start a fire without matches

...but I’ve never given up the idea that it is good to be prepared. Starting a fire without matches or a lighter just seems like one of those ‘man-things’ every guy should know.

Not sure when I’ll do this, but I surely will.

I’ve already written about my experience with an outdoor survival course I’ve taken and a little about how I felt the first time I saw fire being created with two sticks (a hand drill).

On the course we learned several ways of producing fire: bow drill, hand drill, magnifying glass, matches (in wet conditions) and magnesium rod, among others.

The first time I used a hand drill to produce wood dust, then a glowing ember which, when placed in the tinder bundle was caressed into a handful of fire, I was impressed by the sheer magic of working with natural materials to make fire.

As I’ve said before, coaxing fire from wood felt as if I had joined an ancient brotherhood – feeling connected to eons ancient peoples living a life in harmony with the earth.

or swiss firelighters or anything else- just my bare hands and things I can find lying around. This is in my list of ‘hero skills I’d like to acquire’. I was watching Ray Mear’s Survival Guide series and he was able to light fires amazingly fast without tools (well, so it seemed to me, who was watching him build it with the benefits of video editing). His approach seemed to be to make a notch in wood and do the stick rubbing method- then, once he had the tiniest bit of smoking tinder, turn the notch to dump it into something cottony, like yellow goatsbeard, and blow into that while cupping it away from the wind until it all caught fire, then use that to start the dry twigs going, then build from there. The method looks like its hard to learn but it also looks like it works really well, so I’d like to learn how to do it in real life.

I’ve done this several times with flint and steel. It might be interesting to try it with a bow drill sometime, too, but at least I know there’s always one way I can do it.

I got a plastic magnifying glass from a Crackerjack box and started a little fire in the backyard. Yikes!

I have to be prepared for these things just in case I get stuck on an island for years. It will most likely take me 3 days to get one started and then tragically start raining when I finally get one started.

So Ray Mears is upto his bush craft stuff again so I thought I would create a small fire in my back garden and cook some food on it. I cut up a few potatoes, garnished with olive oil, salt and pepper, Placed in tin foil. I used a gadget that creates a spark by running a blade down the shaft of a bit of metal. It was fairly easy to do but getting the fire to become a propper fire was harder. My advice is have lotts of dry leaves and small kindling. I felt like a real man. Ill try using a stick next time. and leaves instead of tin foil.

It occurs to me that I’ve started fires with cigarette lighters and probably a few other things.

But I don’t mean any of that. I mean, like, with a bow.

The one time I tried this I managed plenty of smoke, but no flame. I suspect I could manage now, but I haven’t tried for years.

I have tried the flint and steel method and got close. I would like to learn how to start a fire with a bow drill. I think it’s a lot of technique once you figure it out.

Magnifying glasses don’t count. However, finding a broken piece of glass and starting a fire with that is acceptable.