Pictures and more information coming soon!

Fire is a great comfort and a great tool. If you are lost, fire and smoke can be used as signals. If you have food that can only be eaten cooked, fire is a necessity. In the wilderness, fire takes the place of electric lights, stoves, and ovens. We take matches and lighters for granted, but without them, fire lighting can be pretty hard.

On a sunny day, you can use a magnifying glass to start a fire. Tilt the glass to focus the light on one small spot of the substance you're trying to burn. Hold it steady and wait; the point of light will turn black and start to smolder, then burn. If you don't have a magnifying glass or lens, then smooth pieces of ice or pieces of glass or plastic with water between them may work..

Another way fire can be started is by striking sparks between two pieces of metal or stone. You can buy "flint and steel" sets, usually made from metal alloys, from camping stores. Many kinds of rocks give off sparks when struck together, including iron pyrite (fool's gold), but only certain combinations give off big enough sparks. Experiment with common rocks to find ones that work.

If you don't have serviceable glass, ice, or rocks, and you do have some patience, you can create fire by friction -- that is, by rubbing two sticks together. This is a very popular method, because all it requires is the right pieces of wood and some string (which you can make from plant fibers or animal hide). Some cultures have made fire by running the point of a stick in a groove in a piece of wood, like a plow. (The protagonist of the movie Cast Away did this.) But the most efficient way to "rub two sticks together" is with a drill, in which a stick is twirled on its end on top of a piece of wood. Three drills that have been used are the bow drill, the mouth drill, and the hand drill.

The easiest kind of fire-starting drill is the bow drill. To make it you will need four pieces of wood. The hearth is a flattish piece of preferably soft wood long enough for you to put your foot on it, and with a fingertip-sized indentation near one end and right next to the edge. The spindle (or drill) is a strong straight dowel at least as thick as your finger, with the bottom end a rough flat-ended point and the top end a smooth rounded point. The handhold is a piece of wood that fits in your hand and has an indentation for the top of the drill underneath; this indentation should be lightly lubricated with oil, soap, wax, earwax, or even the skin oil from your hair and face. (Don't lubricate with water or saliva, which will cause the pieces of wood to expand and not fit together.) The bow is a strong bow-shaped piece of wood a bit shorter than your arm. (The bow, in fact, may be forked or naturally bent, rather than bow-shaped; as long as it holds up and works for you, it doesn't matter much.)

Tie a strong string (one that won't fray or jam) loosely across the bow. Hold the bow in your writing hand near the ground. The string should be just loose enough that you can make a loop to hold the spindle tightly. The spindle should preferably be on the "outside" of the bowstring. Place the blunt bottom point into the hearth. Now, position yourself so that the spindle and the edge of the hearth it rests on are on your right side (if you're right-handed) and your opposite foot rests on the other end of the hearth, and your free arm on the knee. Hold the handhold in your free hand and place its indentation on top of the spindle.

Now that you're in position, press down lightly on the handhold, using your knee to stabilize your hand and keep it locked in position, and draw the bow back and forth like a saw. The spindle should turn on the string. If it doesn't turn after several tries, the string may be too loose or too tight, or one of the indentations the spindle fits into may not fit it. After you've drilled for a while, you'll begin to notice fine sawdust forming at both ends of the spindle, which will be hotter, smoother, and even polished-looking. With practice, you may find the wood starting to smoke or turn black.

Once you've drilled your wood pieces a little and "broken them in", whittle the bottom end of the spindle to its original flat point. Leave the edges a bit rough to add friction. (Some even suggest dropping a few grains of sand into the hearth.) Cut a roughly triangular notch into the side of the hearth, almost reaching the center of the indentation. This is where the coal will drop down from the hearth; make sure the notch isn't so pointed that it leaves no "breathing space" for the coal. Either put the tinder ball under the hearth or put a piece of thick paper, cardboard, bark, or such to catch the coal. Add a bit more lubricant to the handhold, if needed.

Now start drilling again, as fast as you can; strength and endurance in the back, shoulder, and arm muscles are helpful here. Press the handhold down firmly and without wobbling too much. In time you will start to smell smoke, and when the smoke billows up thickly, you may have a coal. Stop and act quickly. If necessary, carefully push the coal out of its notch and place it in the tinder. Blow on it to get the flame started. This is always tricky, but with practice you'll get better.

A hand drill is done with just a long, smooth-sided spindle and a hearth. Rub and twirl the spindle between your palms, pressing down. You may have to move your hands back up every few twirls. Without the more intense downward pressure of a handhold on top of the spindle, the hand drill does not light fires as easily; it works best in dry places with very dry fuel. The hand drill is more efficient when performed by two people, one of whom takes over twirling the drill when the other one tires.

A mouth drill is a drill in which a "handhold", like the one used for the bow drill, is held in the mouth. Press firmly with your head and use your hands to twirl the long spindle in the hearth. Be careful, as it is possible to put your eye out or injure your face if the mouthpiece slips.

More information coming soon.

Many thanks to John Fishback, Del Hall's Nature Awareness School, Moonwatcher, and everyone else who helped me learn about starting and building fires. Read my list of books and resources.



Building Shelter | Finding and Purifying Water | Important Wild Plants | Starting Fires