Fire by friction- rattan fire thong

A tropical method of firelighting using a rattan strip on balsa. I used the hole through the hearth method here which is easy with balsa. With harder woods the hearth can be split slighlty. I plan to make full videos on both this and the fire plough when I have a chance to get out and film in the daytime.

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Howto & Style

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• fire by friction
• fire thong
• bushcraft
• tropical firelighting
• bushcraft courses
• bushcraft course

[ROBwithaB]

Nice demonstration of a lesser known technique.

Well done.

(The balsa dust always surprises me with how light in colour it can be and still take. With most woods, the char needs to be jet black before the ember will take.)

[LearnBushcraft]

@ROBwithaB That's what amazes me... it's such a light brown colour.

[jimrbsn]

Fire Thong... sounds painfull !

[LearnBushcraft]

@jimrbsn not something i'd want to wear... even if it was soft lol.

[LearnBushcraft]

@ROBwithaB Thanks for that Rob, on the basis of that im going to try some flexible hazel split down.... was goign to try it dry as a long shot... but know it would have broken. But now i'll try it green... thanks!

[ROBwithaB]

@LearnBushcraft

For this method, I've found that the thong does not have to be completely dry. In fact, I've tried various vines freshly cut. When they're green they're obviously much more flexible. The lignin breaks down with heat, allowing it to become even more flexible. The heat also dries the fibres out enough to get the char pile going. Takes a bit longer, but definitely easier than having a dry, brittle thong snap.

Easier too than getting rattan delivered to the wilderness !

[luresalive]

Ingenious!

[dkx927]

That's killer Dale! I wonder about rootlets (ie: the ever elusive WR Cedar!) It may snap if too thin, but I recon there's a way, considering there's a will, to at least give it a try.

Catch ya later, Dude!

[ArtisanTony]

I am wondering how the coal collects in the middle? Or did it?

[LearnBushcraft]

@flamefinger1989 Hey Darren thanks, glad to hear you're floating the hand drill well!

[LearnBushcraft]

@wanderinggibbon sadly clematis vine is too brittle when dry, however you may be on to something with the barks! I will go off and experiment! Thanks for the comment