Yeessss! I did it! Friction Fire!

[Arthur Herrmann]

I am not supposed to be on the computer this late... but I just made my first friction fire! I used the handrill, cause I never had any luck with the bow drill.

I used an aspin fire board, and a 3/8" golden rod bit on an old arrow shaft. After cutting the "V", I drilled three times consecutively, until smoke was everywhere! I knew I was close. I blew and the coal appeared as small as a piece of rice. I blew it until it was the size of a pea.

Kegan gave me the fire makin kit, so my thanks go out to him.

My parents did'nt care. The said good for me, and I should blow it out because it was stinkin up the house!

I go to snap a photo, and my sister's camera is out of commission. So I am sorry there is no pictures.

[n2everythg]

congrads man.... im still at the smoke only stage.
n2

[sailordad]

if i were i would invest in a nice new zippo


naw just yanking your chains there

thats really cool you made fire,just like your ancestors did about 25,000 yrs ago( i think)

keep it up and you'll be making fire withthat bow drill before ya know it

congrats again


                                                                     tim

[huntertrapper]

nice....i still have yet to get a good coal with bow drill....your doin it like our fathers of old...

[Pat B]

Cool Arthur. I'm still with N2...just a bit of smoke...and 2 big ole blisters!       Pat

[Arthur Herrmann]

I got 2 blisters as well. I think, the dominant hand does more pressure, and the other hand does the speed action, though they both look like they are alternating and doin the same thing. My left hand is for speed, and I am delveloping caluses below the middle and ring finger.

[hawkbow]

Aho brother now you can cook what you shoot the cave will never be the same.... good job ... Hawk a/ho

[jamie]

making fire is magic brother. congrats. for those who havent gotten it yet. your trying to hard. have a conversation with somebody and spin the drill at the same time. before ya now it lots of char and a little more pressure and your there

[Kegan]

Jamie- how in the world do you talk while doing the hand drill? I can't even explain what I'm doing while showing people- ask Art .

Congrats man!!!!! Goes to show, simpler is better .

[Hillbilly]

Good job! Like Jamie said, fire is magic. It's a great and amazing feeling getting that first fire from two sticks. One thing that helped me was when I learned to pace myself until I started seeing thick smoke, then give it all you've got.

[jamie]

kegan ive done  a lot of demos where i need to explain to people what is going on so im used to it. once did 3 dozen or more hand drill fires for a demo where groups of people were walking past in small groups for two hours. that is were i learned to relax and just take my time. i can usually do one in about 30 seconds by just taking it easy. once you have it down naturally you need to test yourself further. i put handdrills and boards in water buckets when i do demos to show that fire can be drawn from moist material. i also have cut drills in the morning, set them in the sun and spun fire with them that evening. its cool to practice with dry material we store in our homes, its also nesseccary to do this to build up our confidence. the outside world however is different. in the woods nothing is ever dry and waiting for you . you have to earn it. that is of course unless you live in the western arid states . again great job arthur. let me tell you too that it always feels that cool even after having done hundreds of fires. peace

[ricktrojanowski]

Great job Arthur.  There is something really awesome about getting fire with friction methods.  Way to go .  Keep practicing, try to spin out a coal at least every other day.  This will keep your hands in shape.

[ballista]

 awesome, i have yet to do it with a ""bow"", my problem is my wood wasn't soft enough. i bought a flint from wally world