Well I'm finally reporting back on the results of my bow drill fire making attempt. I cheated a little and used a knife to carve my fireboard and drill. I also used a cotton cord in place of natural cordage. Trying to get my first fire going by primitive means using only natural material was, in hindsight, overly ambitious. So I figured I would get the technique and method down before going full primitive.
For those of you unfamiliar with the bow drill method, it consists of four components. A drill, bow, handhold, and fireboard. The drill is a very straight piece of wood about 8" in length with a point carved at each end. Think of a pencil shape. The top should be pointed so it fits into the handhold, and the bottom slightly rounded to a small point. The bow should be the length of your arm from fingers to armpit. The string can be made of natural cordage (eg. rawhide, dried plant material) or man-made (eg. long shoelace, nylon string/rope). The fireboard should be an inch thick and at least as wide, twice as much is best. The drill is spun with the bow vertically on the fireboard, which lays flat on the ground, while the top of the drill fits into your handhold. The friction bores a hole in the fireboard, eventually producing a coal that can be used to start fire with tinder.
Here's a photo of my equipment. The stick at the top left is extra material. In descending order is the bow drill, fireboard, handhold, and bow.
 Bow Drill Equipment - Australia |
Bow Drill Equipment - Australia |
I used a native species for both my drill and fireboard. It's the same type of wood used by the Aboriginal peoples of my locale and is called Xanthorrhoea, or by it's best known common name, blackboy. If you'd like, you can read more about its' additional uses on
Wikipedia.
The handhold is a macadamia nut shell, or half of one. It fits perfectly in the palm and has a very smooth surface where it makes contact with the drill. This helps reduce friction at the handhold end so all the friction is at the fireboard.
I'm not sure what species the bow is but I suspect it's a Eucalypt. It's best to use something with a slight curve and gentle give. You don't want it to snap.
I had been trying to start fire, or more specifically create a coal, over a few sessions but I just couldn't get it to happen. Plenty of smoke and drill dust was created, but no coal. I had a feeling my fireboard was narrow but hadn't been able to find any thicker Xanthorrhoea. That was until recently when I spotted one off the side of a nearby road. To get to it I had to walk through some gnarly scrub, which I wasn't keen on because it looked like prime poisonous snake terrain. So I got my boots on and quickly grabbed what I needed and returned to safer ground.
Back home in the garage I carved out the new thicker fireboard and drill and went to work. The first attempt resulted in the board splitting at the end when I went to cut a notch in the new drill hole. This is something to watch for if you try to drill too close to the end of the board. I learned a number of useful tips in the following YouTube videos, which I highly recommend if you're trying this technique.
Ultimate Bowdrill Tips & Tricks (Part 1) |
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Ultimate Bowdrill Tips & Tricks (Part 2) |
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My second attempt was much improved as I quickly mated the drill with the board and then recarved the drill for the attempt at the coal. By now my form was second nature from the prior experience which allowed me to completely focus on the pressure and speed of the bow. As usual I had lots of smoke, but I also had more board to drill through due to the increased thickness, so the longer drilling created higher temperature, producing a coal for the first time! The giveaway was a separate stream of smoke coming from the drill dust pile. It was a great big coal too!
Taking my time I transferred the coal to my tinder pile and blew on it until it erupted in flame....FIRE! Finally all my hard work had paid off. It was a great feeling. Knowing that I could save my ass if ever I needed to was a big boost of confidence.
Here's the proof of my primitive firemaking. A coal and the fire created by it.
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Bow Drill Coal |
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Bow Drill Fire |
Update!!! Since the first success producing a coal, I tried again and managed to achieve a second coal. This time I was outside in relatively windy conditions. I wanted to test the technique in challenging weather and it was a clear winner. I also recorded more video and have edited a pair of clips (see below). Sorry they're so short, but the upload limit per file is 2MB and there's a corresponding limit to the files I care to edit.
In the first clip I'm using the bow to produce a coal (which you can just catch a glimpse of in the final frame). The second clip is getting the tinder well on it's way. You can see how windy it was and I barely needed to blow on the tinder to get it going. I apologise for the poor lighting, but it was night outside my front door. I wonder if any neighbours saw and now think I've lost my mind!
Now that I've created a coal and a fire, I'm going to try producing the material without the aid of modern tools. Creating a stone knife and cordage won't be easy, but I'll persist until I've had success and report my results to fellow diners.
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I also have to remind myself that we're just a blip in time (but then 'time' is a slippery thing), and that evil, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.