Who doesn't like bowdrills?

Today i made a bow drill from scratch. It was a good experience. I realized how much energy you use just making the bow drill set, and how that makes it that much harder to make the ember since you already start out somewhat exhausted.

The fruits of my labor were the juicy bacon

 

Nice! You earned your fire AND bacon!!

 

How long did you have to stalk that bacon?

 

Nice job.
How long did it take from project start to flame ON?

 

Nice I had a friend who modified a Paiute twist drill to make fire.. says it is faster and easier on his old body...

 

he was totally stationary, already in a ziplock in my pack...bacon are strange creatures!

 

wow!

 

I got to the location about 10:30, I had fire around 1:30 - 2 I was also filming the entire thing so that used a bit of time too. 3-4 hours while filming.

 

Good time--a very doable first in all but the most extreme circumstances. Next time will probably take less than an hour, and the one after that maybe 20 mins, tops.Then it'll probably be like flicking your Bic.

 

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haha, ya honestly the friction fire is quick. the building of the bow drill set it takes time
Its good practice to build one, but if you wanted to use it to make fires you could just take a pre-made one out with you into the woods

 

I built a fire making kit for friend who couldn't light a fire in a puddle of gasoline.
I included a complete bow drill and fire board and instructions on use in the kit.
If you do decide to make one for pack use, ( half a dozen Bic lighters are lighter and smaller and easier) then try using a cordless drill for the "burn in" to match the bow drill to the fire board.

 

ya, only reason to take the bow drill along would be to practice. Like any skill when you let it atrophy you lose some of the technique. Im fairly confident thats why people continue to bow drill(plus its pretty fun). Some people may do it for other reasons but the I believe the key reason is to practice and keep the skill sharp so when you need it its easy.

 

Practice, but have a backup.

 

No, but cordless are more common than corded, any more, and more portable (including in the woods)

 

oh definitely my friend always backups
I carry a fire steel, matches and a lighter with fat wood in case I just want to get a fire going with no fuss.

 

this what i've tried with my cordless drill.the black spot on the left is from a few days ago.the one on the right is from today..and the stuff in the red cap,is pencil shavings,rich lighter pine,saw dust,and thin pieces of wood when i did some cutting with my table saw.it took approximately 1:30 minutes for smoke to start showing up..

 

You go slow for a few minutes, the idea is to build up a supply of wood dust and heat up the wood, then go fast for max heat output for your coal, which should either fall out on its own into the dust pile, or be tipped out by you. Then you have about 30 seconds to blow the coal gently into life, in the pile of flammable wood dust.

 

So if you plan to use a cordless drill to bow drill you might consider just using it on your ferro rod


I was drilling it to put a lanyard on...

phorisc
Live The Adventure

 

I prefer mine......