Mountain man skills

[stubshaft]

In looking over the thread about casting over an open fire it brought to mind how very much we take for granted.

Like actually starting the fire using primitive means like flint and steel, fire piston, bow drill or other primitive method.

I have used flint and steel and let me tell you it gave me a sense of accomplishment to have done so. No, it isn't hard to do, but the actual act of making a fire gave me a deep sense of satisfaction (I am not a latent arsonist either).

Just one of those things I think of when it is too windy and rainy to cast.

[singleshot]

I will input that in Biblical times, they carried a fire pot with embers so they didn't have to start a fire from scratch.

That being said, I taught military survival training and attempted and saw several students attempt to start a fire with bow and stick...none successfull.

We do take alot for granted...

[onondaga]

This is an opportunity for me to bragg! Thanks! I am a Flint Knapper , so I always have a lot of flint around. I enjoy starting fires with Flint, Firebow, I even made my own Fire Piston that works fine. I have the biggest laugh from an unusual fire starting method:

I can take a rock and chop a piece of nice clear ice out of a nearby creek and shape the ice into a lens with the warmth of my bare hands. I use it like a magnifying glass to start tinder with the light of the sun concentrated by the ice lens on tinder. I don't know if there is a name for it, but it is fun and I always get a good laugh.

Gary

[turbo1889]

I'm very good at making a fire with the bow stick and it is my preferred method. I've done flint and steel but that is very hard for me to successfully pull off since I can't seem to be able to blow just right to get the sparks to catch without blowing out the fire and if you don't blow they just smolder out instead of catch.

I've also done the most primitive I know of namely the stick groove rub method (very labor intensive involving running the tip of a stick back and forth rapidly in a groove in a larger stick and looks like a half breed between someone playing the violin and someone stabbing something to death and will make observers just about fall over laughing at you. That is until you light the fire then they stop laughing). I have never heard of the fire piston method. What is that?

[BulletFactory]

handle that much of the ice, and youll need a fire lol

[waksupi]

I used to do fire making demonstrations, among other things over the years. At one time, I had 21 ways of making fire. I still remember some of them! I like using fool's gold in my flint and steel kit, just to be snooty!

[Beagler]

You fellas might like this magazine have been subscribing to it for some time now http://www.backwoodsmanmag.com/

[nanuk]

You fellas might like this magazine have been subscribing to it for some time now http://www.backwoodsmanmag.com/

I've been a buyer of BWM for several years now...

it is by far the most entertaining!

not much advertising like other (Un-named) magazines

[Hang Fire]

I have been into such for a while, using flint and steel for fire starting is so easy, even a caveman could do it. I have had cub scouts making smoke in just a couple of tries, also had the little rats in blue set a hillside grass fire after they learned how. Char or birch bear scat (being nuanced) fungus is the best natural tinder, fine steel wool for the non-trad types.

One can make a fire piston from 1/2" schedule 40 cpvc pipe and fittings in about five minutes using a wood dowel.



Some old buckskinning and rondy pics: http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/untitled1.html

[Rangefinder]

I'm pretty big on doing things the old fashioned way. My son got his big lesson in this a few years ago covering flint and steel. He hasn't put together a working bow-drill yet, but got a little puff or smoke with a fire plow last time we were out--a little more elbow grease would have has enough to coax in no time.

[nanuk]

a few years ago, my buddy and I were talking selfbows while moose hunting.

I said "I wonder if I could make a survival/selfbow with just my cleaver?" (I carry one for camp craft)

well, we cut down a birch sapling about 2" at the base, and after about 5 wobblepops I had it shooting with a borrowed string and my arrows. Although green, it shot hard enough that I could have easily killed a deer with it, certainly rabbit and other small game.

I still have it. it took no set after we shot it about 40 times.

it now draws well over 100lbs. one of these days I'm gonna finish it off to 45lb and take some game

[reloader28]

I love the flint/steel method. Very cheap and easy to use. Seems to easily be the best, especially when combined with a vaseline/cottonball.

I fact its so easy and fun that its far and away our preferd method when we're out and about.

[10 ga]

I'm always amazed at how useful the stuff I learned, as a Boy Scout, really is. Done the flint and steel plenty of times and have done fire with a bow but that is more like work so not so much. I carry a firemaking kit in my truck all the time and in my "*** bag" when hunting. Of course it's just a back up to the matches in the waterproof container, 3.5" 12 gauge sliped into a 3.5" 10 ga. Handy and cheap waterproof containers those shells make. 10 ga

[SmuvBoGa]

Gents,

I know flint & steel, kitchen matches, drier fluff BUT "fire piston" - ? I can infer but pls spell it out. How to make my own toy & where to put the batteries (joke). How to use it too.

Often Confused

JohnMc

[ghh3rd]

When I was a Boy Scout 40+ years ago, our Assistant Scoutmaster came to a meeting with a bow drill and promptly demonstrated how to make a fire. When my son became a scout, I remembered how impressed I was by the display years ago and we purchased a bow drill kit in the scout shop. We got smoke from it several times, but never got it quite hot enough to get an ember.

I carry a magnesium/flint bar with me hunting/camping, and have a keychain flint striker with me always. If lost, I think that besides water, fire would be my next priority, if only for the comfort.

Randy


ps I'd like to know more about fire pistons too.

[timkelley]

I have made a fire with flint and steel in the far past, now I need a weed burner.

[waksupi]

Lots of fire piston videos on Youtube. I made mine with an osage orange cylinder, and an ebony piston. It looks a lot like a tube of BB's.

They are essentially a primitive diesel engine.

[LeeRoy]

I have started fire with flint & steel and a ferro rod & stricker.

If a person would like to learn, there is a very good site called Bushcraftingusa. It is a
camping and hiking site.

LeeRoy

[Shiloh]

I will input that in Biblical times, they carried a fire pot with embers so they didn't have to start a fire from scratch.

That being said, I taught military survival training and attempted and saw several students attempt to start a fire with bow and stick...none successfull.

We do take alot for granted...

Used a magnesium fire starter with the flint rod on the side. Many Times. Even used it once many years ago making a small fire in a bar ashtray so this girl I was talking to could light a cigarette.

The ONLY time I saw a bow and drill used successfully was at a survival seminar in Longmont Colorado. This was using a pre-made drill and block. The instructor, Papa Bear Whitmore, an expert in survival, said it would be tough to do in a survival situation. Especially with just a knife to make components. He recommended waxed matches or a magnesium fire stick. Calcium Carbide works good too, but you need a flame source.

http://www.wisesurvival.com/InMemoriam.shtml

Shiloh

[waksupi]

Using a fire bow isn't that hard once you learn the technique. My fastest time for a flame was 21 seconds, the guy who taught me could do it in 15. You do need the proper hearth and spindle. I prefer cedar, or cottonwood, with a yucca spindle.