Fire Starter Info.

[Rick]

I was in AK once and it is was colder than billy hel*. I told the local I thought I was having a heart attack my chest hurt so bad. Frosted lung, he told me. We got inside and warmed up and I was fine. I guess it's similar to frost bite but on the inside. From breathing super cold air. Damn bad stuff, I know that.

[trax]

If it's so cold that your nose hairs freeze...stay indoors

If you try to whistle and can't....stay indoors.

A scarf over the mouth and nose will prevent the lung thing that Rick described, for awhile anyway. When I was a kid I used to run cross country, summer and winter.

If you're a smoker, it's going to hurt your chest a lot more than a non-smoker (your lungs create liquid in their little sacs trying to defend themselves from the pollutants, liquid gets cold and starts to freeze, ouch!)

if you see polar bears moving south....speaks for itself.

[Rick]

Trax, If I'm close enough to see polar bears moving south...I'm gonna be movin' souther...fathster...I mean faster.....speaks for itself.

[trax]

You're reminding me of that old story..."don't have to run faster than the bear, just have to run faster than you...." LOL.

[Two Rivers]

Lint is readily available provided your clothes are dry. By simply scraping your pant legs or shirt with a knife will roll off a steady supply of lint.

[Gray Wolf]

now to make the fire

take your bundle of tinder and place it on the ground where you want the fire to be. throw some of the powder from the rotwood on the bundle. Take you flint and angle it adjecent to the bundle, now take your knife or striker and scrape itn along the flint just right so that the spark lands in the bundle do this until you make a flame, after the flame is large place the fuzzsticks onto the tinder bundle, now if you want you may place chunks of rotwood on the bundle, now place slightly lager sticks onto the flame let it brn for tirty seconds then go to larger sticks ...keep increasing the size of the firewood until you get to the desired size log.....congrats, hopefully you've done it. if not dont get discouraged just try again

Just want to add, make sure you don't smother the fire, fire needs oxygen.

Rotwood For Sale

[Rick]

Here is a link to a nice article about 7 primitive ways to make fire. I have to admit, I had never seen a pump fire drill before:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/fields...546757,00.html

[Jay]

The pump drill is new to me too. It certainly looks like it would work. Keeping the spindle steady might be a problem. Must try it out. Its great how you can learn something new every day!

[corndog-44]

Rick thanks for the link. I liked the pics. I've seen the pump drill around, never tried it though. A problem with these types of articles that I see is that they make it out that all one has to do is get you a slab of wood and a stick and follow their pics and have-ho at it and presto you got an ember. They don't say anything about how dry the wood has to be in order to get an ember.

This is what the article said about rock striker:

"Rock Striker
An ideal tool for starting a spark-based fire, the striker should be made of flint for best results. If you can’t find flint, look for quartzite, which is much more common and is hard enough to strike sparks from steel."

Wonder how many people would recognize quartzite if they saw it?

Just my 2-cents on this subject.

[Rick]

I read an article once in which the author said when he was child his father showed him
how to make a bow drill but was unsuccessful in creating an ember. He finally did it twenty five year later. Few people can say it took them that long to actually make an ember. I thought he was pretty funny. I've tried and tried and I'm still only successful about 1/100. My dad always said the most important thing in fishing was how you held your mouth. I'm beginning to think the same thing about make fire with sticks.

[RobertRogers]

Yes, I think the pacific islanders used them for centuries

[Nativedude]

Here is a link to a nice article about 7 primitive ways to make fire. I have to admit, I had never seen a pump fire drill before:

I've tried the pump fire drill method, and it didn't impress me!

While the pump fire drill does work, it is a very slooooow way to make fire. When the drill reverses its spin it stops the friction of the direction it was going and has to start making friction in the opposite direction. As soon as friction starts in that direction the drill stops and has to start spinning back in the opposite direction. Long story short; it is better to just use the drill with your hands than the pump drill method. Plus it expends a lot of energy and is a lot of work (for little results) making the disc that fits around the drill. JMHO.

[Rick]

Native Dude. Your humble opinion ranks high. IMHO.

[Gray Wolf]

You would think if the Iroquois invented the Pump Fire Drill, with all that extra work and materials, that they would have figured out that the Two-Man Friction Drill (almost the exact same principle) was so much easier, faster, and needs less time and materials. I decided to try (always like trying new ways) the Two-Man Friction Drill with a neighbor, it worked fast, and I mean fast, to get a good ember. But I like making a fire by myself. Maybe the Iroquois did too... Still the Pump Fire Drill, was an over kill... IMHO

[Rick]

It looks to me like it's a one handed operation. Maybe it was invented by a one handed guy.

[Gray Wolf]

It looks to me like it's a one handed operation. Maybe it was invented by a one handed guy.

If that is for one handed Native Americans, they may be the first to abide by the ADA. Then again why so much work, someone else would have to build it for them, and you could put a flint stone on the ground, braced by another stone, branch, or between the knees, and strike it. Nice thought though.

[Rick]

GW - Never place ANYTHING between your knees and try to strike it, The thought alone conjurs up more agony that I care to dwell on. The loss of a knee cap would be bad enough but there are other things that could be in the way, if you know what I mean.

[Tony uk]

Thanks Rick, You Own *Gives A Thumbs Up*

[sh4d0wm4573ri7]

I lived in MN from 1961 - 2005 ,, Hunted , fished , hiked , camped , backpacked all the way up into canada through the BWCA I've seen some blizzards,, as for lighting a fire lol well I'm still here shootin off me mouth ,,, lol

[Jay]

[QUOTE=Rick;15283]Here is a link to a nice article about 7 primitive ways to make fire. I have to admit, I had never seen a pump fire drill before:

Rick, I tried it out. Used an old arrow shaft 20"long with a small metal flywheel.
Spins well once you get the hang of it. only problem is it doesnt create an ember. could not even char the baseboard. the problem is that you cant bring any weight to bare on it. also the spindle has to have a very sharp tip to strart with. otherwise it jumps all over the place. once the tip had worn down it starts to bind. Tried the same spindle in a bow. Got a nice ember in under 2 minutes. so its not the baseboard or spindle wood. Looks like I'm doing something wrong. may be I'll try a heavier flywheel. Any ideas or suggestions???

ps:
Our traditional gold and silversmiths use a similar thing as a drill. They hammer a nail into the tip of the spindle, cut the head off and sharpen it. they use it to create designs in jewelery.(Drilling out parts of the design)