Originally Posted by metaphor
If no other means were available, I would use the bow drill method. It is an acquired skill not sufficient to have only read about in a manual. It should be practiced regularly and using different types of wood found on the landscape in varied regions and conditions if it is to be effective in any given survival situation. Materials needed: Fireboard, tinder-bundle, spindle, hand-hold, bow stick, cordage, and lubricant for hand hold (ear wax may be sufficient), wood for fire from kindling size up to about the thickness of your thumb or larger.
Find a bow about the length from your armpit to your hand, curved is ideal, and a little flex is okay. The cord should be about a foot longer than the bow. Cordage must be strong enough to withstand the drilling motion and have enough grip to grab the spindle as it turns. Experiment with tightness of the cord, and you will know when it is right. If you are not getting enough friction on the fireboard and the spindle is slipping in the cord you may need to make it a little tighter. A clove hitch is a good knot to tie the cord onto the bow. Cordage material can be anything from your shoestring or paracord to primitive cordage made from plants with the double reverse wrap method (if this is used the cord should be constructed of equal thickness throughout and may have to be lubricated with pitch so it doesn’t burn and break in the process.)
You are attempting to bring the suns energy back out of the wood you are using. Choosing the right wood is essential. Softer wood is best and the fireboard and spindle hardness should match as closely as possible. Use the fingernail test on the wood. You want some give when you push your finger nail in, and again match that fingernail test as closely as possible on the wood used for the spindle and fireboard. Length of your spindle should be about thumb tip to pinky tip. Taper on top and bottom of the spindle so it looks like a pencil sharpened on both ends. Hold the spindle flat on the fireboard about a quarter inch from the edge and stand the spindle up with the point touching the fireboard. This is where you will begin the “burn hole” for a lack of a better word. Cut a small groove in the fire board at this point with your knife (or stone tool). Cut a similar groove in the center of your hand hold. By the way, the hand hold should be large enough so it fits comfortably in your hand.
This is difficult to explain without pictures, but wrap the spindle in the cord of the bow so it is centered on the cord and the cord is centered on the spindle, the spindle should be oriented on the outside of the line of the cord. I need to find some pictures now to explain this…but, next place the ends of the spindle in the grooves of the fireboard and the hand hold. Put your weak foot on the fireboard, strong knee on the ground behind you…weak forearm/wrist on your shin…weak hand holding the hand hold…strong hand on the bow. Push the bow back and forth slowly, increasing speed until you see smoke, meaning the holes are burnt in slightly. Bow strokes should be as long as possible and done in a calm manner, while maintaining a good downward pressure on the handhold. Once the initial holes are burnt in, apply lubricant onto the top point of the spindle so that the hand hold no longer burns. Lubricant may come in many forms: ear wax, oils from the sides of your nose, soap, pitch, etc. Once this is done, begin turning again and burn in the fireboard hole a little deeper until the circumference is about the same as the circumference of the spindle.
Cut the notch. Imagine the fireboard hole (pit would be a better word) is a pie and cut 1/8 of that pie from the edge of the fireboard to the center of the “pit.” If the center of the spindle is pithy or hollow, then don’t cut all the way to the center.
Prepare tinder bundle. Find fine tinder material, the finer the better. Prepare it like a nest, this is the cradle for the coal baby you will be birthing.
Place the tinder bundle under the notch of the fire board, and set up your kit and begin turning the spindle like previously. Increase your speed and pressure until smoke appears, using long strokes and a prayer. Point the spindle straight up to the sky to “grab the sun’s energy and force it straight into the fireboard.” When you see smoke increase speed and pressure even more without losing your balance. When the fireboard smokes continuously without effort, check for a coal. If you have a smoking black coal, gently pour it into the tinder bundle “cradle.” Now relax, you now have time. Gently fold the coal inside the bundle hold above your head to catch the prevailing wind and gently blow. If smoke pours out it is safe to blow harder. Continue blowing and praying until flames appear. Place in the center of your well prepared fire tepee and enjoy…
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