Primitive firestarting

[carolyn]

Have you ever tried to start a fire without matches, a lighter, or a flint? You know you watch the survival shows and they use a bow/drill and things like that and you think I could do that...but could you really?

 

[woodzman]

Primitive fire making isn't as hard as you might think. Once you learn the mechanics of it and which materials work the best, It's just a mater of practicing with them.

 

[Mandy]

When I was in Girl Scouts we went on a primitive camping trip. The leader had all the supplies we needed in case of an emergency but we did not use them. This was set up at our Girl Scout campgrounds. They provided us with basic material to build a shelter. We had to find materials and start a fire and forage for our food. It was fun but only because we knew help was just on the other side of the campground.

 

[carolyn]

We must have had the wrong materials wooodzman cause we even had a flint and we still couldn't get it started. We are determined to get it though so practice will continue!

 

[woodzman]

You've got the right attitude carolyn. Are you using the old fashioned flint and steel, or a flint rod and what kind of tinder?

 

[Newanderthal]

got the bow drill to work for me once

 

[woodzman]

got the bow drill to work for me once

Out of the methods I've tried, the bow/drill is my favorite for making fire by friction. The one that I've had the hardest time with over the years, is the hand drill. I have a hard time maintaining the right amount of speed and pressure on the fireboard.

 

[calanta]

I wont lie so if I answer and say that I have attempted this and failed miserably no one will hold it against me, right? I have tried a few times now but never managed to make more than a little smoke and then nothing.

 

[woodzman]

I wont lie so if I answer and say that I have attempted this and failed miserably no one will hold it against me, right? I have tried a few times now but never managed to make more than a little smoke and then nothing.

I've failed miserably at a lot of things that I've tried, including this. If
It's something that you want to learn, like carolyn said, keep trying.

 

[carolyn]

We had a flint with the metal piece attached to it (picked it up at Dick's) and we tried dried grass, little tiny wood shavings, and dryer lint and we got smoke several times but we could never get it to catch.

 

[northernbushape]

I am quite surprised that the dryer lint did not flame for you.

Are you "throwing" the sparks from your striker or "pushing" the sparks onto the lint? What works best for me is to make contact with the edge of the lint or any other tinder for that matter so that that you are kinda holding the tinder in place with the tip of your striker. Then "push" the sparks onto the tinder with a firm stroke so you get a good, hot, spark shower.

You can try fluffing the lint up a bit so that the strands are finer as well. Also, the lint cannot be damp unless you have an accelerant such as petroleum jelly smeared on it.

Have you tried pure cotton balls? They catch very well too using the same striker technique.

Keep practicing and you'll get it.

 

[southerngal]

Ok we are starting to feel retarded on this one...we have tried all the tips and still can't get it. Well we get the dryer lint or cotton ball to light but we can't seem to keep it going to build a bigger fire.

 

[northernbushape]

I made this video real quick this afternoon. Hopefully this will help. Others will no doubt have different ways of doing things that work best for them, but I find this method to be very effective for me at least, and it has yet to let me down.

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[southerngal]

Thankyou so much Northernbushape! That was really nice of you to make a video. We are going to try again tomorrow (if it doesn't rain). I 'll let you know if it works.

 

[FernGully]

Good for you guys. I love camping out; fishing, some hunting, and gathering. But starting a fire the old fashioned way, I can't even get a picture in mind of how. I've seen the books and read the instructions, but I'm definitely going to survive off of gathering.

 

[failghe]

Great video! Maybe Jason can make it a sticky "How to light a fire with dryer lint" I do much the same but with vasoline and cotton balls.

 

[Bradsalex]

As well as the dryer lint another simple way to get fire going is to use a 9V battery and a piece of steel wool. Remember when you were a kid and you put the 9V battery on your tongue to see if it had any charge left? Well the same thing with the 9v and steel wool as with a car battery and a wrench in this situation. When metal touches both the positive and negative terminals of a battery it will cause a spark. Just be careful with the steel wool, it will catch on fire faster than you expect.

And great job NBA on the video.

 

[southerngal]

Well we finally had success! It still took us awhile but at least now we know that we can do it if we have too.

 

[northernbushape]

That's awesome! Congratulations! I knew you'd get it. I bet you guys did a happy dance when you got it lit. Having the ability to create fire without a match or lighter can be very empowering.

 

[exodus125]

with any fire making method. The key to actually having a fire is PREPERATION and PATIENCE.

Have all the wood set up so you have from tiny stuff like dry grass, dry leaves, then very thin twigs, then thicker stuff and try to use the dryest stuff you have available. If you set up everything the right way FIRST, when you get an amber or flame, it will be fairly easy to keep it going. Now, if you get a flame and then start scrambling to find stuff to throw in it to keep it going, more than likely your going to fail. Preperation and Patience is te key.

Years of using a fire piston has shown be this the hard way. Now its like second nature.