinder bundle) and air (don’t place the bundle too close to your mouth owing to the increased levels of moisture), increase your mouths width, blowing strength and duration. The best technique I find is to blow into the bundle, then swing it away from your month allowing you to breath in smoke ‘free’ air. Swing the bundle back to your month and repeat until the bundle bursts into flame. Tips, don’t be afraid to hold the bundle tightly or blow strongly, be guided by the thickness / colour of the smoke and the roar / glow of the ember. Also have a good pile of spare tinder, such that if the tinder bundle is proving difficult to blow to flame you can continue to add new tinder until it does i.e. so that you don’t burn your hands. If you do run out of tinder its always worth trying placing the tinder bundle on the ground and placing on top your thin kindling, then holding the kindling and tinder in place with your hand, blow from the side at its base to flame.
Figure 1.9 : Initial ember and tinder bundle
Figure 1.10 : Blowing tinder bundle to flame
Figure 1.10.1 : Hand drill
The hand drill only requires two components, the drill and hearth (although I would argue it needs two more, sweat and tears). Another advantage of this technique is that you can use weaker materials than could not be used for the bow drill e.g. reed, burdock stems. Commonly used woods are Alder, Elder, Clematis, Horse Chestnut, Sycamore and Willow. When using a hand drill the wood must be very dry, the set shown in figure 1.10.1 is an elder drill and clematis hearth. Tip, after burning in, a small pinch of charcoal in the hearth does help a lot. The drill should be about 60cm long, but this is dependent on its thickness i.e. thinner diameters tend to wave about wildly when being rotated at speed. The drill should be about 8-12mm in diameter and as straight as possible, spend a bit of time straightening if required (warm and bend with your hands), then remove any bumps and smooth, as any abrasive surface can increase the risk of blisters. Like the bow drill, to produce an ember requires a balance of rotational speed and downwards pressure. Rotational speed is dependent on drill diameter, a thinner drill will produce more rotations in a single hand movement compared to a larger one i.e. gearing. However, a small diameter means less torque can be applied to the drill, there is a smaller contact area between the drill and hands making it more difficult to transfer the power and an increased risk of blisters from hands rubbing on each other. From playing around with some different diameter drills, I find it easier to get smoke and make wood powder with the smaller drills, the theory being that as you cant produce as much downwards pressure as a bow drill you need to compensate for this by increasing the rotational speed. The hearth should be a bit thinner than for a bow drill as its difficult to accumulator the same amount of wood dust i.e. to fill the ‘V’ notch. The basic technique is sit crossed legged then move out one leg and use this foot (heel) to hold the hearth steady. Hold the drill between your hands, starting at the top, rotate by pushing one hand forwards whilst pulling the other back, applying downwards pressure with your arms. This will cause your hands to slowly work down the drill. When you reach the bottom, hold the drill in position with one hand, moving the free hand up to hold the top, then repeat. The books ive read say its important to always keep the drill and hearth in good contact to allow the heat to build up. Tip, concentrate on using both hands equally, its easy to stop moving one hand, use the full length of your hands to maximise the number of rotations. Spitting on your hands does help to improve grip on the drill, however, it also increases the friction between your hands increasing the risk of blisters. This can be a particular problem with smaller diameter drills as you need to push you hands closer together to grip the drill.
One technique to improve your chance of producing an ember is to use thumb loops. These can be made from a length of string with loops tied in the ends. A notch is cut into the end of the drill and the middle of the string placed into it (can be tied in position with thin cord to stop it falling off). Holding the drill between your hands, insert your thumbs through the loops, this allows you to apply downwards pressure through the string whilst rotating the drill. Also you can to keep your hands in the same position i.e. you don’t need to keep working your hands down the drill, stopping and re-starting from the top. Tip, the string should be long enough to allow you to rotate the drill near its base and have enough slack to allow the string to twist around the drill when it is rotated. An improvement to the basic thumb loops is shown in figure 1.10.2, this version has a bearing block allowing the drill to freely rotate. This is again carved from Pittosporum, its hole is approximately 3cm deep (formed using a tap wrench and drill, enlarged with a knife). Tip, to allow the socket to sit squarely on the drill the gap between the bottom of the hole and the top of the socket should be small, about 5mm – 10mm, otherwise the downwards pressure will cause the socket to be pulled off to the side, hindering the drill’s rotation. A notch is cut around the block to stop the string slipping when whipped in place. To tie the whipping, first tie the string in position at its base, then wrap the string around the block catching the free end with at least 3 or 4 turns. When there are about 4 turns to go, place a loop of string in line with the whipping, such that when the final turns are finished the free end can be pulled under and back into the whipping, locking it in place. Tip, make sure you wet the loop and the free end with water before it is pulled through, also make sure that the loop is not twisted as this can cause it to jam or snap before it can be pull through. The thumb loops are tied using a sliding loop allowing the string’s length to be adjusted to match the drill.
I have also tried a reed mace stem and a hazel rod with a sycamore hearth as shown in figure 1.10.3 (using the thumb loops). Got good smoke and powdered with the hazel but no ember. The outer layers of the reed need to be stripped away to get to the harder core, which is naturally round and smooth. Its softer than the hazel, didn’t get smoke or powder from this one, but ive read it can be used. Tip, one thing I have noticed when using a hand drill is that even quite a shallow hole in the hearth produces a lot of friction making it difficult to rotate the drill, therefore you need to start a new hole more often when compared to a bow drill. One solution to this problem is that you can reduce the holes depth by carving off some of the wood from the top. Sometimes its difficult to find a suitable piece of wood for the drill. Even when a piece is found it will need to be dried which can take several days (remove the bark to speed up the drying process). A solution to this problem is to use a green wood drill with a suitable wooden plug at its tip as shown in figure 1.10.3. To form the notch for the tip you can just split the end using a knife, a binding stopping the split spreading down the drill (tip, the fine string fibres can be burnt off with a match). However, i find using a saw to start the notch works best. Saw a small slot in the end of the required depth, then enlarge with a knife, tap in the plug and bind in place. Tip, don’t enlarge the notch too much as the plug needs to be firmly clamped in place by the springy sides of the notch, also as long as the bark is relatively smooth I don’t remove it. I find the hand drill very difficult, this technique is further hampered by the recovery time between attempts i.e. it can take a couple of days for blisters and bruised palms to heal up, needs a bit of motivation to keep trying.
Reading around the web I found that a recommended combination is an elder drill and pine hearth. Using pine is not normally recommended for fire by friction i.e. a wood with a high resin content, however, as figure 1.10.4 shows it works in this case. Also not quite sure what the difference is between, common elder and elderberry, some sources imply these are different. From looking through my tree guide books they seem to be equivalent:
“Sambucus nigra, deciduous, to 10m, shrub, very occasionally a small tree. Identification, shoots are stout, with a thick pith and carry opposite pairs of pinnate leaves divided usually into five or seven 4-7cm by 3-5cm leaflets. Flowers are white, in large clusters at the end of shoots in mid summer, followed by purplish black berries in autumn. Distribution throughout Europe, North Africa and western Asia.”
The exceptions I could find is the box elder or ash-leaf maple, which is a different family. Also, ground elder . The drill tip shown in figure 1.10.4 is elder, in case there is a difference it was from a small elderberry bush. Normally, elder produces a lot of nice straight branches, sun spurs, ideal for hand drills. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a branch of a suitable size on this bush so I had to use a different wood for the main drill. As elder has a hollow centre filled with a soft pith I used a spike and socket technique to attach the wooden plug to the main drill. Tip, don’t make the elder tip too long as its more likely to wobble loose, don’t use a cone shaped spike as this will cause the elder tip to split, you need a nice flat surface on the drill and socket to take the downwards loading. I found this methods works fine, however, after a couple of goes the tip became loose, therefore a little glue was needed to prevent the spike rotating within the socket. To help improve my grip on the drill when using the thumb loops shown in figure 1.10.2, I added a string whipping, shown in the bottom frame of figure 1.10.4. Using the thumb loops I didn’t get that much more grip from the string whipping. However, what I did accidentally find out was that the string does help to keep your hands damp, transfer moister between hands. The cotton string absorbs the water from spitting on your hands, therefore, it does improve your grip this way i.e. dry skin has very little grip. Also when using the drill without thumb loops you get a big increase in grip since as you work down the drill you are pushing against the individual turns of string, allowing you to exert a greater downwards pressure i.e. stops your hands slipping down the drill. Tips, a little glue at the top of the whipping will stop it working loose, when using the thumb loops I found that the adjustable knots would tend to move a little after a while i.e. hands would no longer be inline. To stop this problem I added two additions loops of string using Prusik knots. These still allow the thumb loops to be adjusted but hold their position a lot better, shown in figure 1.10.4.
From experimenting, I found that you don’t need to rush the hand drill method. Start slow, concentrating on getting full length hand movements moving the drill from the back of the palm to finger tips. If you feel your hands are loosing grip pause spit on one hand then continue, keeping the drill tip in contact with the hearth with the other i.e. to preserve the heat generated so far. Continue this process until you see the first signs of smoke. Tip, need to be careful not to glaze the drills tip, i.e. produce a hard shiny surface, if this occurs, stop and rotate the drill on a piece of sand stone, add a pinch of sand or charcoal to the hearth to remove this surface. When smoke starts to occur, increase downwards pressure a little, not greatly, just enough to start to fill the notch with wood powder. When the notch starts to fill up with powder and you have maintained smoke for a little while, now is the time to go for it. Increase downwards pressure and rotation to max, moving from full length hand movements to shorter more powerful palm only rotations for 10 – 15 seconds. This will hopefully produce an ember. Tip, the drill and hearth need to be very dry. I think the main mistake I was making when I started was not to let the heat build up, trying to maintain full power from the start, which is exhausting and very bad for your hands.
Figure 1.10.2 : Hand drill thumb loops
Figure 1.10.3 : Hand drills and hearth
Figure 1.10.4 : Hand drills and hearth
Fire lighting requires; tinder, kindling and fuel. Good tinder and kindling are usually the hardest to obtain when you need them and therefore, require collection and preparation in advance (especially in wet conditions) as shown in figure 1.11. Leaves, grass and wood shavings (thin shavings kept from carving) should be left to dry for a number of days before being packed into separate stuff sacks (leaves can be crushed down into a smaller volume). Tinder has a number of purposes, catching a spark, extending an ember, or producing flame. The type of tinder chosen therefore depends on what type of ignition source you are using i.e. flame, spark or ember. Some examples of good tinder :
If matches or a lighter are available, feather sticks, birch bark or pine needles (figures 1.2, 1.11) would normally be my first choices. The oils in birch bark burn well even when the outer surface is damp. Tip, birch bark when lit will tend to roll itself up into a tube, sometimes extinguishing the flame. Therefore, it should be either cut into small stripes or folded, then flattened to prevent this. Feather sticks or fine wood shavings are another good tinder for matches or lighters. Made from dead free standing wood, or the heart wood of a split branch in wet conditions (knot free if possible). A feather stick should be a mass of fine, overlapping curls (a sharp knife is required). Chose a stick approximately twice as long as required (30 –40cm), as its easier to hold. Rest the bottom of the stick on the ground and hold the top in your spare hand (if kneeling rest it on your waist, ensure legs are behind the knife) so that the stick is almost vertical. Starting from the middle, push the knife down the stick, controlling its angle to produce fine curls. Curls that are cut off short, should be kept and placed into the bundle at the end. Making good feather sticks is a difficult skill to master and needs to be practiced. Tip, the curved top half of the knife or sliding the knife across the wood when cutting can help produce a curl. Split branches are a good source of wood (dry) to use, cut the curls off the point of the ‘V’ edge i.e. start from the centre of the branch. The advantage of using feather sticks are that all the grades of tinder required to start a fire can be formed from and contained on one piece of wood. I’ve come to the conclusion that producing your tinder and kindling from a larger branch is the way to go (especially if you have an axe), as you can never find all the grades of fuel you need. When its wet most of the normal sources of fuel will become saturated with water, whilst the core of a larger branch will remain dry, all you need to do is carve off the outer layers of bark or wood. Also, you don’t need to spend a lot of time making endless feather sticks, a good alternative is to simply make a pile of shavings and split the remaining wood into the required grades of kindling. The main disadvantage of this method is that its difficult to make a mass of finer curls, also it not as portable as a feather stick. Tip, when lighting a fire it’s a good idea to make more finer kindling (finger and pencil size), as enlarging a fire to a size that causes the main fuel to ignite can take more kindling than you may think (especially when wood is wet or damp).
Figure 1.11 : Feather stick and Kindling (fine, medium, large)
Figure 1.11.1 : Tinder (leaves, grass, wood shavings and birch bark)
Figure 1.11.2 : Firesteel tinder, feather stick (top) and pencil shavings (bottom)
Figure 1.11.3 : Birch bark tinder
Another good source of tinder for matches and lighters are dry grass, leaves and bracken. Dry leafs burn especially well, particularly holy and pine leaves (when possible pine leaves should be taken off dead branches and not the ground). The best fire starter is dead gorse branches, these burn very, very well, easily lit with a single match. Dead, dry bracken leaves can be easily found in patches of bracken, under new growth. This usually means they are relatively dry even in wet conditions i.e. sheltered and off the ground. When using bracken remove the thick central stems (can be used later for kindling). Finally in wet weather, lighting a fire with matches and lighters can be difficult, in these situation I cheat. In the tin that I carry my lighter and matches I have four night light candles and a length of bicycle inner tube, both of which can be used as fire lighters (both can be immersed in water and still work). A candle can be placed into a bundle of kindling to dry out and ignite a fire (remember to remove aluminium container when clearing the fire). Bicycle inner tube can be used for the same job, cut a piece the size of your index finger and light with a candle or lighter.
For firesteels, cotton wool (if available), birch bark, or bird / plant down would normally be my first choices. Cotton wool is the best tinder for firesteels, just a few sparks and you have flame. Cotton fibres can also be obtained from field dressings or by scrapping cotton fabric with a knife. Birch bark is also a good tinder, however, you need to produce a larger spark using the back of a knife (figure 1.3, 1.11.3). To ignite birch bark with a sparker fold flat a piece of bark about the size of a match box and scrap the surface with a knife. This will produce a pile of bark dust / shavings which are relatively easy to ignite with a good spark. You can also add to this the very thin, translucent pieces of birch bark that can be found peeling off a tree (must be the very thin stuff) as this also catches a spark very well. Another tinder is bird (remove filaments from the quill using a knife) or plant down (seed heads e.g. thistle, dandelion, bulrush). These catch a spark relatively easily, however, the feather and plant downs I’ve tried don’t maintain a flame well (burn out quickly). I find they work best when mixed together and also adding buffed dry grass or leaves (still difficult to get a good flame from a spark). Alternatively the large thistle heads shown in figure 1.12 can be used to produce a good ember. Cut open the heads and allow to dry (or just cut off the top down). When dry remove down and seeds, buff the fibres a little to form a small, quite tightly packed tinder ball. Using the firesteel a small ember can easily be caught and enlarged by blowing, transfer to a tinder bundle as previously described. Bulrush heads (old ones) are also very good at forming a hot ember (smoulders a long time). Tip, old bulrush heads are home for lots of bugs and beetles, so don’t store in your rucksack. Clematis down / seed heads can also be used, like feathers you can get a flame that burns out quickly (never managed to produce a sustained flame). However, it does very easily form an ember that with other tinder can be blown to flame. Feather sticks are also a good tinder for firesteels as previously described. Tip, feather sticks burn very quickly, therefore to build up significant embers to light kindling a number of feather sticks are needed, or alternatively a pile of wood shavings, fine kindling. An alternative to feather sticks are wood shavings from a pencil sharpener as shown in figure 1.11.2. This technique works very well, first select a dry dead stick of a suitable size (carve down if required). Use a pencil sharpener to produce a pile of fine wood shavings, light as feather sticks, again these wood shaving burn quickly, therefore a pile of thin kindling or wood shavings will be needed. The final tinder for firesteels is old charred fire wood or charred cloth. Charred fire wood will catch a spark relatively easily, however, the ember produced is quite small and needs to be handled carefully (figure 1.13). Charred cloth is a traditional tinder for flint and steels. An old piece of denim is a good cloth to use, it can be scraped or fibres easily teased out. To allow the cloth to catch a spark more easily the cloth can be charred i.e. lit and stamped out, or heat in a metal tin without air.
Figure 1.12 : Plant (thistle, bulrush) and bird down
Figure 1.12.1 : Clematis seed heads
Figure 1.13 : Bulrush down and old charred fire wood
Figure 1.13.0 : Punk wood
For bow drills or other methods that produce an ember, dry grass, leaves, bracken and punk wood would normally be my first choices. Tip, I’ve been told that the best tinder for this task are dry Juniper leaves owing to their high oil content. Unlike matches or firesteels two types of tinder are required when trying to ignite an ember. The first type is to enlarge the ember i.e. a tinder that smoulders, this allows the ember to grow, increasing in temperature until it is hot enough to ignite your normal tinder. To achieve this a tinder bundle is constructed (figure 1.10), about the size of a grapefruit. The outer material of the bundle is the tinder you are going to ignite e.g. dry grass, leaves, bracken. The inner material is the tinder that will allow the ember to grow. The inner tinder must be very fine, this is achieved by ‘buffing’ the tinder i.e. twisting, bending the tinder to produce fine fibres. Good sources for this type of tinder include the inner bark of sweet chestnut, dry grass, leaves (figure 1.11.1, willow herb leaves and seed heads), bracken and punk wood. Well rotten wood (called punk) i.e. spongy to the touch and can be crumbled to a fine powder between your fingers, is a very good tinder. The easiest way to prepare this tinder is to place the wood into a plastic bag and bash it to a powder, as shown in figure 1.13.0, then dry it on a radiator. The other function of this inner / fine tinder is to protect the ember i.e. when the tinder bundle is folded over the ember, these finer fibres enclosure the ember, a coarser tinder will contain larger gaps, increasing the risk of the ember falling apart. The final step is to blow the tinder bundle to flame (as described earlier). Tip a large tinder bundle gives you more time to blow the ember into a flame (stops you burning your hands, I found this process the most difficult to master when I first started). An alternative method is to use punk wood to enlarge an ember to a size which can ignite almost any fine tinder, as shown in figure 1.13.1 (significantly easier method). Starting with a base of wood shavings, place on top a small pile of very finely crumbled punk wood, packing these layers down relatively firmly. Make a small depression into which place your ember (in this case an ember form a horse chestnut bow drill set). Allow the ember to grow, do not blow, if required fan gently with your hand. Tip, when moving the ember cover with your spare hand to protect it from the wind. The reason why the initial ember in figure 1.13.1 is so small is that it got blown off the knife tip when transferring it from the hearth :(. However, this does show how good punk wood is at enlarging an ember. When established pile on top more punk wood and repeat until the ember has grown to a good size. Now pile on top a hand full of wood shavings, again packing down relatively firmly and blow the pile to flame (from the side, on the ground, holding the tinder in place with your hand). As the ember is now significantly larger only a small amount of blowing is require to get flame. I have read that blowing is not required if you have a large pile of punk wood as it can reach ignition temperature on its own, however, I’ve never managed this myself. Closest I’ve come to this is when I used a firesteel, I established a good ember, then some un-burnt firesteel scrapings ignited causing the pile to ignite to flame. The main disadvantage of this approach is that you normally need to prepare the punk wood before hand i.e. rotten wood is tends to be damp, can be lucky in the summer.
Certain fungi make very good tinder, in particular; cramp balls and horse’s hoof fungus. Cramp balls (figure 1.13.3) are hard black fungus often found on dead ash trees. These can be collected by hand or prised off using a knife, thoroughly dry before use. Cut open to reveal silvery rings, or niche to form a depression into which a spark or ember can be dropped. The fungus smoulders very well, forming a hot ember, burning a bit like charcoal. The horse’s hoof fungus is a bracket fungus (figure 1.13.2) commonly found growing on dead birch trees in north England / Scotland. This is the classic tinder fungus used to make amadou. To make this tinder cut open the fungus, then using a knife remove the hard top and lower pore tubes, leaving the fluffy, chamois leather like layer. Then boil in a wood ash solution for 4 – 8 hours (some references say up to 24 hours). This softens the fungus allowing it to be hammered flat. Tip, doesn’t need to be hammered too hard, best to hammer the underside of the fungus, top falls to bits more easily. When dry the tinder’s surface can be fluffed up with a knife allowing it to catch small sparks produced by the traditional flint and steel (its spark catching abilities can be enhanced by charring an edge, also read rubbing in charcoal dust helps). When lit smoulders very well, easily blown to a hot bright glow, can be difficult to put out when lit.
Figure 1.13.1 : Making a fire using wood punk / shavings
Figure 1.13.2 : Making amadou
Figure 1.13.3 : Cramp balls (left), amadou (right)
A good source of tinder that is sometimes overlooked is string, the type made from natural fibres as shown in figure 1.13.4. This type of string can be teased apart producing a mass of fine fibres that readily catch a spark from a fire steel. The white cotton fibre string is a little harder to catch a spark, but does produce a good flame and a hot ember. The ‘hairy’ string catches a spark more easily, burns fast and hot, leaving little ember.
Figure 1.13.4 : Using string as tinder
Whatever method used, the initial flame needs to be turned into a fire. The first step is to find a good site for your fire, preferably at least 2-3m away from any trees or vegetation, on sand, stone or gravel ground or by water i.e. the subsoil is saturated with water. Soil with a large layer of organic matter i.e. peaty ground, should be avoided as this can burn, saying this I find it hard to judge what are and are not high risk soils i.e. most woodland soils could be classed as peaty, therefore, always err on the side of caution. First, lay a platform of parallel sticks (thumb thickness) to keep the tinder off damp ground. Gather three thicknesses of kindling; match (or smaller), pencil and finger size (figure 1.11). Kindling should be dead free standing wood, avoid twigs that are laying flat on the ground as these will be damp. Place the initial tinder bundle on the platform and hold a bundle of match size twigs in the flame. This twig bundle should not be too compact, such that it allows the flame to pass through the bundle, also it only needs to be slightly larger than the tinder bundle. When ignited, lay these on the tinder pile and add pencil size and finally finger size twigs in stages. At each of these stages be guided by the amount of flame and smoke. If the flames or smoke is increasing then the fire can be left to develop. Otherwise, action must be taken, adding smaller kindling or tinder to revive the flame (blowing to increase heat and flame). Tip, don’t try to put thick kindling on the fire too quickly as this will kill the fire, also take the time to pull off the small side branches to get the different grades of kindling (particularly true for dead pine branches). Once the fire is established and a good bed of coals have formed larger braches can be burnt on the fire. An alternative method is to pre-build the fire as shown in figure 1.14, again using three thicknesses of kindling. The lean-to construction is the easiest to construct and control. A green central stick is pushed into the ground and finger sized kindling stacked on its sides. In the gap, finer kindling and tinder is placed and ignited with the flame. Figure 1.14.1 shows a method of fire construction taken from a Swedish Army manual. To start a fire a bundle of fine dead pine twigs is collected, supplement with feather sticks. Tip, the larger branches of twigs shown in the first segment of figure 1.14.1 can be used as is, but they must be bend / folded into a compact bundle and secured with a reasonably thick with (sometimes called a pine dolly), such that the twigs and branches are held in close proximity allowing the initial flame to spread to the larger branches i.e. no big air gaps. One important thing to note is the use of a heat reflector. This can be constructed from a wall of wood or stone which reflects a fire’s heat back into the shelter, an advantage of using stones is that they will also store some of this heat, radiating it back (a little) when the fire dies down.
My preferred fire is a hunter or trapper fire (has various names), constructed from two parallel logs, as shown in figures 1.15 – 1.16. The main advantage is that it contains the fires coals / embers and is ideal for cooking. Initially the parallel logs are placed close together and can be used to support a billy for making a brew. Tip, unless the billy has a wide base don’t try and balance it flat on the logs, for small quantities of water the billy can be placed on at an angle, for larger quantities it is best placed between the logs on the embers or suspended on a pot hanger. This fire can also be combined with a lean-to arrange. When starting the fire place a green stick across the front of the two parallel logs, then stack the kindling back into the space between the logs, resting its top up against the green stick forming an air gap into which the finer kindling and tinder can be placed. Tip, the angle of the two parallel logs to the wind can be adjusted to control the air flow through the fire, split wood catches a flame easier and burns better than un-split.
When the initial flame is established build a tower of small branches, laying the wood on a pair at a time, in parallel, criss-crossed at 90 degrees, allowing good air flow and flame exposure. This fire will burn quickly producing a good bed of embers, remember hard woods give hotter longer lasting embers e.g. oak, hawthorn, or alternatively ash as it burns well even when green. Soft woods e.g. pine, burn well, however, the embers soon burn out making them less suitable for cooking. Later the logs can be moved out, and more fuel added for broiling or baking food i.e. a key hole fire. Embers are dragged out of the main fire in a ‘V’ forming a keyhole shape. Cooking is performed over the embers, whilst the main fire is maintained, providing a source of fresh embers. Finally the fire can be converted into a parallel log fire for warmth.
When extinguishing a fire a few simple steps need to be followed. To simplify this task the best approach is to only use branches of a size that will fully burn out during the remaining duration of the fire, restacking unburned pieces where required, such that when the fire needs to be extinguished only ash remains. Scrap up the remaining ash and coals and pour water over them (you need a lot more water than you may think), mixing it in with a stick at first and then your hands to ensure it has cooled. Also use a stick or a spade to break up the soil to ensure that the water fully soaks into the ground (this is where a spade does come in very handy). Let everything soak for a moment, recheck the fire is out and cool then disperse the ashes and brush over the fire place to hide its presence.
Figure 1.14 : Traditional fire constructions
Figure 1.14.1 : Fire heat reflector
Figure 1.15 : Laying a hunter or trapper fire
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