Bow drill and other alternatives for starting fire

[zerocool]

My family and I just finished up a one day survival crash course. There was a 2-3 hour section on starting fire using a bow drill (friction fire). I was surprised by how simple the process, tools, and tool making process was. Given that we're frequently foraging cedar and guts, our character would have little trouble fashioning the four pieces of wood required using a hatchet or hunting knife. I can see the skill being a separate vertical from the current one, although a lot of shared knowledge exists in the area of preparing the tinder bundle/plug and general fire arrangement. Matches won't be there forever, but they are also not a hard requirement in the real world.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surviva ... drill.html

What would be required:

4 x cedar: board, spindle, bow, handhold

1 x gut

As your skill grows your chances of busting a gut (hehe) get lower. Each wood component would have a steady decay rate and can't be fixed, it must be made from scratch. A whole kit does not weigh much: 1/2 kilo at most.

Cheers

Z

[ErickRedfieldh]

Yea a bow drill would be nice to have as an alternative to matches. One of my favorite 'primitive' fire starting methods, too.