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Imagine you're lost in the woods on a camping trip. You have no matches or lighters and it is becoming dark. Using a bow drill, a fire can be made with relatively easy-to-find materials.
Steps
- Find a bow shaped stick that is about 12-15 inches long from tip to tip.
- Find a string next that is slightly longer than the bow. A good string to use is your shoelace or some part of your clothing cut into a long strip.
- Find a piece of wood that is strong and suitable for drilling. It should be something you can hold down with your foot while kneeling. This will be what you drill into to make the ember that will start the fire. Make a small notch in the piece of wood where your drill piece can go.
- Use a 12-15in stick that is almost perfectly straight for the drill piece. Taking the bark off is better, but leaving it on is OK, if you lack a knife.
- Get something to hold down the drill while you are spinning it with the bow. This can be something from a gloved hand to a piece of wood with a notch in it.
- Loosely put the string on the bow. Make sure it is not tight.
- Make some small wood shavings or get some small twigs or pieces of nice dry bark as kindling. Place these in a mound over the notch
- Put the string around the drill. This should make the string much tighter. Finally, to make the ember, vigorously spin the drill on the piece of wood by moving the bow back and forth. (The drill should go through the pile of kindling; don't worry if they shift a bit)Use another piece of wood to hold down the drill and keep it in place.
- Continue doing this until you see a small glowing ember in the wood. If it starts to smoke, do not stop. It will smoke before an ember is created.
- Blow on it lightly to make the fire spread.
Tips
- There are two distinct parts to this: making the equipment and then starting the fire. So the first time you 'drill', you won't have the notch in the base/hearth, and you will be trying to get a nice round hold. Aim for blackening the wood, and drill (relatively) slowly. Once you have a nice round hole, then notch it and go for the fire step.
- You will get more of a feel how to use it when you make it yourself. And remember, if you are a person who goes in the outdoors a lot, practice beforehand. The bow drill is a great primitive skill that can be made practically anywhere where there is wood.
- For the ember to create a fire, you will need tinder.
- Some troubleshooting:
- Shavings pile up around the hole, no coal forms: Make the notch bigger.
- Coal forms from drill, not base: Choose a harder drill, softer wood base.
- Drill keeps breaking free: Brace your hand applying the pressure against your shin or knee, use a shorter stick (3" or so).
Warnings
- Make sure you are careful with the fire, always put stones around it and keep it contained.
- Do not light anything on fire without permission
- Fire is dangerous. Don't "play" with it.
Things You'll Need
- A bow shaped stick
- A wooden drill
- A string
- A piece of wood to drill into
- A piece of wood to hold the drill down
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