Woods found in the Deep south for Hand Drill?

[Erratus Animus]

I bought a piece of mule fat off the internet for my hand drill and it worked very well till I misplaced it and broke it. So now I am wondering if anyone know of some good woods for a hand drill in the deep south.

[crashdive123]

YCC is probably going to have the best info for you. Yucca stalks work well. I played around with Crape Myrtle and had some success. Some other good ones ar Mullein and Cattail stalks.

I am a friction fire neophyte, and just learning. YCC is our resident "go to" guy. Batch has had some recent successes too.

[your_comforting_company]

Black willow is also good stuff, but it's hard to find a long straight piece. For learning purposes, I'd have to recommend yucca as it is widespread around here. My regular use hand drill with the cheater-thumb-strap is mullein. Just started another fire with it yesterday as a demonstration for some of my wifes-relatives kids.

I find cattail to be a little too brittle and it takes a bit of finesse not to crush it.. I have yet to master that one.
I've used Nandina domestica with the bow-drill and it works very well, but I haven't tried a piece as a hand drill yet. It doesn't like to grow very straight.

I highly recommend the thumb strap on your hand drill. It can be a shoestring or natural cordage. Mine is a piece of deer leather I made and it takes away all the "cooling time" that you get when you have to move your hands back up the spindle. Takes firemaking time from 5 minutes to about 3.

Mule-fat and yucca have similar properties and I think you'll find it to be one of the easiest to find and use here in the deep south. I'm sure I posted some pics somewhere on here of yucca plants with stalks, so if you do a search, you should find a few threads. yucca is good for many other things too
Any that you experiment with, post up the results for us. I keep my eyes open for woods with the qualities, and will try just about anything I can get my hands on that "fits".
Basswood and cotton wood are said to be good materials, but I have yet to try them, and horseweed is a bit fragile and will take some finesse also. Basically, what I'm saying, is there is no full "list of materials" but there IS a list of qualities to look for in materials, and short of having a list, I'll try any material that has those qualities.
Good luck in your quest for fire. Be resolute in your determination and you'll have your own personal list very soon!

"There is no try. There is only do, or do not." -Yoda

[your_comforting_company]

A side note... any "materials" you come across that are an invasive species should be tried and if they won't spin an ember, at least you'll have wood for the fire!

[Erratus Animus]

I use a revolving motion I saw some years back that works very well. i will see if I can find the video. I have used a thumb strap and have the pics starting a fire with it for my daughters history project. That was awesome but the judges were tards and after her presentation of the history of fire making methods; hand drill, bow drill, flint steel, and fire piston- all hand made and gather by she and I - the judges said geez you should have done the history of the lighter. I am still mad

[Batch]

I use all coastal plain willow. It is every where down here and should be the same in Louisiana.

It works very well. Just find a good dead piece still attached to the tree.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SACA5

[Erratus Animus]

The method I use is the floating method. The wild wood link will cover it.

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/surv.../floating.html

[kyratshooter]

+1 on YCC comments.

I also use a stalk from a weed referred to as "Horseweed" around here. I grows thickly along the railroad tracks here. I find it even better than yucca.

It is not strong and must be used as a spindle insert.

One of my students actually got a coal using a horseweed insert on a firebow spindle in less than 20 seconds and had a flame in less than 30 seconds. It was almost like watching a magic show. One of those things you would not believe if you had not seen.

One wood I have found that you can count on almost nation wide is plain old sugar maple. It is not an instant fire but dry sugar maple is very reliable.

[Erratus Animus]

I am looking for woods native to the deep south. The last of the horse tail that I am aware of we transplanted to my dads lilly pond. the loggers scraped the rest and burn the lot.

Think i will cut some willow and see what will happen. there is also another plant that is abundant that my work. I will take a pic of it and see if someone knows what its called. It has a long straight stems and a small pithy center.

[your_comforting_company]

I did some hand-drilling this weekend. Should have taken pictures of the blisters...

A thumb strap, fashioned out of any type of cordage you can find will go a LONG way in procuring fire with the hand drill method. A shoestring, paracord, natural cordage, leather straps... just about anything will work and makes hand drilling 10x more efficient, IMO.

yucca worked, and I almost got cotton rose to work, but by then my hands were hamburger meat and very near bleeding.. Will try more when my wounds heal.

[Erratus Animus]

I collected several doz yucca stalks yesterday and will be making fire with them today. Going to teach my future son in law how to do it as well. I also did some homework and found out what horse weed looks like and what do you know, its everywhere here. I cut it green. There is another plant that fit the thumbnail indention test that I collected too but I dont know what its called. I will get you a pic.

[Erratus Animus]

09:07 I was successful with handrill with yucca that I went and harvested myself, using yucca hearth and no thumb loops- 6 passes and I had an ember!!!!!

I had always purchase the mule fat before but that is over with ! When my daughter comes by today I will get her to take pics! I need to rest till then!

Today Is a good DAY!!!!!!

[your_comforting_company]

Congratulations! Feels great doesn't it! I also know how strong an urge you have to teach others and that is really refreshing. Pay it forward!

gives a whole different appreciation for fire. at least to me it does.

[Erratus Animus]

Andy, My future son in law, has taken a keen interest in primitive living skills and survival skills. At first I thought he was sucking up but now I have seen him practicing and studying up on his own. I think this will really boost his confidence as a young man as well as strengthen the bond between us.

If successful it will be his first friction fire by any means. Now that is just cool!!

[your_comforting_company]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8u-x...eature=related

found this one looking for the figure 8 technique. since he was a country boy, thought I'd share it. found any vids of the figure 8?...
I'm gonna go out there and get blisters on my blisters.. you are givin me the fever!

edit: found it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns8UM...eature=related

[letslearntogether47]

09:07 I was successful with handrill with yucca that I went and harvested myself, using yucca hearth and no thumb loops- 6 passes and I had an ember!!!!!

I had always purchase the mule fat before but that is over with ! When my daughter comes by today I will get her to take pics! I need to rest till then!

Today Is a good DAY!!!!!!

Awesome!

I hope to give this a shot sometime soon.
Looking forward to a few pictures.

[Erratus Animus]

Being excited and show no restraint will make you dumb at times. Cody Lundun said it best" Be a dumba@# and you will receive dumba@# consequences"
With that said in my total excitment of the hand drill I did it a few more times when I knew my hands were starting to get sore on the 4 time. Each time I got a coal and was spured on to show someone else till finally Andy came by and I had to show him. I placed duc-tape on my hands to help with the blisters and went for it one more time.

I got that coal and tried my best to look like it did not hurt but it does and that was stupid of me to do. I just hope I impressed Andy enough to do a few chores for me while I recover

[your_comforting_company]

Must be your day today. I can't get an ember with the hand drill today for squat!

Alls I got today was a mudpuddle of sweat.. stick got too slick and I had to take a break.
Trying different materials and combinations today and trying to learn the "floating" technique. My arms are about to fall off and my blisters have blisters... I'll try again tomorrow!

[your_comforting_company]

picture of the blister with a blister...
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and dagnabit... yucca spindle and tulip poplar was just the right combo...
Still experimenting with other materials.. gave myself a new blister last nite. No pain, no gain!

So how are your experiments going EA?

[your_comforting_company]

I believe this to be wild lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) because of the pinkish/orangish tint on the edges of the petals. These are some of the weeds I mow the grass around, and I'm glad now that I saved them. A food source (leaves), a nice spark-catcher for modern sparkers or extender for a primitive ember (seed pappus), AND a hand spindle to start a fire (stem). I watched these through their entire life cycle and they grew to be about 8 feet tall.
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kit with ember
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hearth was a piece of black willow, just because it was handy. It seems to have just the right amount of silica in it for most friction fire purposes. In my limited experience at least, it is valuable as a hearthboard and works well with many materials.
The lettuce also must have plenty of silica in it as it warmed and ground quickly and easily. this is the first time I've ever tried wild lettuce for a hand drill, but it passed the tests, it was handy, and I tried it.
Most of the ones I've seen on roadsides are past seed and are dying now. Anytime in the next few weeks will be an ideal time to spot tall straight dark-brown stalks for use.
more info on wild lettuce is here:
http://www.kswildflower.org/flower_d...p?flowerID=507

Native Americans would steep the roots and bark and take the tea for back and kidney pains; took a tea to induce sleep; applied a poultice of pulverized roots to stop bleeding cuts; and used the milky latex to treat poison ivy sores. The leaves were cooked and eaten as greens.

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