I learned how to do this at a young age and I used this technique as a right of passage for my son into manhood so to speak. We did this on a week long hiking trip in New Mexico. He was so happy that he did it and I have seen a huge improvement to the way he acts and handles situations. I am very proud of him.
Thank you! Ever since BOY SCOUTS, I have always wanted to be able to do that. This video has explained it and I believe I can now, at 69 years old, earn my merit badge!
SAME HERE I WAS SO CAUGHT UP IN THE PROCESS I WAS BLOWING WITH YOU ,TURNING MY HEAD FROM THE SMOKE AND JUST GOT SO EXCITED WHEN IT BURST INTO FLAME. GREAT VIDEO
I watched a bunch of clips last night on how to start fire and then I quickly tried it the next day before sundown without the bow drill method though just my hands and probably not the greatest materials and it didn’t work which I expected but knew I needed to keep trying and experimenting but in the meantime I thought there needs to be more videos from a beginners person sharing what didn’t work as well as what did. This video covered a lot of that. Loved it. One of the better videos on the topic. Thanks so much for sharing. God bless and much love from Australia!
I can’t wait to try this! Loved the tip on how to make tinder from bark. That was one of my biggest issues where I am. Finding a tree with good tinder but now you’ve helped me realise I can use dry bark all around me if I rough it up and loosen the dust out of it which we have plenty of here. I knew the answer would be literally lying all around me. Thanks for helping me figure it out. Can’t wait!
Steve you the man. Everything you said here is spot on. I also like how you teach things it's not from the perspective look at me I am a professional teacher and you are a newbie student. You are a humble guy. Although I have to say this one being in Utah or Idaho or maybe northern Arizona you already ahead of the game. Try some of this in the Pacific Northwest in the rain. Lol or the foggy coast of Santa Cruz up north. Keep up the great work we need more dads making hot chocolate and keeping the kids away from the tablets.
That was very helpful. Spent the better part of the day trying to get a fire. First time. Frustrated. After seeing this...I'm gonna go after it again this week! Thanks!
Survival Lilly recommends using a roller blade wheel as a beginner's block which allows having a block with a built in ball bearing that still allows sufficient pressure. Thought that was a real advantage for learning.
Just find a small river rock that fits good for your hand, and carefully chip out a divot for the spindle's end. Works as well as the bearing-block I use.
Survival Lilly is an idiot and who has very poor wilderness skills. There are two types of people who visit her channel. The first are knowledgeable woodsmen who want a laugh and the other type are horny kids who are waiting for her to get undressed on camera for yet another "contrived" reason. If you want genuine wilderness skills, look to channels such as far north Bushcraft and Survival, Karamat Wilderness Ways, Corporals Corner, or the Grey Bearded Green Beret. There are others as well but all these people are the real deal and walk the walk.
I just Love the way you set up your hearth board, with one hole leading into another to collect the coal - Absolutely Brilliant idea! You are the only person I've seen do this.
Love the video Steve… I am like a walking pyromaniac when it comes to fire starting tactics… I do love the bow drill. I make my own flint and steel (the steel from old files) and make char cloth here at the house. I have struck a ember in my “unloaded” flintlock pan and it works just as well. But… I do carry a Bic lighter in my fire kit also… Daniel Boo e would have loved to have a Bic lighter back in the day… the folks would have been amazed by it. Lol
I like your technique of using the old hole as the notch. The ball bearings work, I bought a Bowdrill learning kit that has ball bearing. I agree that it makes it a lot easier. However, it is only a learning tool. The whole purpose of Bowdrill is to make fire when you have nothing. If you need to bring a bearing block to make friction fire, than just bring a ferro rod instead. Same goes for flint and steel . If you can't make a fire without bringing charcloth and striker, then just bring a ferro rod. The only advantage of flint and steel over friction fire is you can use the back of your knife as a striker and you can make charcloth on site if you can get one fire going. I think the best advice is to have several ferro rods in different places with water proof matches and lighters and master the other two techniques for backup in an emergency. I do highly suggest to buy a bowdrill learning kit. You can get nice ones off Amazon for $10~$15 and they are complete ready to practice in your backyard. Basic kits use regular lumber(mine looks like poplar): drill is a 1" dowel with holes drill to pass parachord through it rather than rap around the drill. The board is a 1"x2" that's been pre-dimpled and notched at regular intervals. And the bearing block has steel ballbrearings. Plus you get unstranded jute for the birdnest. Even with these high tech bowdrill, it is still a learning curve. I had to try three times, each time completely winded. Took a break to watch more RU-vid tutorials and on my fourth try got fire. Now I get fire everytime and I am ready to start replacing parts of my kit with stuff from the wild.
If you are really good using a knife on wood, you can whittle-out a channel about midway from the top of the spindle, but better a little above that mark. You want to make the channel like where a rope goes around a pulley. And maybe not even half-way into the wood as you might make it too weak. The idea is to make it narrower where the cord wraps so as to increase the revolutions when using a larger diameter spindle.
You really explained your techniques very well. I’ve seen other videos on bow drill, your the first to teach the birds nest technique with the very fine dust in the center of your nest for the ember to land on. Two thumbs up bro. 👍👍
Very well done and educational. Great job, you made it look easy. You should sell that bow drill divot, I could use one. Thank you for taking the time to share with us.
after 2 years of following you i made my first purchase received Nono 3 days ago it's your passion to continuously teach us with this type of video can't wait to try making my own bow drill keep updating us!
Great video. A longer bow helps out and para cord is the best string. The palm rock needs to be bigger and needs to fit the hand well. The rock should be smooth in texture. Then with another rock, knife or drill bit, drill the hole in about 1/2 inch. Or take apart some roller blades and use a wheel with a nice bearing in it. Great video with a lot of new things that I haven't thought off. Thank you:)
I absolutely loved the camera angle of you blowing it to flame. It looks just like being the one to blow it into flam yourself (as the viewer at home).
Yes that helped! THANK YOU!! I had not seen a better explanation than yours. All the detailed important parts that I would have messed up. I also had not seen the notches or bore into one hole after the other method. I think I like that one. THANK YOU!! I think when I try this for the first time I will be successful, as long as I stack my deck for my success.. Thanks again.
Awesome tutorial Sir! I tried the bow drill for the first time this week and almost had a full on ember and as my friend said, he would have given up long before I ever did (time constraint kept me from complete success). So' I wasn't deterred and want to try it again, but this video gave me even more ideas to work with. Thanks!
this is a great detailed video of the bow drill, I also remember trying to teach myself how to make fire with a bow drill and had similar frustrations. I have watched many bushcraft videos on this subject and yours is by far the most informative. We learn by correcting our mistakes, your explanation of the choice for string material and the fire board was awesome. Keep up the good work, your videos are some of the best.
I like the way you built your bow, and the block you use to provide the friction when moving the bow. I believe that I can make a bow, and the other parts from the pine wood we have here in Arkansas to start a fire. I saw where the entire kit was made of hard wood also and it worked so either all softwood or hardwood would work. Thanks so much for showing us how to make the parts needed and showing us how to use them.
Totally amazing Steve! I read "The Tracker" by Tom Brown and he described how to make a fire using a bow drill but the materials were all those widely available in New Jersey; So it's great to see how to do it in the Western United States especially Utah where there is lots of sagebrush and juniper trees!
Thanks for this video, it took me about a month of changing materials, technique and what-not but I got my first ember today! (I was in my apartment so I didn't try to make fire from it, I'll try outside soon!)
This is an excellent, useful, & well-made tutorial; tyvk! It's not everybody that understands the importance of making a tutorial about doing something right while the memory of the mistakes is still fresh in mind. I hope to find more videos from you here on RU-vid! :D
Wow this is the video I’ve been looking for! I post a link to it when I post my fire drill video. I’ve made a few attempts but haven’t got fire yet. I think I’m close now.
I hope you have a great time! I'm sure you'll get fire But be sure to do some research on which Woods in your area work the best and make sure that you can get them.
In upstate SC it’s hard to find good spindle material but sometimes I can find a good yucca stem that work good for me with a board of dry tulip poplar.
It's always best to learn with the method you demonstrated so well. I switched to using a hand drill just because I couldn't count on finding a chord that would work. Around here, common mullien is... pretty common and dead dried stalks even if their old work well. Thank you for posting.
Really good video!!! Love that idea of the ground plate catching the ember in another hole. Sure gonna try that one. As the bearing block I use the plastic screw cap of my 1/2 liter water bottle and put a coin on the inside. Hardly any friction and it polishes your coin :) Keep up the good work because this video really showed what is actually happening. Big thumbs up.
Thanks Steve. Excellent details and very specific suggestions on how to succeed. Just in the middle of working on mine right now and found my first attempt wasn't very successful.
@@fireboxstove thanks for getting back to me lol 😂 not used to that , Im in a camping club and I want to do a few of these so this one thing I’ll be working on with my group
nice video! the only problem i see with these types of tutorials is that you end up having to carry the elements of bow and drill with you, opposed to the idea that you need to have knowledge and skill to make it on the fly. without a lighter, firesteel and knife. Ray Mears has a good tutorial on this one
Maybe you didn't notice the title "for beginners" are you suggesting that people not even try to learn the technique but rather just try to figure their way through it from the very beginning with absolutely no tools as though they were in a survival situation?
yeah, I thought I should mention some other words but then realized that the list is just way too long and people would have to do research for their area. thanks so much!
