I go to Lowe's or HomeDepot and get an 8 foot piece of Aspen for about $4 and then head down to the wooden dowels and get a softwood dowel about 3/8" diameter and so for about $6 including tax I have enought material to make several drills and fireboards. Works everytime. I also get 8 foot of oak and make bows, they work fine.
@p4h10oso Yup, this is a great way to learn the bow drill fire by friction method using store-bought woods. I've done this with Cedar and Pine. I haven't tried Aspen yet or the soft wood dowels. I'll have to give them a try for the experience.
@SwedishBlacks I'm not familiar with UK's woodlands. I made several vids like this one using various wood types. If you couldn't conveniently find good tinder otherwise, the idea here was to show that just about any type of dead dry wood can make usable tinder by scraping off wood flakes into a small bundle to spark to flame using a firesteel. Essentially making your own tinder.
Experiment with various wood types in your area. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that'll work for you.
I go to Lowe's or HomeDepot and get an 8 foot piece of Aspen for about $4 and then head down to the wooden dowels and get a softwood dowel about 3/8" diameter and so for about $6 including tax I have enought material to make several drills and fireboards. Works everytime. I also get 8 foot of oak and make bows, they work fine.
p4h10oso 1 year ago
@p4h10oso Yup, this is a great way to learn the bow drill fire by friction method using store-bought woods. I've done this with Cedar and Pine. I haven't tried Aspen yet or the soft wood dowels. I'll have to give them a try for the experience.
gundog5 1 year ago
Do you happen to know any good tinder that I can use in the UK? I live in London but right next to a big park with lots of plantlife/trees
SwedishBlacks 1 year ago
@SwedishBlacks I'm not familiar with UK's woodlands. I made several vids like this one using various wood types. If you couldn't conveniently find good tinder otherwise, the idea here was to show that just about any type of dead dry wood can make usable tinder by scraping off wood flakes into a small bundle to spark to flame using a firesteel. Essentially making your own tinder.
Experiment with various wood types in your area. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that'll work for you.
gundog5 1 year ago