Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Friction Fire
Outbackbob48:
Dakota Kid, true tinder fungus or Chaga which grows on the birchs will catch a spark like char cloth or can be used to extend your coal from friction fires, it will not burst to flame by itself needs to be in a tinder bundle, other coal extenders are cap cracked polypores which grow on locust, there are many things used to extend coals but very few things which can catch low temp flint and steel sparks, the only ones that i know of other than char cloth are true tinder fungus and milkweed ovums, I don't build many flint and steel fires so I save my Chaga for teas and build my fires with coals created from bow drill or hand drills, I have been gathering a few plants as fall approachs, horseweed, mugwort and mullien, like to find a few yucca also. Later Bob
riverrat:
thats great! its a great thing to learn. today, in need of a new bearing block for a bow drill set ,i gathered and made in the last few weeks, i found the perfect stone that fit my hand. almost next to it was a hard stone with kind of a pointy tip. so i began pecking. i did this for about a hour. got into a rhythm and i enjoyed it. soon it was perfect. took it home. this evening i tried it out. just to try it out. within about 30 seconds, a ember :) im gonna tell ya somethin. that feeling. that never ceases to amaze me. its a good feeling. like knapping a arrow point, making some cordage, maybe some clay vessels that fire nicely without cracks in your fire pit, that kind of nice. i call it the ugabooga feeling. like your alive.congrats on your skills. that is definately something to be very proud of! Tony
Jodocus:
UGABOOGA!
PEARL DRUMS:
My good buddy Josh sent me a few pieces of yucca to try for spindles. I think there might be gas and a lighter hiding in that stuff! I couldn't believe how quickly I made a big, hot ember that burned for a minute. It was under 10 seconds I'd guess.
Dances with squirrels:
Leave it to you guys. Good timing.
I used to mess around with friction fires, but hadn't done it in years. Well in a few weeks I'm going up to the mountains and staying back in as long as I can, up to 4 weeks, bowhunting, foraging, and trapping. I would like to get by with nothing but friction fires, but we'll see how it goes. I'm taking flint and steel as a backup and just came in from making fire in less than 15 seconds with it... using some jute rope I stoll from my wife's craft table. It went up so quick... she ain't getting it back >:D
Then I got to looking around and found a willow hearth board and bow drill spindle, bearing block, and a nice bundle of mullein for hand drills. I'd like to stay here and chat, but I've got practicing to do.
I just found a nice standing dead lilac bush. Have any of you guys tried it?
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