My first bow drill fire successes: Caught on video.
This weekend my wife and I went backpacking on some nearby Crown land to take advantage of the summer-like weather before the black flies start biting.
It was a memorable trip on a number of fronts, but for me a highlight was finally lighting my first bow drill fires. I had produced my first coal over the winter thanks to the help and generosity of fellow bushcrafter who gave me a bushcraft care package which included a small block of teflon with a depression drilled into it to use as an ideal bearing block, thus eliminating nearly all friction between the top of the spindle and the bearing block. This initial success left me determined to use friction fire and percussive techniques (eg: flint and steel) on each of my camping trips this year.
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The video below chronicles my awkward, embarrassing failures, along with eventual success. I must say it was painful to watch this later - to witness how dreadful my form was, along with a host of other mistakes I was making - but I must say it was very instructive to have visual feedback on all that I was doing wrong. For those, like me, who are just beginners with this technique, I would encourage you to record yourself on video for later critical viewing.
http://youtu.be/eBizmcn_X6w
It's with a view to getting better at this that I set my own vanity aside, post this video, and invite all who are more advanced in this skill to weigh-in with their criticism and recommendations after viewing the video.
Hope this helps.
- Martin
