Bow Drill

(Takes some practice to master):

The technique of starting a fire with a bow and drill is simple, but you must exert much effort and be persistent to produce a fire. You need the following items to use this method:

Socket.

The socket is an easily grasped stone or piece of hardwood or bone with a slight depression in one side. Use it to hold the drill in place and to apply downward pressure. I`ve made mine from a reindeer antler (picture above).

Drill.

The drill should be a straight, seasoned “hardwood” (I`ve used willow, Salix caprea, with success.) stick about 2 centimeters in diameter ( I have tried thinner sticks without success) and 25 centimeters long. The top end is round and the low end blunt (to produce more friction). After some times use I cut it down a bit to make friction a little better. You could also carve the drill down a bit on the middle to make a depression for the string. That way it will not move up and down the drill disturbing the drilling. 

Fire board.

Its size is up to you. A seasoned softwood board about 2.5 centimeters thick and 10 centimeters wide is preferable. As you see of the picture, mine is just 4cm wide, and 1cm thick. Cut a depression about 2 centimeters from the edge on one side of the board. On the underside, make a V-shaped cut from the edge of the board to the depression. I make my fireboard of birch ( Betula pubescens).

Bow.

The bow is a resilient, green stick about 2.5 centimeters in diameter and a string. The type of wood is not important, but juniper is common and a excellent springy wood. The bowstring can be any type of cordage. A piece of rawhide string works fine ( for practicing one can use any type of string).

You tie the bowstring from one end of the bow to the other, without any slack.

To use the bow and drill, first prepare the fire lay. Then place a leaf or a piece of bark under the V-shaped cut in the fireboard.

Place one foot on the fireboard. Loop the bowstring over the drill and place the drill in the precut depression on the fireboard.

Place the socket, held in one hand, on the top of the drill to hold it in position. Support your hand against your leg. Press down on the drill and saw the bow back and forth to twirl the drill. Once you have established a smooth motion, and you see smoke, apply more downward pressure and work the bow faster. This action will grind hot black powder onto the leaf/bark, causing a spark to catch. When you stop drilling the coal (if you got one) will give off a little smoke.

Move the spark to the tinder (a ball of dry grass) and gently blow to ignite. If you don`t succeed, try again.

When you first get a spark I find it easier to ignite tinder with it than with charred cloth (flint & steel).

If the friction is too low you can add some fine sand to the fireboards depression. If you fail to produce a coal you may consider using a thicker drill. Works better in humid areas (such as northern Norway).

BURNING GLASS/LENS:

Any convex lens: binocular, glasses, maybe the lens on your SAK. Focus the sunrays and beam onto tinder. The left one on the above picture is a lens on a Hudson bay tobacco tin. The one on the right is an ordinary magnifying glass carried around the neck in a small leather bag.

I`ve used horse hoof fungus as tinder, and just a second of exposure to the sunrays is enough to ignite it. And this was in february when the sunrays are very weak. The burning glass had a diameter of about 4 cm, the glass on the right.

I have later tried the lens on my Suunto MC-2 compass. This was in april and it didn`t work. I think the lens was to small.

The lens of my Hudson bay tobacco tin works though (I live above 67° N). Try for yourself to get an idea of how big it has to be and how much sunshine`s needed.

Burning glass is useless in mid winter above the arctic circle because of lack of sunshine. And many other days of the year.

I would`t use this as my only mean of firelighting.

Modern firelighting methods

MATCHES

This method is considered a modern method, all tough the match has been in use since 1825.

Matches are in my opinion the easiest way to light a fire. Strike it against the striker and light whatever you want; like birch bark, feather sticks, grass or small spruce twigs.

Store them in a waterproof container, an empty film can or a store bought match safe.

The matches themselves can be waterproofed by dipping the heads in melted wax (gently pry the wax of with your fingernails before use).

There are two kinds of matches; the safety match, which need a special striking surface and the strike anywhere match, matches you can use without a special striking surface.

I use the safety matches as the strike anywhere kind is not sold in Norway, but if you can get hold of some strike anywhere matches, use them.

The downside of the safety matches is that you have to strike it on the striking surface outside the box. And when packing the matches in a film can you must also pack the striking surface with them. This adds more room for mishaps.

Loose the striker in a puddle of water and your matches are useless. Or you could just ruin the surface, same result.

A little tip; glue both striking surfaces from the matchbox together, it makes the striking surface a little stiffer and more user friendly.

You could however also loose your matches in a puddle and then it doesn’t matter if they’re the safety kind or not.

Damp matches can be dried, but they will not ignite as good, if at all.

That said, I’ve been hunting, fishing and camping all my life, mostly with the matches in its original cardboard box, often soaked to the skin and never have I been unable to light a fire or my primus because the matches were wet.

I’ve always carried some matches in a waterproof container as a backup though.

The only storm matches I’ve tried are the Cyclone storm matches by Swedish match, and I don’t like them.

They “burn” for a long time but one can’t really set fire to anything before the wood of the match catch fire, and the storm matches you will burn your fingers when that happens as there are just a centimetre of wood showing. Besides they are not water proof (testet av Lars Monsen i Villmarksboka).

Other storm matches is probably worth considering, but I never had any use for them, and I’ve lighted many fires in some pretty strong wind. The key is to shelter the flame with your hands or your body.

The paper envelope kind I won’t even evaluate. Stay away from these unless it’s all you have, or you’re lighting a smoke at home. They are however good if they are the only one you have.

METALMATCH/ FERROCERIUM ROD

A metalmatch is easily explained a big lighter flint, the same as the flint on your BIC or zippo (picture above).

It`s used by scraping a sharp object, knife, hacksawblade or glass along the side of the flint creating sparks. Or the other way around. You are less prone to spread the tinder all over with your hand if you hold the scraper still and pull the metalmatch towards you.

These sparks are hot and easily set fire to dry grass or old man`s beard (norw; skjegglav). Other tinders may also be used, like char cloth, steel wool (very fine), or tinder fungus (false and true).

Cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly (vaseline) works very good with the fire steel.

On the pic below I`m setting fire to some dry grass. Sadly the sparks evaded my camera :).

Try making it a habit collecting dry tinder as you walk trough the forest. It could be hard to come by when you really need it. Especially Old man`s beard.

One way to make birch bark catch fire is to scrape the bark with your knife until you get a pile of birch bark dust and ignite it with your metal match.

You could also use these to light your gas or alcohol stoves.

There are different sizes and styles of metalmatches but they all work in the same way. I`ve tried the Blastmatch (one handed operation) and it worked fine (I now use only the rod without the plastic housing). I own some others too, made in Sweden. I always have one with me as a backup firestarter.

They are fairly easy to use and can be used even when wet.

But a word of caution, they may corrode. Especially if they are in contact with salt water.

I had one lying in a small belt pouch when out in the rain. I tossed it in a drawer when I came home and forgot about it. Later when I looked in the pouch the sweedish fire steel (large type) had been badly corroded. It had no contact with salt water.

The fire steel was however not destroyed and still works.

LIGHTERS

Lighters are light, cheap and easy to use. And they are the best method for lighting a fire in wet weather.

There are 2 types of lighters, the gas lighter (the BIC at right) and lighters wich use petrol (the Zippo in the middle).

The zippo is excellent for lighting a fire. It works good in rain and fairly strong wind. The downside (IMO) is that the fuel evaporates quickly when stored and needs often refuling when in use.

The BIC lighters on the other side are not as good in rain and wind but they can be stored without fuel leaks, and they work for a long time ( about 250 ingnitions I`ve heard). Just be sure to keep them close to your body in cold weather (winter) or they won`t work.

Of the two types I will choose the BIC as it`s cheap and works well. I like the transparent type as one can see how much gas that is left. When you pack your lighter it may be a good idea to put a little tape to the gas lever to prevent fuel leakage. 

I got a storm lighter as a present from my wife, a Silva Helios (picture above). My first impression was that the lighter feels cheap.

But I`ve used it for a while now (about 2 year) and it is a nice piece of kit. It is easy to fill and very good for making fire in bad weather.

After an unintentional test in the washing machine (full cycle) the lighter has proved to be both tough and waterproof.

It is a very good lighter but I still think it is too expensive.

After using it as my pipe lighting tool I also found out that it store too little buthane to last more than a week or week and a half.

Fire bag

A fire bag is a handy thing to have in a wet environment. The bag is nothing top secret, just a waterproof bag, Ortlieb, Tatonka, Sea to Summit or in my case Lifeventure, filled with stuff you need (or makie it easier) to start a fire.

I carry a small red (easy to see) bag containing a lighter, a matchbox, a Ferro rod with striker, birch bark, some small bits of a inner tire tube and some tea candles.

With such a bag one have all the things necessary to make fire in one place, both in standard camping and in an emergency, and the contents are held dry at any times. I fill it with new birch bark whenever I pass a three that has loose, dry bark.