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Bow & Drill Fire Kits for Primitive Fire Making

Ever wanted to learn how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together? It's easier than you might expect, especially if you have a well-made set to begin with. Ultimately we hope you will learn how to make your own bowdrill sets, but you can start by practicing with ours until you get a feel for the proper materials and design.

A fire is created by rapidly spinning the dowel-like "spindle" back and forth in a hole in a fireboard below it. Downward pressure and speed grinds wood powder from the two wood surfaces while generating intense heat. A notch in the fireboard allows the wood powder to collect at one point, where it gets hot, then smoulders and glows red. Then the glowing coal is transferred to a "tinder bundle", basically a wad of soft, dry, fibrous material shaped like a bird's nest, and blown into flame.

Here briefly, is the proper technique, for right handed people (opposite for left):

1. Be sure to place a piece of bark or other material under the notch to catch the coal before you start drilling.

2. Place your left foot halfway across the fireboard and about one inch to the left of the hole in the fireboard.

3. Kneel with your right knee almost directly behind your left foot.

4. Wrap the spindle one time into the bow string and place the spindle in the hole in the fireboard. The bow should be positioned so that you can pull it back and forth beside you and not across in front of you.

5. Place the socket on top of the spindle and hold it with your left hand.

6. Since your left foot is half way across the fireboard the spindle will stand up right alongside your shin. Your hand with the socket should be held firmly against your shin, with the spindle straight up and down. The movement of the bow being pulled back and forth puts a lot of sideways force against the spindle. You need to anchor it against your shin to be able to control it. I literally "pinch" my hand in between my shin and the socket so it cannot move.

7. With your right hand pull the bow back and forth, turning the spindle. Keep the bow level and take full strokes. Speed is not as important as good steady technique and downward pressure on the socket.

8. If the bowstring slips around the spindle use the fingers of your right hand to pull the cord taut against the bow to cinch the cord around the spindle.

9. When you have a definite and steady wisp of smoke the first thing to do is calm down. People get excited about their first coal, and they yank the bowdrill set away, scattering a hard earned coal several feet in every direction. You have time. A coal will smolder for several minutes before consuming the punk. Carefully pull the spindle out of the hole and set it aside. Place your set in a safe, dry spot. Carefully take your foot off the fireboard and fan the hot coal in the notch by gently waving your hand. Tap the fireboard and pull it away from the glowing ember.

The wood punk welds itself together as it glows, forming a durable ember. Pick up the bark and drop the coal into the center of your tinder bundle. Hold the sides of the bundle and blow long, steady breaths into it. Allow the smoke to pass out the back. Cradle the tinder closely around the coal. Blanket it to keep it warm, but not so tight that you smother it. Blow long steady breaths and it will grow and spread, smoke, and then flame.

Each bowdrill set is handmade from carefully selected woods by Chris Morasky. Currently we are selling sets like the one pictured here, with a spindle and fireboard made from western red cedar. The socket and bow are hardwoods, usually oak, plum, hawthorn, apple or maple. Each set is "burned in" --properly notched and ready to create fire!

A customer in Australia has generously provided this article about starting a fire with our bowdrill fire kits. Additional instructions on how to use the bowdrill properly can be found in the books Participating in Nature and Outdoor Survival Skills and the video Rediscovering the Old Ways: Fire--Volume 1. Note: Oakum tinder is sold separately. Cost of Bowdrill Set: $28.

Free Friction Fire Lesson Plan for Science Teachers

Bow & Drill Fire Kit     $28.00     Quantity:
Participating in Nature: Wilderness Survival and Primitive Living Skills     $30.00     Quantity:
  
Wholesale Discounts 
Package of 5 Bow & Drill Fire Kits at $23/kit     $115.00     Quantity:
Tom,
Just wanted to drop you a note and say how pleased I was with your fire starting kits. I'm always wary of buying off the internet and figured this another gimic. However I'm glad I ordered it. My attemps without instruction were always fruitless. With this kit I started a fire after a few trys. (It would of worked the first time if I would have watched the video instead of just trying it because I didn't know the coal had to grow). Anyway keep up the work and thanks again. --James Callahan (used with permission)

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Handdrill Sets for Primitive Fire Making

A handdrill set is similar to a bowdrill set (see above), but there is no top socket to apply downward pressure, and no bow to rapidly turn the spindle. Instead you have to twirl the spindle between your hands, while also pushing downward. This is truly rubbing two sticks together! In a matter of minutes you will discover new muscles you never knew you had (and probably don't have yet)!

Some people get fire the first time they try the handdrill, but you may need to practice for a few days or a couple weeks to develop the specialized muscles that are used in the task. Sometimes I like to practice the handdrill while watching television. I get a good workout, even while sitting on my butt.

Place your hands together at the top and start twirling the spindle. Use as much of the length of your hands as you can to get the most revolutions each way. Apply downward pressure as you work and your hands will move down the spindle. Take your time to learn the technique before working for speed. At the bottom, hold the spindle with one hand then move the other hand to the top and hold the top. Move the other hand up and start spinning. Make the move quickly because the spindle cools off fast. Warm up the set gradually and save your strength. Some people spit on their hands to get a better grip on the spindle; I usually find that it is unnecessary. As the set warms then increase the speed and downward pressure and start it smoking. When it is smoking heavily then apply your best burst of speed, pressure, and most importantly, your will power!

Like the bowdrill, a fire is created by rapidly spinning the spindle back and forth in a hole in a fireboard below it. Downward pressure and speed grinds wood powder from the two wood surfaces while generating intense heat. A notch in the fireboard allows the wood powder to collect at one point, where it gets hot, then smoulders and glows red. Then the glowing coal is transferred to a "tinder bundle", basically a wad of soft, dry, fibrous material shaped like a bird's nest, and blown into flame.

The drill pictured here is from a bigleaf maple, while the fireboard is made from the dead flower stalk of the sotol plant. Currently we are selling handdrill sets made with a seep willow drill (Aster Family: Bacharris salicifolia) on a sotol stalk fireboard (Lily/Agave Family: Dasylirion wheeleri). Each handdrill set is handmade with care by Vince Pinto. Each set is "burned in" --properly notched and ready to create fire!

A customer in Australia has generously provided this article about starting a fire with our handdrill fire kits. Additional instructions on how to use the handdrill can be found in the books Participating in Nature and Outdoor Survival Skills and the video Rediscovering the Old Ways: Fire--Volume 1.Note: Oakum tinder is sold separately. Cost of Handdrill Set: $16.

Handdrill Fire Kit     $16.00     Quantity:

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Oakum Tinder

Once you have a created a hot coal, you will need to place the glowing ember into a nest of light, dry, fibrous materials, called a tinder bundle. Good tinder bundles can be made from dead grass, sagebrush bark, or the inner bark of a dead cottonwood tree, and many other materials. Just look around for dry, fluffy materials and shape them into a nest-like form. In the mountains you can use "pine fluff", the dried flower parts of the pines which often accumulate in small piles around logs and boulders. As a curiosity, very fine steel wool can also be used. The steel fibers are so fine that they catch fire and burn, one of those things you almost have to see to believe.

We hope that you the reader will learn to make your own primitive fire sets and collect your own tinder, but to get started you may want to use our quality "oakum" tinder. Oakum is made of fibers from the jute plant. Historically, oakum has been manufactured for plumbers, heavily greased and used for packing around steel pipe fittings. The oakum we have is ungreased, plain dry fibers. A small amount of "oakum" tinder is included with our flint & steel kits. Tinder is sold separately for bowdrill, handdrill, and fire plow sets.

Make your tinder bundle into the form of a nest with a hole in the center to place the coal. Cradle the bundle in your hands, gently closing the front to wrap the coal inside. Be careful to not smother it, but only to blanket it to keep it warm. Blow with steady, even breaths between your hands and let the smoke spill out the backside until you have a flaming bundle, a ball of fire. Then place it in the fire pit and start adding small twigs and then bigger sticks.

Our oakum tinder is also helpful for group events, when a large amount of tinder is needed. We sell oakum by the pound. One pound makes about twelve average-size tinder bundles. Just measure about 10 to 12 inches of oakum, un-twist and pull-apart to obtain a suitable length. We ship the oakum in recycled plastic bags (bread bags, etc.).

1 lb. Oakum Tinder     $8.00     Quantity:

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Rediscovering the Old Ways Video: Fire--Volumes 1 & 2

Every year there are newer and often better primitive skills videos on the market, and in terms of fire making, the best vidoes I have yet seen are Fire: Volumes 1 & 2. Volume 1 provides thoroughly comprehensive coverage of the One Match Fire, Flint & Steel Fire-Starting, Bowdrill Fire-Starting and the Handdrill. Volume 2 includes quickie demonstrations of more than 40 ways to start a fire without matches.

Volume 1: Flint & Steel, Bow & Drill, and Handdrill: The video features a unique step-by-step approach to teach you each of these techniques in 3 stages: first at home using modern tools (to help you quickly succeed and gain confidence); second using only a knife and whatever you can find (this is likely the type of situation you would be in if you ever really needed to make fire without matches); and finally, the truly primitive way, using no modern tools or materials of any kind.

Flint & Steel: This is the traditional way that pioneers and mountain men made fires. Learn to make char cloth, find alternatives to flint, and even how to make fire by simply striking two stones together!

Bow & Drill: This is the "rub two sticks together" method used since prehistoric times. First learn to make fire with a set cut from lumberyard wood. Soon, you'll be making fire in the woods with sets made using no modern tools but your pocket knife. Then, with some practice, you'll be making fire using nothing but what nature provides. Imagine being lost anywhere in the world, yet still able to start fire for cooking and comfort!

Handdrill: Although more difficult to master than the Bowdrill, this technique was preferred by ancient people due to its simplicity. Learn to gather the materials anywhere, even in a city. We reveal tips and tricks that help anyone master creating fire with this ancient technique!

Volume 2: More Than 40 Ways to Make Fire Without Matches: Fire, Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off, demonstrating advanced tips and techniques for flint & steel, bow & drill, and handdrill fire starting. The rest of the video is dedicated to quickie demonstrations of more than 40 ways to start fires without matches. This is a truly extraordinary video, covering primitive as well as modern techniques. For example, primitive fire alternatives include the fire plow, fire thong, fire saw, fire piston, pump drill and the fire piston. The video includes fire starting with lenses and reflectors, such as magnifying glasses, fresnel lenses, eye glasses, as well as completely unexpected items such as aluminum cans, sandwich bags, and hub caps--even demonstrating how to start fires from water and ice! Also demonstrated are eletrical methods, such as car and flashlight batteries, and chemical methods, such as with household or automotive chemicals.

Fire--Volume 1 DVD: Flint & Steel, Bow & Drill, Handdrill Fire Starting     $27.00     Quantity:
Fire--Volume 2 DVD: More Than 40 Ways to Make Fire Without Matches!     $27.00     Quantity:

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Primitive Fire-Starter Package Discounts

The Essential Primitive Fire Starter Package--Save $19:
(This package counts as 6 items for calculating postage.)

The Deluxe Primitive Fire-Starter Package--Save $26:
(This package counts as 7 items for calculating postage.)
Includes everything in The Essential Primitive Fire Starter Package, plus:

Essential Primitive Fire-Starter Package (6 items, save $19)     $105.00     Quantity:
Deluxe Primitive Fire-Starter Package (7 items, save $26)     $125.00     Quantity:


   

Hello Friends at Hollowtop!

I got my order today. Thank you. I tried the bow drill with the kids after supper. It was all very comical. I'm sure you can appreciate the image: my 8 year old daughter and I were trying to get it going, but we were laughing so much that we couldn't keep it even. Everyone wanted to be involved in it, my 2 year old daughter was hitting her on the head with a piece of wood from our woodbox (a small piece, a small child) while my 85 lb dog kept sticking his cold nose in my ear because he was getting excited with all the commotion and loud noise. We finally retired to a nice cup of dandelion root coffee. That's delicious.

I am also enjoying your book Participating in Nature that I received as a gift recently. I really like your way of weaving the teachings with your thoughts and ponderings, and then again to the activity at hand. It's all very nice. One thing I suddenly feel moved to tell you is that I appreciate your perspective on how we must continue to move forward--how that will not change. Of course I don't want to hear this, I want everything to go back to normal. but you're right about something in there, and that something keeps me thinking on it... "something" being a nice vague word that my denial can accept at the moment.

--Traci (used with permission).

Dear Tom,

Success !!!!

I ordered your Complete Primitive Fire-Starter Package 4 days ago and received the kit this afternoon. I am pleased to say that I managed to start two fires with the bow drill in a matter of around 10 minutes after reading your materials and watching the included video. What a rush !!!

My father who is 80 told me how he tried many times as a boy scout in the 1930's to start a fire with a bow drill. He said he could get lots of smoke but didn't understand that you have to have a notch in the fire board and that the coal that is developed must then be transfered to the tinder bundle. The main incentive for purchasing the kit from you was to help him overcome that disappointment that has lingered in the back of his mind all these years. Interesting, he was present when I managed to start the first two fires and it was wonderful to see how excited he became. I am not sure that he has the strength to operate the bow drill by himself but just being present when I managed to start my two fires meant a lot to him.

I am an elementary librarian and plan on sharing this experience with "my" 435 K-5 kids.

I'll keep in touch.

Alan Corson
Dauphin, Pennsylvania
(used with permission)

Tom,

I received my hand drill fire set and oakum tinder (which was very easy to use I might add...I mean like four or five passes down and there was a coal...for me faster than cattail on cottonwood). My new order consists of the following videos:

Mountain Lakes
Getting Started in Flint Knapping

I always look forward to what you have done in the videos. I can't go out in the woods (here in South Korea) with the freedom I had in the states and so have to live through your videos and products. I have also turned some of the other guys here into aspiring Abo's and you should be seeing at least a few new orders from my locale. I really appreciate the heart and concern you put into your writing and your videos. The messages and ideas would make for a better world if only people would listen. Keep up the good work...fight the good fight.

Sincerely,
Tim Hilton
Stationed in South Korea
(used with permission)

Also see these related pages:
Flint & Steel Kits for Primitive Fire Making
Fire Plow Sets for Primitive Fire Making
Fire Pistons for Primitive Fire Making
Swedish Fire Steel Emergency Fire Starter
Fresnel Lens Card Magnifier

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