[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[Allen Hall]

Thanks Chad, you're right on the money.
 
A couple of additional comments.  I've had good luck with cottonwood for the fireboard, willow for the spindle.  I used rawhide for the string and it worked ok.  I can come up with rawhide easily enough in a survival situation. 
 
If you don't have chapstick, just a wipe on your nose or forehead will generally get sufficient oil for the top of the spindle.  And a few grains of sand in the fireboard hole will help increase friction.  Like you said, it takes some work, but can be done completely with natural materials.  I've got a friend who's REALLY good with this stuff, and he like sage as well.  Yucca rocks from what I've heard, but haven't used it.  Having a proper notch in your fireboard is another key element.  And yes, a fireboard will last for quite a few fires.
 
A special "oh yeah" on the proper preparation of the tinder material.  I like to have ALL my fixin's ready before I strick a spark or get an ember going.
 
Another key...if you're in a fixed spot, just don't let the fire go out.  Bank it up and night, and even with our Rocky Mountain woods, you're likely to have an ember in the morning to blow back into a fire.
 
Alan
 
> From: rockclimbingcj at hotmail.com
> To: artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org
> Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:03:28 +0000
> Subject: Re: [Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague
> 
> 
> Having worked in the wilderness for a year with a troubled-teen rehab program, I will agree that learning to use a bow drill is tough. But not unlike riding a bicycle, once you have the knack it sticks with you and you can get good at it again pretty quickly. I had my best luck with a cottonwood fireboard, a sagebrush spindle, and a bow made of juniper. I'm not sure how the Native Americans made a reliable string for theirs, but I found that common "parachute cord" worked well. To hold the top of the spindle, I'd simply find a rock that fit my hand well, that had a natural concave spot in it that would seat well to the top of spindle. For lubrication, a dab of chapstick in the hole on the rock would help greatly, but it was important to remember which end of the spindle got the chapstick rubbed into it because that end (if put down on the fireboard) would not build friction well to make the char. Then it's a matter of jsut playing with it until you get the right combination of downward force, string pressure, and spindle balance. Once you get comfortable with it, it only takes a couple minutes to start a fire. The really important thing is to learn how to prepare a "nest" out of dry bark to drop your glowing char into, and getting used to using a steady breath to blow that glowing char ember into a flame.
> 
> And once you get some good pieces, keep them! I've kept my palm rock/spindle/bow/board for 7 years now.......just in case. Sure, you could go find another if you need to. But it's nice to have one handy just in case.
> 
> Chad