Bow Drill Fire Starter Socket on Bushcraft Knives: Yay or Nay?

WilliamsBuiltBlades

WilliamsBuiltBlades

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Aug 26, 2015
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Hello!

Self explanatory title; I am curious what the general consensus is among Bushcrafters/Survival skills practicioners, etc.
Do you like a bow and drill fire starting socket in your knife handle? Is it useful, in the way, or un-used?
If you like it, what design?

Thanks for the input!

Elijah
 
Never had one myself but it looks like it would be awkward to use. The comparative size of the average knife handle might cause you to use too much pressure on the spindle, whereas a smaller bearing wouldn't because it would exert more pressure on your hand. Also, I seem to be seeing these on micarta scales, which are fabric or paper compressed in resin, and might erode the scales over time.

Better to get the ESEE firesteel, which being carbon steel can spark with flint, strike a ferro rod, or be used as a firebow bearing.

View attachment 574641
 
I like them, only used one twice but thought it was a handy feature that doesn't have any real drawbacks.
 
A ferro-rod or Bic lighter is a lot easier. Why go more primitive that you have to?
Rich
 
It's a sales gimmick. I'd rather have a maker put on a ferro rod holder and a couple of yards of real paracord, or other tough cordage, onto the sheath than spend time and supplies scalloping a divot into a scale. You can turn almost anything solid into some sort of serviceable bearing block. Meanwhile, durable cordage for a bow is difficult to make in the bush under survival conditions, and who wants to use their bootlace if they have a handy alternative?
 
Nay.

I don't want to use it as a bearing block without the sheath on it (I'm uncomfortable putting that much pressure on it unsheathed, with those kinds of forces on it from the bows motions). So I don't want to undo the sheath from my belt just to start a fire, as it seems a good way to lose things in what is most likely already a bad situation (if I'm "forced" to use a friction fire, as opposed to just practicing the skill).

That, and as others have said, its pretty easy to find/make a good bearing in many things (oftentimes the same stick that we're using to make the rest of the setup). I also think it would be uncomfortable.

Anyway, thats my two cents. Carry on now and do what you please :).
 
On some knives I find them downright uncomfortable in my hand because of the positioning of the socket. If I didn't have a lighter, matches, or a firesteel; I would think I could use my knife to carve a piece of wood to have a firebow socket.
 
I don't think there are any real drawbacks to having one.

I feel like if you really had to use a Bow Drill in survival situation, it wouldn't hurt to have a piece of your kit already handy.
 
I say nay for a number of reasons…

Doing woodcraft, feeling that divot would drive me crazy for one. The fact you are contemplating a socket I am assuming you are talking that type of knife. If that is the case, keep your knife simple and HERE is why.

Interestingly, Walter Hough of the National Museum learned the bow drill from the Canadian tribes circa 1900 of which Hough taught Ernest Thompson Seton. It was Seton who introduced this friction fire method to the Boy Scouts and inevitably the world when it was first published in Country Living Magazine in 1904. Point is coming...

The bow drill was Seton’s thing, he used it in a number of lessons and even taught it to other Native Americans. In one instance when he was teaching it to a group of men, he was asked why the bow drill when we live in a world full of matches? Seton’s reply was, while pointing the ground, “you are speaking of the fire down there,” Pointing to his chest he said, “I am talking about the fire in here.”

If you talking about about a socket for the fire in your heart, I rather have a cool rock or deer antler for a socket. For survival, to make a bow drill set from scratch in that situation is highly unlikely, and even setting that expectation can be dangerous. Here is some additional context around Outdoor Living Skills if interested.

Mora_bow_drill.jpg


Mora_bow_drill_dust.jpg


Mora_coal.jpg
 
My two main knives have them, one had one already and the other I put in with a dremel in about 30 seconds. A good alternative to the esee firesteel is this little beauty made out of an old file. It has a bow drill divot, a rounded edge to use with flint, and a squared edge to use with a ferro rod or as a shaving spoke. Also only cost about $15.
ee16ae2312f2332e71ab26d47cdf9615.jpg
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0ac77ce5ec1f6f0fe57b066887cb3621.jpg
 
Thanks for the input everyone!

I have always made a drill socket from raw materials when making a bow-drill fire. The best socket I made was from a piece of slate type (I think) rock, but this isn't available most places and times. This didn't require any lubricant. I have always had to use a lubricant with a wood socket (I like white pine pitch the best). I imagine having a ready made socket from steel or other metal would either eliminate or greatly reduce this need.

I've wondered about the viability of the sockets simply milled out of the side of a micarta handle slab. I don't imagine it would hold up particularly well, at least not to multiple uses. Most people wouldn't have to use it multiple times, but it's still the idea. I have tried some ideas about a built in socket made from metal that would remedy this problem, but I wanted to get a feel for the general like/dislike of the basic idea.

Elijah
 
I'll just say a bow divot would never be a determining factor for me to purchase a knife. It's not a yey or nay feature in any way.
 
For me, useless. If I'm forced to use the bow-drill method to start a fire on a camping trip, it would be because my several other means of starting a fire either failed or were lost. Lighters, multiple ferro rods, and a couple fresnel lenses are all usually in my bag.

I have a few knives with the divot in the scales, such as the TOPS BOB, but I've never bothered trying to use it.
 
I would not want one, not would I pay extra for one. I can use a rock or piece of bark for that. It's a gimmick.
 
I don't want one on my knife. Using a bow drill socket inlet into the handle of a sharp knife is inherently dangerous. Good way to get cut badly.
 
STAINLESS90 said:
My two main knives have them, one had one already and the other I put in with a dremel in about 30 seconds. A good alternative to the esee firesteel is this little beauty made out of an old file. It has a bow drill divot, a rounded edge to use with flint, and a squared edge to use with a ferro rod or as a shaving spoke. Also only cost about $15.
ee16ae2312f2332e71ab26d47cdf9615.jpg
58bef9024591c657832e4f40a77f1f2e.jpg
0ac77ce5ec1f6f0fe57b066887cb3621.jpg
Click to expand...

Great idea! How hard was that to make? Also, how heavy is it--looks quite thick.
 
average gimp said:
Great idea! How hard was that to make? Also, how heavy is it--looks quite thick.
Click to expand...
I didn't make it myself so i don't know for sure how hard it was to make. I do know it is decently heavy and is about a quarter inch thick. I plan to post a review on it after more use in the great outdoors.
average gimp said:
Great idea! How hard was that to make? Also, how heavy is it--looks quite thick.
Click to expand...
 
Nay.

It's a silly idea. You don't need that. If you (obviously) have a knife and some wood, it takes roughly 54.2 seconds to make a pivot/socket thingamabob. Also, those divots can be pretty uncomfortable when you're actually using the knife for cutting things.

I do like the tool made from a chunk of old file, because it has several uses. Including being a chunk of file. :thumbup:
 
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Truthfully, I've never understood the bowdrill mania, anyway. I figure a spindle drill, notched at the top, with cord and thumb loops would be more efficient to make and to carry from campsite to campsite, and save you making the bow and finding or making a bearing.
 
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