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We'll go camping ... virtually. Moreover, as usual, our trip will be extremely unsuccessful. And it won't be lucky with the weather, and the matches were forgotten at home, not to mention the fact that after a continuous rain for two weeks, everything that could be set on fire was irreversibly damp. Having piled up a small bunch of similar problems, we, with our usual zeal, begin to overcome them. So, let's try to make a fire in wet weather. And the first thing to consider in these chilly circumstances is the obvious fact that a small fire is much easier to light and light than a large one. Therefore, we boldly make a great many small fires, which will burn better, and give more heat, or maybe, if we are very lucky, they will lure some plane lost in the clouds. What for? Maybe they will throw it up to the house ... As for fuel, it is best to look for it under the trunks of fallen trees. Small, dry islands usually remain there. Of these, the most flammable and convenient material is the rot of dried trees, or dry stumps and resin of pine cones. Now everything that we have found needs to be piled up, in the form of a wigwam. And at this solemn moment, you discover that you have forgotten the matches at home. Nothing wrong. You should not tear your hair, buttons and rub your cheeks abundantly watered with a salty tear on this occasion. Not worth it - for there are at least three methods of making fire without matches, proven by popular wisdom. The first and the most good option - this is flint and flint. The flint can be the corresponding side of the waterproof matchbox, or a solid piece of stone. In order for a flame to ignite from a spark, it is necessary to strike this spark first. Why do we get furiously hitting with a flint on a steel knife blade, or on some small steel bar. When the spark hits the tinder and the latter begins to smoke, urgently, urgently bend over and begin to blow desperately. If everything is done correctly, the fire is ready, if not, go to the beginning of the paragraph. The second way, sung by the unforgettable Cyrus Smith, is in the sun and the lens. And he made the last one from two glasses wrist watchby filling them with water and smearing them with clay, confirming once again that there are no hopeless situations. If Prometheus did not come out of you and it was not possible to get the fire, it remains to advise you to resort to the latter and the classic way cutting flame, namely friction. This method is resorted to with great despair. However, there should still be a faint hope of success. This method has many varieties, we will focus on one, called "bow and drill". To begin with, we make a bow using a string, rope, or belt. Then we use it to roll a dry soft shaft in a small hole made in a dry and hard block of wood. As a result, we get a dry powdery dust, in which a spark should appear with further friction.
7 ways to light a fire without matches
There is a primary connection between man and fire. Every man should know how to ignite it. A real man knows how to do it without matches. This is an essential survival skill. You never know when you will find yourself in a situation where you will need fire and you will not have matches or lighters with you. Here are 7 ways you can start a fire without matches.
Making fire by friction
Making fire by friction is not for the faint of heart. This is perhaps the most difficult of all methods of producing fire without matches. Exists different methodsthat can be used to get fire by friction, but most important aspect it is still the type of wood that is used for the plank and spindle.
Spindle - a stick that you will twist to create friction between it and the board. If you've created enough friction between the spindle and the plank, you will have a coal that can be used for further ignition. Juniper, aspen, willow, cedar, cypress, walnut best materials for plank and spindle.
In order to use wood for friction fire, the wood must be dry. If the wood is not dry, you will need to dry it first.
Hand drill
Method hand drill the most primitive, the most basic and the most difficult. All you need is wood, tireless hands, and firm determination. Here's how it's done:
Build a Tinder Nest... Tinder is any material that ignites from a single spark. Birch bark, dry grass, wood shavings, waxed paper, fluffed cotton wool, spruce cones, pine needles, crushed dry mushrooms (tinder fungi), burnt cotton fabric are excellent tinder, as is the fine dust produced by woodworm insects, as well as the contents of bird nests.
Make an incision. Cut a small indentation on the board.
Place the bark under the cutout. The bark will be used to catch the ember that will arise from the friction between the spindle and the board.
Start rotating. Place the spindle in the groove on the plank. Your spindle needs to be about 50 centimeters long for this to work properly. Maintain the pressure between the spindle and the board and start rotating the stick between your palms. Continue twisting until an ember appears.
Set on fire! As soon as you see a flaming ember, transfer it to the tinder nest. Blow gently on it to light a fire.
Fire bow
Most effective method extraction of fire based on friction is the use of a bow and a drill.
Bow. Make a tight bow by pulling a string, strap, or string over a stick.
Make a small hole in dry, hard wood.
The result will be black powder like dust.
When a spark is generated in this powder, it must be transferred to pre-prepared flammable materials (tinder).
Fire Bow: Getting Fire from a Branch (photo report)
This photo report is dedicated to production of fire using the fire bowbriefly covered in the previous post. For the experience we need a knife, a rope ( perfect option - paracord) and something like Silky pocketboy .
Go…
Multiple movements Silky Pocketboy and ...
A few more with a knife ...
Adding paracord ...
Now let's put this puzzle together ...
Making a deepening ...
Cut out a piece from the side of the hole ...
Let there be fire ...
This is a good old fallback. A good idea, always take flint and steel with you on a hike. Matches can get wet and practically useless, but you can still get a spark from steel and a piece of flint. A pretty good option is the FireSteeL mini flint, although I prefer the Expedition flint knife.
If you have a situation that you do not have a set of flint and flint with you, you can always improvise with the help of quartzite and a steel blade of a pocket knife. You will also need a piece of charred cloth to catch the spark. If you don't have it, you can replace it with a piece of mushroom or birch.
Take a rock and charred cloth. Take a piece of stone between the big and forefinger... Make sure the edge protrudes 5-7 centimeters. Pinch the fabric between thumb and flint.
Strike sparks! Take steel or the back of a knife blade. Hit the steel against the flint several times. Sparks from the steel will fly straight onto the fabric, causing a glow.
Light the fire. Place the smoldering cloth in the tinder and gently blow on it to ignite the fire.
Lens-based techniques
Most easy method production of fire without matches is based on the use of lenses.
Traditional Lenses
To get fire, all you need is some kind of lens in order to focus the sun's rays on a specific spot. A magnifying glass, glasses, eye lenses or binoculars will do everything. If you add some water to the lens, the beam will become more intense. Tilt the lens so that the beams are focused to a small point (as small as possible). Put tinder in this place and you will soon have fire.
The only drawback of lenses is that it only works when there is sun. Therefore, at night or cloudy weather have to look for other methods.
In addition to the methods using traditional lenses, there are three unusual but effective methodbased on the refraction of rays.
Balloons and condoms
By filling a balloon or condom with water, you can transform these ordinary objects into a lens.
Please note that condoms and balloons smaller short focal lengththan conventional lenses. Therefore, keep them 1 to 2 cm away from the tinder.
Fire from ice
In order to get fire from a block of ice you need to make ice in the shape of a lens and then use it the same way as with any other lens. This method can be especially useful for winter camping.
Pure water. For this to work, the ice must be transparent. If it is cloudy or has other impurities, the option will not work. Most the best wayto get a crisp block of ice fill a cup, goblet or container made of foil, clean water from a lake, pond or melted snow. Let's turn the water into ice. Your ice block should be about 5 centimeters thick.
Lens shape.Use a knife to form a piece of ice into the lens. Remember that the lens shape is thicker in the middle and narrower at the edges.
Polish the lens. Once you've got a rough lens shape, finish it off by hand polishing it to a smooth finish.
Set on fire. Tilt your ice lens just like you would with traditional lenses. Focus the light on the tinder.
Coca Cola and Chocolate Bar
Another interesting way to get fire.
All that is needed is an aluminum can and chocolate.
Polish the bottom of the can with chocolate. Chocolate acts like a polish, and by rubbing the bottom of the can a little, you can get a kind of mirror. If you don't have chocolate with you, toothpaste will do too.
Get fire. After sanding the bottom of the can, you will have a parabolic mirror. Now they need to catch the sunlight and place the tinder in the place where the rays are focused.
How to light a fire without matches?
How to make a fire
The usual way. Small dry chips are folded into a small "pioneer" fire, and larger pieces of wood are laid on top of this structure (in the end, it looks like a cone - a standard "pioneer" fire).
A modernized way. A well is formed from the logs: in pairs, two logs parallel to each other, on top two more perpendicular to the previous ones, and so on. Chips are kindled at the bottom of the "well", and the whole structure ignites very well and quickly. For lighting it is convenient to use pieces of birch bark, previously separated from the log.
In the rain. Even in rainy weather, you can make a fire as follows: put two small woods of the same size in the wind. On top of these logs, put the thinnest dried twigs or twigs perpendicularly and set fire. Usually lights up from the first match.
How to light a fire without matches
In the absence of experience, it is difficult to light a fire even with a large supply of matches. But what if there are no matches? There are several ways with the help of available tools. Before trying to start a fire without matches, prepare some dry, flammable materials. Then, shelter them from wind and moisture. Good substances can be rot, rope or twine, dry palm leaves, wood shavings and sawdust, bird feathers, woolly plant fibers, finely chopped tree bark, gauze, cotton wool, fluff, dry moss, scraps of clothing, which, if possible, moisten gasoline, etc. To stock up on them for future use, put some in a waterproof bag.
Potassium permanganate and glycerin
Pour about 1 gram of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate), ground into fine powder. Then carefully drop 2-3 drops of glycerin from a pipette or glass tube onto it and quickly remove your hand. It will take only 2-3 seconds, and you will see how the fire breaks out.
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The ability to make fire is perhaps the most useful skill in survival conditions. Fire is a source of heat and light, you can cook food on fire, boil water, making it drinkable. Therefore, survivalists pay so much attention to all kinds of devices for making a fire. The ability to light a fire without matches and a lighter can help out great in difficult times, for example, when the matches are wet or lost.
The most important thing in starting a fire is good tinder. Many of the techniques described below will be simply useless if you do not have a good tinder, because the fire should kindle from a tiny spark. A good tinder must be dry. Dry grass, leaves, shavings, bark, and also a tinder fungus are usually used as tinder. Of course, tinder can be prepared in advance by taking, for example, a piece of burnt cotton cloth or cotton balls soaked in petroleum jelly. Finally, you can buy a special synthetic tinder from a travel store.
Here are some of the most popular ways to start a fire without matches or a lighter:
Flame and magnesium
Flame is a metal rod made of ferrocerium - an alloy of iron and mischmetal, which strikes sparks when it hits the metal. When a metal armchair hits a metal rod - "flint" - small particles of metal are cut off, which creates a high temperature and the formation of a spark. By gently inflating the smoldering tinder, you thus provide an oxygen supply and, as a result, ignite the tinder. Some flints may come with a magnesium bar. In this case, carefully comb a few small particles of magnesium onto your tinder before setting the wheel in motion, then it will ignite faster.
Friction
Friction is perhaps the most ancient method of making fire, invented by our distant ancestors. This technique is based on creating heat by rubbing two pieces of wood against each other. There are many variations of this method, but the simplest is the bow drill method.
A bow spindle consists of a wooden board, a spindle, a support block and, in fact, a bow. It is desirable that all elements are made of dry soft wood, especially a board, the wood for it should be as soft as possible. Cut a round indentation in the board to fit your spindle. Then cut from the edge of the board to the spindle notch.
From a curved branch, make a bow by tying a piece of rope, strings, or even a string to both ends of the bow. Roll the spindle around the string so that it wraps around the spindle. Place the board on the ground, with the notch on top of a small pile of tinder. Place your foot on one side of the board and place the spindle in the circular notch. Place the support block on top of the spindle and secure.
Now move the bow back and forth opposite the slot in the board. As a result of friction, smoke will begin to appear - continue rotating the spindle until you see that ash has appeared and smokes in the recess. Take the ash tinder and blow gently until a flame appears.
Magnifying glass
There are some different ways increase the sun's rays. Using magnifying glass - the most common, but far from the only technique. sunlight can be magnified through any clear liquid, such as water in any curved vessel, the sphere of which will act as a lens. A clear plastic bag will also work. The main secret - increase the sunbeam through glass or water and concentrate it on one point of your tinder. For this, the water must be clear, and the weather is clear. It is best to choose an afternoon when the sun is at its brightest.
Flint and steel
A spark can be struck by striking with a soft steel rod - for example, with the butt of a pocket knife, on hard stone, preferably flint. To do this, you need to hold in one hand a flint with a flammable tinder, for example, from burnt fabric. The striking surface of the flint must have a sharp edge, so you may need to split your flint or quartz beforehand to get a sharp edge. Use your other hand to strike the edge of the flint against the steel surface of the knife and, if you're lucky, a spark on the tinder will ignite it.
Man has been using fire for many millennia, and the further, the greater the role fire plays in human life. At first, he simply warmed, scared away wild animals, cooked food on it, then he began to serve for the production of pottery, glass, bricks, metal processing, and today he delivers astronauts and cargo to orbit, sets millions of cars in motion.
Making a fire using matches or a lighter is extremely easy today. But has a fire always been made like that? Even 70-80 years ago, in most of the territory of our country, there were no lighters, and matches were in short supply, therefore, in villages and towns, and in cities, fire was kindled without matches.
How to make fire without matches?
Today, few people know how to light or know how to light a fire without matches.
For making a fire without matches, people have used forged flint for many centuries. The fire is a small flat forged metal plate. If you hit such a plate against the sharp edge of the stone, then microscopic particles will break off from the plate - they are the very sparks from which fire was made in ancient times. Flint was used as a stone - a natural mineral with very sharp edges. It was about these lands that they "cut through", "cut" or "hewed" the flint - hence the name "krealo", which is more ancient and more widespread in Russia.
The sparks obtained in this way fell on a special material - tinder. The tinder from the spark began to smolder, becoming hotter and hotter, and turned into a coal - a firebrand, from which dry shavings, grass, flax, moss or birch bark easily caught fire. In such a simple way, our ancestors could deftly and quickly make fire without matches and a lighter.
Detailed instructions for making a fire without matches
To make fire without matches, you will need:
- forged armchair (flint),
- a piece of flint,
- tin tinderbox with fabric linen tinder,
- a skein of jute rope for preparing dry kindling.
Cut 5-6 pieces of rope 10-12 cm each and unbraid them into threads.
Divide each thread into separate fibers.
Crumple the resulting fibers into a ball.
Remove a rectangular piece of tinder (burnt matter) from a metal tinderbox and place it on top of a flat piece of flint.
Then slide the tinder to the sharp edge of the flint so that the edge of the flint and the edge of the tinder match. It is important that the edge of the tinder does not hang over the flint, and the edge of the flint is not visible from under the tinder. Take the chair and attach it with a long working surface (blade) to the sharp edge of the flint on which you have the tinder. We will call this position "initial". Now lift the chair 15-20 cm up and, lowering it down, make a sliding blow on the edge of the flint.
At the moment of impact, when the working surface of the armchair, going down, comes into contact with the sharp edge of the flint, metal particles are pinched off from the armchair and in the form of sparks scatter in all directions.
Sparks hitting the tinder ignite it and it begins to smolder. Often, one blow is not enough and it may take a series of 4-5 blows before you see the spark hit the tinder and the tinder smolders.
Place the smoldering tinder inside the prepared lump of firewood and begin to inflate it. Make sure that the burning tinder is in the center of the kindling ball at all times.
The essence of starting a fire by friction is that when rubbing against each other, any objects (including wood) heat up. In this case, wood acts as a rubbing surface. Heated by friction, it is able to reach a temperature sufficient to form a smoldering tinder, which is often the dust of the same wood.
In theory, this method is simple, in practice it requires enormous implementation effort and certain skills.
There are several known ways to make fire by friction, but not all of them are applicable in real conditions, taking into account the peculiarities of the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere (the corresponding wood and its moisture content).
The main options for making fire by friction
Most often, to produce fire by friction, the following methods are used:
- Fiery plow. Here, the smoldering tinder is formed by rubbing a peg against a groove cut in a wooden plank.
- Hand drill. In this case, embers appear as a result of drilling a wooden plank prepared in a special way.
- Fire bow. Here, everything is the same as in the case of a hand drill, only the drill is driven by the reciprocating movements of the beam.
- Fiery bamboo. In this case, the pre-prepared kindling begins to smolder, clamped in the half of the bamboo trunk, with which the other half is “sawed”.
All methods of starting a fire by friction have their own specifics and are quite difficult to implement. To confidently build a fire with their help, preliminary training is required.
Fire plow
This is one of the most difficult ways making fire by friction. Nevertheless, in the absence of a rope, which is needed, for example, for a fire bow, it becomes acceptable for making a fire even in the steppe and forest-steppe.
The essence of the method lies in the fact that when rubbing with a sharp stick on a chute in a log, the walls of the logs are heated, hot dust is scraped off from them, which will then swell.
Dry (but not rotten) softwood is suitable for the fire plow. Conifers wood for the purpose of making fire by friction should not be used because of the presence of resin in them, which can prevent the appearance of smoldering tinder. However, if deciduous trees was not nearby, you can try, for example, using pine sticks.
Some people believe that bark can be used as a base for friction fire. But this is not true: fire cannot be obtained in this way. If you really use bark, then birch bark and then only as kindling.
In order to get fire with a fiery plow, you need to follow the following algorithm:
- A plank is made, or a flat platform up to half a meter long is made on a horizontally lying trunk.
- A shallow groove is cut in the plank for almost the entire length of the plank.
- A peg up to 30 cm long is cut out of the same tree, which is sharpened on one side.
- The sharp side of the peg is lowered into the groove.
- The peg is pressed into the bottom of the groove and thus is driven along its entire length to one side and the other.
- A kindling is placed on the glowing coals formed as a result of friction, or the coals are carefully poured into a kindling kindling rolled up in a nest, after which they are inflated until a fire appears.
Our distant ancestors made fire in this way - by rubbing one piece of dry wood against another using the fire plow technology.
If the peg is made longer (just over two meters), the fire plow can be used by two people, which greatly simplifies the work of the person producing the fire. In this case, the person sitting by the piece of wood guides and presses the peg to the groove, and the person who is standing presses and moves it in one direction or the other. The video shows how this is organized:
Hand drill
This method of friction fire extraction is used mainly in the tropical and equatorial areas where suitable timber is available.
Algorithm of actions:
- A piece of a small branch is peeled from the bark and split lengthwise into two parts.
- In one half, a "V" -shaped slot is cut out on the side, in the narrowest part of which, on the outside of the branch, a recess is made for the future drill.
- A drill is made of the same wood, which is a thin stick sharpened on one side with a length of at least half a meter (with a shorter one it will not be so convenient to work).
- A stick with a cut-out slot is placed flat side on the ground on a pre-prepared kindling.
- The drill with its sharp side rests on a recess in a stick lying on the ground.
- The upper part of the drill is clamped between the palms and rotates with pressure in a movement reminiscent of rubbing the palms during frost. When the palms slide down, without lifting the drills from the lower stick, they must be returned to their original place and continued rotation.
- The glowing coals formed as a result of friction inside the crack are carefully dumped on the kindling and inflated until a fire appears.
This method of producing fire by friction was used by ancient people living in hot countries. AT modern conditions it can be simplified by using potassium permanganate, which ignites faster than a rod.
If there is potassium permanganate in the tourist's first-aid kit, there will be no problems with making a fire. In a hole made in a log, you need to pour a little of this powder, press it with the end of a small stick, overlaid it with tinder, and make several rotational movements. Friction will cause the tinder to flash and ignite.
An example of such a fire in the taiga in winter is shown in the video:
In our latitudes, it is somewhat difficult to get fire with a hand drill: it will take a lot of time, effort, and wounds can form on the hands, into which an infection can get. therefore this way not widely used, in contrast to the following method.
The video shows how a fire is made in this way in Kenya:
Fire bow and its variation
This method of making a fire by friction became known as the Indian violin, although it has long been used not only in America, but also on other continents.
In fact, this method is the same hand drill, only in this case, the rotation is carried out not with the palms, but with the bowstring of the bow, which provides greater speed and, accordingly, higher temperatures. Therefore, it is sometimes called a bow drill.
Outwardly, the device for making such a fire looks like a bow, the string of which is wrapped around a stick.
The wood used is the same as for the fire plow, that is, dry softwood, such as alder or aspen. Trees lying on the ground are not suitable for these purposes, as they are likely to be damp or rotten and rotten.
Also, this method requires a rope, which is often used as laces removed from one shoe. The main requirement for a rope is that it must be strong (tourist ropes are very good for this).
To obtain fire with your own hands using a fire bow, the following is done:
- Sushina is cut down.
- A plank is made, or, as in the previous case, the branch is split in half along the fibers.
- By analogy with the previous method, a "V" -shaped slit and a depression are made at its narrowed end.
- Of a separate piece a drill about 30 cm long is cut out of wood, sharpened on both sides.
- Onions are made. To do this, you can take a curved rather stiff stick up to a meter long and tie a rope to both sides of it. A resilient branch will work as well, but it will make it harder to pull the rope as you move the bow forward, which can cause the rope to slip along the drill.
- Take the second part of the split stick and in the center of it on inside a small hole is picked out. This hole will be inserted top part drill.
- The bowstring is wrapped around the drill once, the drill is inserted at one end into the lower plank and pressed with the second plank from the top. Both pointed ends of the drill should fit into the corresponding holes. It turns out a bow drill.
- A person stands on his right knee, and with his left foot presses the lower plate to prevent it from shifting. The bow is in right hand, and with his left hand he holds the upper plank with which he presses the drill.
- The bow is driven in a reciprocating motion like drilling, this causes the drill to rotate in the support. As the "V" -shaped slot is filled with tinder, the speed of the bow should be gradually increased, bringing the temperature at the point of contact of the drill with the support plate to a maximum.
- The smoldering tinder formed as a result of overcoming the frictional force is removed along with the kindling and inflated until a fire appears. The tinder should be in the form of small black needles: only in this case, you can hope for a good result.
I once observed this picture: a young man attached a wooden drill to a drill and drilled in the center wooden board - there was a lot of smoke, but it didn't work out. A similar situation can be seen in some books that illustrate images with a similar scheme. It is easy to guess that such a method is doomed to failure, because there is no place for tinder to accumulate in it, which, among other things, simply flies to the sides.
This method of making fire, like those described above, is based on the physical phenomenon of increasing internal energy due to the work done to overcome friction forces.
In our latitudes, it is the most preferable, but it still remains one of the most difficult and energy-consuming (mainly due to the high complexity of bow manufacturing) and requires preliminary processing.
There is also a "relative" of the fire bow, called a pump (pump) drill, but this device is quite difficult to manufacture in conditions of survival and therefore will not be considered in this article. The video shows this option:
Fire bamboo
For obvious reasons, this method of making fire with your own hands is used only in regions where bamboo grows. Only dried stems of this plant are suitable for him.
Fire is obtained as follows:
- A dry meter long bamboo trunk is split into two parts.
- One part (hereinafter referred to as the first part) is shortened to half a meter and a small through hole is made in it in the middle with a knife.
- From the outside, a transverse groove is made directly along the hole.
- From the second piece (hereinafter referred to as the second part) of the split bamboo trunk, a wide splinter about 40 cm long is cut off and broken in the middle.
- The side of the second part of the trunk is made even and its edge is sharpened with a knife - a kind of bamboo blade is obtained.
- From the second part of the trunk with a knife, chips are scraped off in the form of thin twisted ribbons. For this, the knife blade is held at right angles to the barrel and is positioned across it.
- The shavings are rolled into a dense ball, divided into two equal parts and placed inside the first part of the barrel directly above the hole (the hole is between them), after which they are pressed from above by a broken chip.
- The second part of the trunk rests against the stomach with one end, and against the ground with the other. The weight of the body presses it to the ground so as to eliminate displacement during work.
- The first part of the trunk, with kindling and a chip, is taken by the opposite ends with both hands and leans against the flat side surface ("blade") of the second part with a groove.
- The reciprocating movement due to friction provides heating sufficient for the formation of smoldering in the pressed wood kindling.
- The smoldering kindling is transferred to dry grass and blown up until a fire appears.
I have seen another implementation of this method of starting a fire by friction. In it, half of the bamboo trunk with kindling lay on the ground (kindling down), and the other half was sawing. But this method, as for me, is less universal, since it requires at least two people (one to hold the lower part, the second for sawing movements), the soil must be dry so as not to wet the kindling, and you can injure your hands on those lying on ground stones or thorns.
Like other methods of making fire by friction, this one requires prior training. Without such training, one finds himself in emergency a person runs the risk of spending a lot of time and effort, while remaining without fire.
As for me, in our latitudes the most acceptable option for making a fire in conditions of survival has been and remains the method of a fiery bow. Although it requires a strong rope, it is it that allows, in comparison with other methods, to spend less effort, which in an emergency there is always where to apply.
Interesting video: bow drill at work
Polynesian fire plow:
The ability to make fire without matches or a lighter is invaluable, especially when hitting extreme conditions survival. Various circumstances can contribute to the fact that matches become damp, and the lighter is lost or it runs out of gasoline. In this case, it is possible to save from cold and hunger the production of fire by friction, despite the fact that this process is very laborious and time-consuming. They knew how to make fire without matches (by friction) even in ancient times, since there were no other ways to keep warm, to protect oneself from animals at night and cook the food obtained.
Friction fire
There are two main ways you can start a fire by friction:
- Method using a hand drill.
To do this, you will need: a base and a rod of dry wood, tinder, ignition material. At the base, you need to make a groove where friction with a wooden rod will be performed. Another groove is removed from this groove, coals and other friction products will come out of it. After that, a rod made of durable wood is installed in the groove. The friction of the rod against the base is carried out by rotating it by hand around its axis, as a result of which coals are obtained. After that, the coals must be moved to the previously prepared tinder, and when the flame starts up, move to another material for lighting the fire (logs, branches, etc.).
- Using a bow drill.
The principle of operation is similar to the previous ignition, with the only difference that a retainer is attached to the top of the rod, allowing it to rotate more quickly without injuring your hands, the danger of which arises when using a hand drill. This is a more efficient way.
Fire production by friction: process technology
Before starting a fire, you need to prepare tinder, collect firewood, prepare a nest for coal, make a bow with a drill and prepare a wooden base.
Dry tinder is used fibrous material: moss, lint from clothes, bird feathers and down, wood shavings. For firewood, you need to collect thin dry twigs, which can be found in the dry, lower tier of trees. The branches lying on the ground are most likely damp and wet, it will be difficult for them to flare up. Green wood should be avoided as it does not burn well. The tinder bundle should be wrapped in a denser material such as leaves or dry grass. In this case, you need to leave a recess for coal and openings for air ventilation.
The next step is to make the bow, for which you need to choose strong, resilient wood. After suitable material found, made a bow 30-60 cm long. It should be a thin, light rod, not too curved and at the same time stiff enough not to bend during rotation. For the manufacture of a bowstring, a cord, rope, twine is used, which is attached to the bow in such a way that it is slightly sagging.
For the base, you need to prepare a dry wooden board. To make it, you need to choose a light and softwood... Its length should be 30 -32 cm, width 5-8 cm, thickness 2.5 cm. Further, a drill with a length of at least 20 cm is made, the diameter of which should be 2-4 cm. The lower end of the drill should be rounded, and the upper end should be sharpened with a knife ...
For the spindle, you need to make the upper support of stone or wood. The stone should fit comfortably in your hand, not too small. It should have a notch and smooth edges. Wood can be used to make a support block using hardwood by drilling a hole to about the middle of the block with a knife.
The support should be such that the spindle rotates freely around its axis, while maintaining a stable position narrow end... To reduce the wear on the top end, you can lubricate the hole in the block with resin.
Lighting fire
On the base, you need to make a mark where the wooden drill will turn. Then drill a recess in this place with a diameter equal to the diameter of the spindle and a depth of about 5 mm. A hole for the tinder is cut under it.
After that, you need to burn a hole:
- The wooden base is placed on a flat piece of land.
- With your left foot, you need to stand on the base at a distance of 2-3 cm from the funnel. The second leg is bent at the knee behind.
- Hold the spindle with your left hand, hold a bow in your right hand.
- The bowstring must be looped at the upper, pointed end of the rod so that too much tension is not created. If it is difficult to tighten, loosen the string.
- With the rounded end, the spindle is inserted into the hole on the base, a support block is held above it from above.
- You need to take one end of the bow, and begin to rotate the spindle around its axis, pressing its lower end to the base.
- If done correctly, a black charcoal will form around the drill and smoke will appear.
Then you need to make a chimney: from the edge of the newly formed burnt funnel, you need to saw through a V-shaped hole, not reaching the middle of the funnel. When the spindle rotates, coals are formed, which will fall out through this hole. Underneath it, you need to put a flat base to collect the coals, a flat sliver is suitable for this.
After that, they start laying out the firewood as follows: they are laid at right angles with gaps between the rods for air circulation in the order of tinder - kindling - fuel. In this case, the kindling is not placed on the surface of the ground, but on a litter of leaves or dry branches. You should also leave a hole for laying the embers inside.
Now again you need to twist the drill on the base to get charcoal, gradually increasing the rotation speed. The coals through the hole will fall on the tinder, which will soon smoke. An indication that they have formed will be darkening, redness, or lightening of the tinder. Then you need to carefully remove the board, support the embers with air (with a wave or a gentle breath), gradually surrounding them with tinder. When the first tongues of flame appear, the burning tinder must be placed in the hole of the prepared kindling, fan the fire.
The main mistake in the method of producing friction fire with a bow is that inexperienced tourists place the ignition material in the immediate vicinity of the friction point, hoping that it will ignite on its own. They do not take into account the fact that in this case only smoke will arise, and for the emergence of fire, it is necessary to put coals in the starting material, fanning it.
Starting a fire by friction: other methods
Fire with stones In addition to using a hand or bow drill, there are several other methods of producing fire by friction:
- You will need a regular nail and a die, which you need to drive in. This should be done for several minutes, while rotating the nail around its axis. It gets hot enough to ignite the tinder.
- A small base with a split should be made from pine. The tinder is placed there so that there is little space left under the board. Next, you need to find a rope, it is better if it is made of natural fiber. It is necessary to take it by both ends and start with quick movements "sawing" the wooden plank from below. When smoke appears, it needs to be fanned, having received fire.
- The easiest way: a piece of cotton wool is placed between two dry wooden planks, and they begin to rub against each other. After a few minutes, the cotton wool will smoke.