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  1. I'm very happy to know that that Texas Sotol is...

    I'm very happy to know that that Texas Sotol is getting spread around. Good luck with your house repairs. I will be excited to see your hand drill success! I'll be praying for your tennis elbow to...
  2. Congrats Martin! I'm happy to see your success! ...

    Congrats Martin! I'm happy to see your success! Great work!
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    Wet Charred Cloth Experiment

    I read a claim that wet charred cloth would catch flint/steel sparks. I thought it would be impossible. So I decided to test the claim. While the charred cloth wouldn't ignite where there was water...
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    Funny! Sounds like one of the corollaries to...

    Funny! Sounds like one of the corollaries to Murphy's Law. You can't get rid of the plant when you don't want it... and then when you decide you want it, you can't get it to grow :)

    There are...
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    I've tried three different species so far, and...

    I've tried three different species so far, and they all have strong/flexible fibers. I'd be surprised if your ornamental yucca leaves didn't work. They may not work without processing (at least...
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    Ha! :) This is definitely not a method for...

    Ha! :) This is definitely not a method for emergency situations.

    I took longer retting this leaf than necessary. It was the first time I ever tried retting and I wanted to be familiar with an...
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    Thanks! I had tried for over six months to make...

    Thanks! I had tried for over six months to make a cord that was strong enough and flexible enough to be used as a bow drill string. It was a great relief when I finally succeeded :)
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    Yucca Leaf Fiber Bow Drill String

    I tried using another proven material for making a bow drill string, yucca leaf fibers. I've seen these leaves used with no more processing than just twisting a couple of whole leaves together a few...
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    Agave Leaf Fiber Bow Drill String

    One of the biggest challenges I've wrestled with in my pursuit of friction fire is making cordage from natural materials that is strong enough AND flexible enough to be used as a bow drill string. ...
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    Thankfully, I was prepared for the possibility...

    Thankfully, I was prepared for the possibility that I might not succeed with the cedar. I brought a piece of Sotol, just in case. The hole I used was an old one and just a little remained, making...
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    Horse Weed Hand Drill

    I had a real hard time learning to identify horse weed. There are a couple of other plants that look similar and it appears that horse weed is not very abundant around here. I'd like to thank...
  12. Thanks for the excellent pictures, YCC. Just...

    Thanks for the excellent pictures, YCC. Just last week I realized that I a patch of "horse weed" I'd been watching for a month or two is actually goldenrod! The flower is what helped me get the...
  13. Thanks Crash, YCC, hunter63, I just checked...

    Thanks Crash, YCC,

    hunter63, I just checked about the distribution of Prickly Lettuce in Wisconson. While it does grow there, it's only *been reported* in a few counties:
    ...
  14. Yes, I have tried Mullein on cedar. It was the...

    Yes, I have tried Mullein on cedar. It was the material I used for my first ever hand drill success. I'd say Prickly Lettuce and Mullein require about the same amount of effort to use. The best...
  15. Preparing and using the Prickly Lettuce stalk as...

    Preparing and using the Prickly Lettuce stalk as a hand drill:


    http://www.youtube.com/v/dLTizOCTBqo
  16. Harvesting and Using a Prickly Lettuce hand drill spindle

    I've been watching the Prickly Lettuce grow in a field near where I work since around April of this year, watching it grow taller, produce seeds, and then begin to turn into hand drill material. ...
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    And here are some photos of the Prickly Lettuce,...

    And here are some photos of the Prickly Lettuce, same field. At this time, most of the plants are still partly green at the top. But a small number are beginning to go past seeding and turn...
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    Harvesting Prickly Lettuce

    I've been watching the Prickly Lettuce mature over the last month or two.They've been seeding for several weeks now. And just within the last week or so I've noticed some of them are beginning to...
  19. What a relief. I thought I was going crazy when...

    What a relief. I thought I was going crazy when I couldn't get those leaves to light in the first video! I couldn't get anything to light! So it was reassuring when I was able to get the leaves to...
  20. Success from coal to flame using Sotol on Sotol

    This weekend I tried leaves again for the tinder bundle. I put the leaves directly under the hearth board to catch the coal. And I made sure the leaves were thoroughly brown and dried leaves. I'm...
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    MichMetal, Yeah, I studied this video and many...

    MichMetal,

    Yeah, I studied this video and many others as I was practicing and trying to succeed with the hand drill for the first time. You're right. The waving of the leaves is something I...
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    Glad you liked it as much as I did. Yes, it...

    Glad you liked it as much as I did. Yes, it seems to open yet another path to fire: The use of friction to ignite charred cloth.

    Like most of the rest of us, I've never personally seen the...
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    Making Fire with Bamboo Sparks!

    Today I stumbled across some research performed by Ed Read on the use of bamboo to make sparks, similar to flint with steel, but bamboo instead of carbon steel. Then I found this video of him...
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    The best I could come up with is: "Happiness...

    The best I could come up with is:

    "Happiness is a Warm Bug"
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    Rick, I think you must be thinking of a different...

    Rick, I think you must be thinking of a different situation.

    In the case of the H. nana tapeworm, the beetle does not merely transport the eggs on its legs. It can properly be called "infected"...
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