Two stone fire

[hunter63]

Funny how one thing leads to another, but while caving around, found this very good site on starting fire with just two stones.

http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/twostones/abbww/index.html

I have heard about this, and it was referenced in the books/ movies "Clan of The Cave Bear" series by Jean Auel.

The book references using iron pyrite, two pieces, that will spark or flash when struck together.
I have tried this with a couple of small pieces, from my old "rock collection"
They did spark and you could smell a "match type smell", but in truth I didn't get the tinder to catch.
Figured it was just because the stones were small, and I need to do some more work on this as well as the natural tinder.

As site deals with many different kinda of stone, I found it a really good read.

Just to give you an idea how this site find happened, I have included the chain of events.

This is kinda an off shoot of a thread by YCC on fire tinder.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11215

Well, as luck(work?) would have it, and as Rick seems to have endless knowledge of sites/articles on a vast array of subjects, did us a favor and posted a link to another thread on birch fungus

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11215

That lead to;
http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/tinder/tinderfungus/abbfungusstove/index.html

Which in turn led to a very good site on starting fire with just two stones.
http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/twostones/abbww/index.html

[your_comforting_company]

Crash posted the wildwood link a while back. I believe I remember telling WE it couldn't be done (fire from rocks) and he called me out on it ;)
Seems like an aweful lot of effort to find the right rocks, which may not even occur in my area, but knowing it can be done really makes me want to have a go at it.
Keep us posted with your findings and experiments H. I'd love to hear of others doing this with rocks.

[hunter63]

Crash posted the wildwood link a while back. I believe I remember telling WE it couldn't be done (fire from rocks) and he called me out on it ;)
Seems like an aweful lot of effort to find the right rocks, which may not even occur in my area, but knowing it can be done really makes me want to have a go at it.
Keep us posted with your findings and experiments H. I'd love to hear of others doing this with rocks.

Yeah, I hear ya, but it does confirm that someone apparently was successful.
Reading the whole thing, seems he had a frustrating go at it, as well.

I believe that the ultimate, still remains: How to make fire with out having anything purchased.
The bow drill seems to be the closest provided you can make the cordage.

I still plan on fooling around with this as well as continuing that tinder assortment.

[wareagle69]

boy that allan beauchamp sounds like a guy full of knowledge, just imagine being able to learn from this guy eh?

[your_comforting_company]

You got that right WE.
Savor every moment.

[justin_baker]

but in truth I didn't get the tinder to catch.
Figured it was just because the stones were small, and I need to do some more work on this as well as the natural tinder.


I think you need to use charcloth. You cant get natural tinder going with flint and steel sparks, so i imagine that rock sparks would be the same.

[crashdive123]

Actually Justin, you can get natural tinders to flame. You just have to experiment and keep trying to find the ones that work best for you and the area that you are in.

[Rick]

Natural tinders sure do catch a spark and burn. Here's a whole thread on nothing but sparks and natural tinders.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11215