Friction Fire Using the Bowdrill

Friction fire is a skill that is a great asset to anyone who spends time in the outdoors and will help you to understand the principles involved in conventional fire starting.  The standard for friction fire making is the bowdrill method and should be the first one to master since many of the principles will be identical to other methods.  In the bowdrill method a spindle is turned into a depression in the hearthboard with the aid of a bow.  A coal is produced by heat generated from the friction of the spindle and hearthboard.  This coal is then transferred to a tinder bundle where it is blown into a larger, hotter coal which will in turn ignite the tinder.

There are several variables to consider to achieve success with this technique.  I am by no means an expert but from my research and limited experience I have found the following:

The type of wood to use for your drill and hearth.  Ideally you need to use a softwood like cedar, balsam fir or willow and should avoid hardwoods like oak and maple.  The wood should collected from a dead standing tree that has the bark removed from age.  You should make the spindle and hearthboard from the same piece of wood.  The spindle should be eight to ten inches long and carved to have a point at the end that will go into the bearing block and rounded at the hearthboard end.  The bow should be the length of your arm and not too heavy so as to produce fatigue when used.  I prefer a straight bow because I find it easier to maintain a straight back and forth motion.  A depression should be carved into the hearthboard to accept your spindle with a half an inch distance from the edge of the hearthboard to the edge of your spindle.  Push your spindle into the depression you just carved to get it started before going ahead and burning it in with your bow.  Once you have it burned in you must carve a V notch taking out no more than an eighth of the circle and going no deeper than a quarter of the way to the middle of the depression.  Part one of the videos below will illustrate this better than I can describe it.

The material you use for your bearing block.  The bearing block should be made from a material that will not eat up the spindle from friction.  You can use hardwood, bone or antler, stone or man made materials that you may have on hand.  Some knife manufacturers make a depression in one of the handle scales to use for a bearing block.

Tinder bundle material and condition.  The tinder bundle or "birds nest" should be comprised of several layers of tinder with the most highly combustible layer first.  The most combustible layer is where you are going to transfer your coal.  For the first layer you could use cedar bark, fine birch bark, cattail fluff or dried grasses.  Whatever material you choose should be ground up in your hands to produce fine fibres which will increase the surface area of the material.  The next layer can be comprised of unprocessed material used in the first layer.  The outer layer can be comprised of dried plant material like plant tops which are easily broken or bent in the hand - no larger than a couple millimetres in diameter.  This last layer will hold the fire long enough for your kindling to catch.  If you were to use just dried grasses the flames would not last very long.

Weather conditions.  It is much easier to use this method if it is a dry hot sunny day.  Humidity is the enemy of this method.  There is not much you can do to control this which is why it is important to practice in all kinds of weather.

Technique.  It's probably best to watch one of the video's below to get an idea of the proper stance you should take.  It's best to rest your wrist, on the side that you are holding the bearing block, against your shin to stabilize yourself and prevent the spindle from moving from side to side.  When you first start to work the bow there is no need to hurry or exert allot of pressure downward on the bearing block.  You want to generate a good amount of dust in your notch first  Once a sufficient amount of dust is collected the speed of the bow is increased along with an increase in downward pressure on the bearing block.  This will generate the heat needed to produce a coal from the collected dust.

Some may scoff at my choice of materials in these videos as they are not from natural sources.  I chose to use a cedar plank for my hearth and spindle, paracord and a hockey stick for my bow, jute and sisal rope as well as dead grasses and plants for the tinder bundle and initially a rock and then a piece of Teflon for the bearing block.  I feel that it is best to initially use the best materials you have available in order to master the technique so that you can put all the odds in your favour in order to be successful before graduating to foraging for more natural sources.

Here is a three part video series describing how I used the materials above to gain success at the bowdrill.  I feel confident that with these materials I can produce a fire in under five minutes with the set already made.  Now on to more natural materials...