Hand Drill with Local Materials

A friend of mine on the online forum BushcraftUSA sent me a handdrill set made from a plant called sotol.  The set worked marvellously well so it was a good starting point but sotol is not found in Southern Ontario.  So, a bushcraft goal of mine was to be able to produce a coal using the handdrill method of friction fire but with local materials. 

Yesterday I collected a number of different weed stalks and some willow to use to accomplish this goal.  Many of the thinner stalks did not work but I was finally successfull using a mullein stalk and a willow hearth board.

Here is a video showing how it all went down.  Of course I removed all the failed attempts so as to make it more interesting, I hope you enjoy it.

Hand Drill Fire

The hand drill friction fire technique is, in a way, the holy grail of friction fire methods.  I have tried several local materials including mullein, teasel and cedar without success.  After posting about my attempts on the BushcraftUSA forums a member there (RoadLessTraveled) sent me a set made from sotol, a plant that is abundant in the South Western United States.  Here is a video of my first successful hand drill fire using the set he sent.