How do you start a fire with nothing?

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
4,453
Many a time, a man gets lost in the jungle, outback, or simply out there in the wild with nothing but his clothes, and he needs to start a fire in order to stop being a block of ice by sunrise.

What are the options for him?

Like most people I have heard of knocking two stones together and that ancient method of turning one pointed stick on a horizontal one (this one sounds difficult).

Is there no way to start a fire apart from waiting for lightning to strike a tree near you?
 
Hi Golok,

There's a few threads here on this subject that should show up with a search. Otherwise, there are pages on the web at large that cover primitive firemaking methods
..............
The usual friction methods for firemaking are:

- hand drill = spinning a vertical rod between your hands, pressing down while your spinning it, with the rod point bearing on a softer wood that will (hopefully) form an ember

- bow drill = much like a hand drill with the addition of:
1. a bent branch (the bow) held taut by a cord that is wrapped around the rod to spin it
2. a divot, which is an object with a small cup-like depression in it that you use to bear down on the top of the rod while spinning the rod by sawing the bow back and forth

- fire plough - a pointed stick rubbed back and forth in a groove carved into a second piece of wood
..............

Part of the trick is to insure that when you find yourself with "only the clothes on your back", you have your pockets stashed with a few basics like a knife, matches or sparker or ferrocium rod or cigarette lighter, some cordage, food bar maybe, satellite phone maybe ;) .
 
I've done fire with two sticks in various configurations and with two stones, though I don't consider myself an expert.

RokJok is essentially correct. But a big part of improvised fire, whether by friction or percussion is tinder. Your tinder needs to be capable of catching the spark or coal and then being worked to ignite.

We could talk ad nauseum about materials. They can vary significantly by region; and they can be remarkably similar. Most need preparation of some kind, be it drying, carving, shaving, charring or fluffing.

Probably the most important thing is to recognize as many ways as possible to get fire, then to work with whatever you have available, natural or man-made to make a certain technique work.

I've put most of what I've done on my web site. I've been taking each technique I can find, reading up on it and trying it in my spare time, with varying degrees of success.

Mike
 
Michael, I have taken a look at your homepage.

There are plenty of interesting stuff. Thank you very much.

It is very nice of you to teach others those survival techniques.
 
Suffice it to say, if you are unwitting enough to get caught out in the wilds with "only the cloths on your back" chances are you don't have the skills to make a fire from nothing. I have tried all three above mentioned techniques by Rokjok and even in most ideal conditions it is difficult- trying them, occassionally succeeding, often failing, gives me even more appreciation for need to carry a small ferro rod, waterproof tinder, and lighter all the time.
Oh and knife, of course :)
 
martin j,
i am with you , i have tried the friction methods of starting a fire, and have done it but i dont know if i want to stake my life on it. so i cheat with a doan tool stashed in a pocket along with a one hand trailmaster and a pin on compass, this will keep me going for a few days. much better to have a minikit stashed somewhere than to try to get by with the clothes on your back. i have tried making a fireset with my bare hands ( and my bootlaces) and was able to get it to work and got my fire, but you will spend a lot more time and energy doing it that using a ferro rod.

golok, stash a ferro rod and a pocket knife in your pocket. like your american express card -- dont leave home without it.

alex
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top