How to light a fire without matches. Making fire in unusual ways

In an extreme situation, you definitely need to know how to be on fire with the help of those around you. natural materials. Do not rely solely on matches or other conventional methods of making fire. This chapter explains the basic principles of starting and maintaining a fire.

Fire is essential for any person who finds himself in an extreme situation, both physically and psychologically. It helps keep you motivated, keeps you warm, dries clothes quickly, boils water on it, and finally, it can be used for signaling and cooking. It follows from this that you by all means need to learn how to make a fire with the help of improvised materials and maintain it.

MAKING FIRE

The combustion process implies the presence of three factors - air, fuel and a heat source. In order to make a fire, you need to prepare the material for it and make sure that all three factors are present. Be patient, practice - and you will achieve results.

So, to start a fire, you will need tinder, wood chips for kindling and fuel.

Tinder is any material with a low flash point. It is very easy to set it on fire. It is best if the tinder has a fine-fibrous structure and is necessarily dry. As tinder, you can use the bark of some trees and shrubs, dry wood, leaves and grass, pounded into fibers, dry thin shavings, resinous sawdust, bird nest litter, fluff, rags, cotton wool, natural wool, pine resin pounded into powder, paper or porous rubber.

Always carry tinder with you and store it in a waterproof container.

The wood chips have a higher flash point and are added little by little to the smoldering tinder when the fire is lit. Wood chips are used to raise the temperature of a fire to a point where fuel with an even higher ignition temperature can be added to it.

As kindling, you can use wood chips, dry thin twigs, coniferous needles, as well as any dry wood soaked in flammable liquids (gasoline, alcohol, etc.).

The fuel does not have to be dry, but remember that raw firewood smoke heavily. The best fuel for a fire is well-dried wood, for example, chopped from the inside fallen tree, as well as thick dry branches (usually dead trees are dry inside, even if they get wet with rain). Firewood chopped from freshly felled trees can be used in combination with dry firewood. If there are no trees around, large tufts of dry grass, dried plants (such as a cactus), dry animal droppings or peat can be used as fuel.

HEARTHOUSES AND FIRE

The place for making a fire must be chosen with great care. Remember that your fire should be a source of warmth, comfort, protection from darkness and predators, and a hearth for cooking.

If you need to build a fire in deep snow or muddy ground, raise the hearth above the ground by building a platform for it. To do this, drive four horns into the snow or into the ground, put two poles crosswise on them, on top of which build a platform from freshly cut branches, soil and stones.

FIRE RULES

It is very important to choose the right place for a fire. The Special Aviation Service has many years of experience in making fires in distress situations in any terrain. Here are the basic rules:

Choose a sheltered spot for the fire.
- Do not build a fire in the immediate vicinity of a tree or shrub.
- Clear a place for a fire - remove debris, fallen leaves and needles from the ground, exposing the soil within a radius of a meter from the center of the hearth.
- If the ground is wet or covered with snow, build a fire on a lining of thin poles, on top of which a layer of soil and stones is placed.
- In strong winds, it is better to light a fire in a previously dug hole.
- When the wind surrounds the hearth with stones.

FIRE REFLECTORS

If possible, it is better for you to build a reflective wall of stones or logs around the hearth. It will perform two functions - to direct the heat from the fire in the direction you need and to protect the fire from the wind. You can build a reflective wall in such a way as to direct the flow of heat towards your shelter. If your camp is located near a cliff, do not light a fire directly at its foot - it is better to arrange a parking lot in such a way that the shelter is between the fire and the rock, the heat from the fire is directed to the rock with the help of a reflective wall. The stone absorbs heat well, and the heated rock will warm your back.

ATTENTION!
Do not place wet or porous stones in or near the fire - they may explode from the heat. Also do not use slates, soft rocks, cracked and hollow stones. Before laying stones around the hearth, test them for suitability - knock one on the other. If there is a cavity in the stone, especially one filled with liquid, then the liquid will expand faster than the thickness of the stone when heated, which can lead to an explosion, and the resulting fragments can injure or even kill you.

BUILDING FIRE WITHOUT MATCHES

People struggling for survival must be able to light a fire without the help of matches, which is especially important if the distress lasts for a long time. There are several simple ways making fire without the help of matches, four of which are shown in fig. 11. When making fire, try to wait for complete calm or stand with your back to the wind.

Flint and flint (Fig. 11.1)
Hold the flint with flint over the tinder. Striking the flint with flint from top to bottom, direct sparks at the tinder until it smolders, and then fan the smoldering tinder to ignite.

Rechargeable battery (Fig. 11.2).
If you happen to have a charged battery in your possession, attach pieces of insulated wire with bare ends to its terminals. Holding on to the insulation, short the wires. At the point of short circuit, the wire cores will start to spark and heat up. Sparks can ignite tinder or wood chips. Immediately after you get the fire, take the battery away from the fire.

ATTENTION!
Be careful when making fire with a battery! Keep it away from heat, flames and sparks, as an acid battery produces explosive hydrogen that, if ignited, can shatter the battery and burn you.

Lens (Fig. 11.3).
Concentrate the sun's rays on the tinder with the help of a "lightning glass" - a lens from a camera, a plano-convex lens from a flashlight. In extreme cases, you can even use a piece of bottle glass.

Reflector from a flashlight (Fig. 11.4).
Unscrew the reflector from the flashlight, insert a piece of tinder (you can use a cigarette) into the hole for the light bulb and point the reflector with a bell at the sun. Moving the tinder back and forth, find the point where the reflected rays converge, and wait for the tinder to fade.

Making fire with a bow drill (Fig. 12).
This is one of the oldest methods of making fire, and is very useful for modern man. Find a straight stick of strong wood 30-45 cm long and about 3 cm in diameter. Round one of its ends, sharpen the other sharply.

Make a holder out of strong wood - a flat board with a non-through hole in the middle, into which the rounded end of the stick would freely enter. The holder should fit comfortably in your hand. Add a lubricant such as soap to reduce friction in the toolholder bore.

Make a bow from a springy branch about 1 m long and up to 3 cm in diameter. Use a strong rope made of non-slip material as a bowstring (nylon is not recommended). You can use a leather strap as a bowstring. The bowstring should have some tension, selected experimentally.

The base board is made of soft wood and has a length of about 30 cm and a width of about 15 cm. In the base board, at one of the long edges, it is necessary to make a funnel-shaped through hole, which exactly matches the shape of the tip of the stick. When turning the tip, a strong friction must occur in the hole (1).

Standing on your right knee, step on the base board with the sole of your left foot, fixing it securely. Beforehand, it is recommended to put the base on two logs to give air access to the tinder.

Place tinder next to the recess in the base board. Then wrap the string of the bow once around the stick, insert its pointed end into the recess of the base board, and the upper, rounded one, into the hole of the holder (2). Holding the bow drill by the holder with your left hand, with your right hand start moving the bow from side to side (3) until the point smokes. After that, transfer the embers to the tinder (4). It remains to add wood chips and fan the fire (5).

FIRE RULES

Soldiers of the American troops special purpose USA enjoy simple rules when making fires in field conditions.

Save your matches for lighting a well-prepared fire, don't waste them lighting cigarettes and poorly prepared fires.

Always carry dry tinder in a waterproof container.

AT winter conditions the fire must be built on a platform raised above the snow so that the fire does not melt the snow and go out.

A fire on peat or humus soil must also be built on an elevated platform in order not to cause the spread of fire and a fire.

In the forest, in order not to cause a fire, the place for a fire must be cleared of fallen leaves, bark and needles.

TYPES OF FIRE

There are many types of fires, and each of them serves a specific purpose. The main types of fires suitable for use in extreme situation are shown in fig. 13. You must be able to stack and fire any of them.

Safe Night Campfire (1). This type of fire allows you to sleep next to it without the risk of the burning wood rolling up and burning you. Place two large logs of freshly felled wood on top of the burning wood. The logs, under their own weight, will push the burning wood away from you and your shelter. Make sure the fire is built tightly before going to bed - then it will burn not much, but throughout the night. Pay attention to the location of the reflector wall.

"Long" fire (2). It can be spread in a long, pre-dug groove, oriented in the direction of the wind. You can breed it between two parallel logs of freshly felled wood and above the ground. Logs will not allow burnt firebrands to roll to the sides. They should be at least 15 cm in diameter (the bigger the better). On top of the logs you can place dishes for cooking. It is better to place the logs on two logs 3 cm high to facilitate the flow of air to the fire.

T-shaped fire (3). This type of fire is good for cooking. The fire is kindled in the "crossbar" T, and the coals for cooking are raked out into the groove - the "leg".

"Teepee" (4). Suitable for both cooking and heating. Requires a large supply of firewood. The kindling should be placed inside the "teepee", place thin twigs around the tent, thicker ones on top of them. In the direction from which the wind is blowing, the tent must be opened to provide traction. Kindle the fire should be, turning his back to the wind, enclose the fuel from the leeward side.

"Star" (5). Used when fuel is scarce or when you need a small fire. The fire is set on fire in the center, firewood moves to the center of the fire as it burns out. For the convenience of cooking, part of the firewood can be removed. This type of fire requires hardwood fuel.

"Keyhole" (5). Dig a hole in the ground in the shape of a keyhole with a leg oriented in the direction of the wind. Such a fire has the same meaning as "long".

"Pyramid" (7). Several layers of firewood are stacked crosswise. Such a fire burns for a very long time and can be used to heat the shelter throughout the night.

"Hatka" (8). Firewood is stacked in the form of a log house. The fire burns very brightly due to the good air flow inside the “log”, but quickly burns out. It is good to use for cooking or as a signal.

CARRYING THE FIRE
Carrying a fire is the simplest way to save the equipment to get it and the energy needed to get it in a new campsite. The fire carrier was used primitive people and is still used by some primitive tribes. As with all things survival, you'll need practice to learn how to make fire cans and pipes before you actually need them. Remember, too, that you need to have several fire-carriers ready to use.

On fig. 14 shows two effective ways carrying fire, the most affordable for you is a fire tube, since an empty usable tin can may not be at hand.

Fire Bank (1). Place some embers surrounded by bits of tinder and wrapped in grass, and the leaves in tin can medium sizes. Preliminary in the sides of the jar, it is necessary to punch holes for ventilation.

Fire tube. Take a large piece of soft bark, place dry tinder on it (2). Roll the bark into a tube and fasten with a rope or wire rings evenly along the entire length. Put coals in the top hole of the bundle so that the tinder starts to smolder (3). The tube must be kept oriented to the wind (4). If the fire tube ignites, the flame must be knocked down or spit into the tube so that only a slow smoldering continues.

There are several other ways to transport fire, for example, carrying a smoldering log with periodic inflating of its smoldering (you can just wave the log, but first you need to make sure that you have enough strength for this). Much can be said about the meaning of carrying fire - not the last role is played by the moral factor. It is very important to first learn all the skills for transporting fire, and only then put them into practice.

Undoubtedly, every survivalist should be able to light a fire without matches. Of course, it’s stupid to go into the forest without the means to make a fire, but there are different cases, for example, the matches that you took with you get wet, and you lost your lighter. Sometimes it happens. You have probably seen many times in films how people made fire without using matches, but it is one thing to see it, and another to try it yourself.

In ancient times, people kindled fire with the help of friction, or struck sparks with the help of stones. There are many ways to start a fire without matches, in this article we will look at some of them.

The first way, the most ancient - with the help of a bow

To do this, you need a stick, which can be made from a branch, say, a birch. The length of the stick should be no more than 1 meter. You will also need a piece of rope or something from which this rope can be made, it will play the role of a bowstring. Then you need to make a drill, find a 30 cm long pine stick and sharpen it on one side.

You can use any plank or log as a support for the drill. It is best to use a dry Christmas tree, even in the wettest weather, the Christmas tree inside is always dry, but this only applies to standing Christmas trees. The log must be split or split so that the surface is even. Make a hole in the board in which you will lay the tinder.

It is important to make a slot next to the hole for the exit of tinder, the first shavings will go there. The drill can also be made from the tree itself, you can make something like a peg, it is important that the shaft itself has edges, that is, irregularities, this will provide better grip on the rope. Next, fasten the bowstring to the bow and, in principle, everything is ready.

You should also take care of kindling, because when the coal appears, there will be no time for this, you must remove everything unnecessary and prepare the place so that absolutely nothing interferes with you. Wrap the drill with a bowstring, sharp end set in the hole, then press down on top through some piece of wood so as not to hurt your palm and move the bow back and forth.

The tinder will slowly smolder and over time a piece of coal will appear, which we need for further making a fire. As soon as the ember has appeared, the main thing is not to lose the fire, take the smallest chips and shavings, cover the ember, and gently fan it to make a fire.

The second way. Wire friction method. sawing method

Fire can also be made with ordinary wire. It is desirable that the wire be at least 2 mm thick, if it is thinner, then it will simply burn the wood and you will not have time to ignite the tinder. Two sticks are attached to the ends of the wire, which will serve as handles for you. The principle is this, just wrap the log with wire and, as it were, try to saw off a piece. Tinder should be placed nearby, as soon as coal appears, start making fire.

The third way is with ice

A very interesting way to make a fire with ice. Everything is simple here - you make a semblance of a lens out of ice and then kindle a fire, as with an ordinary lens. You can watch the video below, where everything is shown in detail. The disadvantage of this method, of course, is the binding to the sun. If the weather is not sunny, you will not be able to light a fire in this way.

The fourth way. Method of making fire by rolling cotton wool with chalk

Few people know that without resorting to matches, fire can be produced using ordinary cotton wool and chalk. This method may come in handy when you find yourself in some area where there are abandoned houses, garages and other structures. Here you can always find an old mattress, door insulation, old padded jackets, etc. That is, you can find cotton wool in any area where people lived. How to get fire with cotton wool?

You need to separate a neat, even layer from cotton wool and spread it, say, on the floor. In order to roll it into a roll, you need a binder, as it you can use chalk, or whitewash from the wall. Chalk will allow the cotton wool to roll into a very dense pellet, which is what you need. After you have rolled up the cotton, you should take a flat board and continue rolling the cotton with this board. That's it, cotton wool is tightly rolled up.

Now you are making tinder, you can make it from the same board (sawdust, small chips). This will be your kindling. Putting the prepared tinder aside, you again start rolling the cotton wool with the flat side of the board. Your task is to heat the cotton wool to such a state until it starts to smolder. This moment can be noticed by the smell, it starts to smell a little burnt. Coal is formed inside the cotton wool, and you need it. With the help of it and kindling, you can easily light a fire.

We also invite you to watch a video on the topic "How to light a fire without matches."

There are several ways to kindle a fire: friction, drilling, carving, focusing the sun's rays, but each of them has varieties. The question of survival often depends on the ability to make a fire in the wilderness, so read carefully, maybe it will come in handy.

1. Lens from a bag, a condom, a bottle

Filling a transparent bag or plastic bottle water and try to focus the sun's rays. Bred in a calm place, it is better to strengthen the “lens” and leave it. It will light up, it will definitely light up.

2. Tin mirror

The bottom of the beer can is a concave mirror that can focus the sun's rays, if polished, it can be used to make fire.

3. Ice lens

In one of the MythBusters seasons, the hosts made fire with the help of a ball-shaped ice lens. So from ready ice you can cut out the lens and get fire. To create such a lens yourself, you can pour water into the bag and give it the shape of a ball, overlaying it with snow or soil. When it freezes, you get a lens.

4. Blacksmith way

If you hit the nail with a hammer for 3 minutes while turning it, then you can light a cigarette from the nail, respectively, and the tinder can be set on fire.

5. Flint carving

A piece of steel, preferably hardened, is suitable as an armchair. And with flint it is harder, even though this flint is lying on the road. Soft rocks will not spark, you need to find a very hard stone.

Usually such stones resemble glass of a hazy, or even transparent appearance. It is impossible to knock out a spark from a rounded stone; you need to split the pebbles and strike a spark from a sharp edge. Try a few stones for a spark and take the most sparkling one.

Tinder must be very dry, it must be collected from thin fibers of wood, cotton socks are suitable, the cotton-like fluff of plants lights up from the slightest spark, carve in a calm place, it is recommended to keep tinder over flint.

6. Friction of a rope on a dry stick

Pine stick, there is a split in it, tinder is put into it, put it so that there is space under the stick. The rope is needed, preferably from natural fibers, attach pieces of wood at the ends, like a chainsaw. And, accordingly, saw, Shura. You need to cut with great pressure in quick short movements. Literally at the expense of "ten" it starts to smoke. All that's left is to fan the fire.

7. Cotton ball friction

Between two dry planks, put a piece of cotton wool from a padded jacket, for example, and iron back and forth until it starts to smolder. According to the stories of the old people, fire is very easy to get.

8. Rubbing a stick against another stick

In a dry and soft wooden plank, make a groove into which you need to insert a hard wooden stick at an angle of 45 degrees. Pressing on the stick from above, drive it along the groove of the bottom plank, in extreme point worn out material will be collected, after a while a solid stick will gain desired temperature. At first, clouds of smoke will appear. Then you can watch how the wood powder begins to accumulate. chocolate color. Separate particles of this powder, carried away by the rapid movement, are ejected further. You can clearly see how they fall, smoking, although the sparks are not visible.

The combustion center occurs where hot powder accumulates in a pile, where air freely enters and supports combustion.

9. Drilling

In soft, dry wood, make a recess and a groove for air to enter, take a hard dry stick and insert it into the recess, covering it with a stone from above.
Sprinkle kindling material, tinder or wick, moss, fluff, etc. around the recess. Set a dry, hard stick in motion with a bow, which is put on the stick with an overlap.

The best results in terms of time are obtained by drilling pine with beech. It is not recommended to use linden and aspen for these purposes.

10. Potato Lighter

In order to kindle a fire, you first need to make, so to speak, an “electric generator”.
To create a generator you will need:

• Potato
• 2 toothpicks
• Knife and teaspoon (Optional)
• 2 wires
• , nth quantity

The wires must be cleaned! Cut the potato into two halves with the help of . Pass the wires through the half of the potato. Using a spoon, make a recess (dimple) in the other half of the potato - the size of the dimple is equal to the size of the spoon. Mix toothpaste with salt and fill the cavity in half of the potato with it.

Connect 2 halves (wires with inside should be bent, but so that they are dipped in toothpaste). Connect potato halves with toothpicks.

To start a fire, wind a piece of cotton wool around one of the wires. Wait a couple of minutes (the battery should be charged). Then you should bring the wires to each other until a spark occurs.

If you went camping, then fire is the most important thing you cannot do without. Consider several ways and recommendations for making a fire if, for example, your matches are damp or they simply do not exist.

Matches- most easy remedy receive FIRE. Ordinary matches should be stored in a hermetically sealed container, packed in such a way that they do not strum, rub or ignite. To make the matches last longer, they can be split lengthwise into two halves. To light a split match without breaking it, press the sulfur head against the ignition strip with your finger.

To light a damp match, strike it not along the ignition strip, but obliquely.

If your hair is dry and not very greasy, then rub a damp match on it. Static electricity will dry out the match. Every time you light a match, light a candle. You can light a lot of things from it, while saving matches. Even a small candle will last a long time if used carefully.

Getting fire with a lens
The sun's rays focused by the lens can ignite the tinder. Use magnifying glass from your survival kit, camera lens, binoculars or spyglass. Focus the sun's rays into one tiny bright point. Keep it in one place, covering from the wind. When the tinder begins to smolder, fan the fire slightly.

Gunpowder from a cartridge
Remove the bullet from the case, pour the gunpowder onto the tinder(s) and use the flint.
You can do otherwise: leave half the gunpowder in the sleeve and plug it with a piece of cloth.
Load the weapon with the cartridge prepared in this way and shoot it into the ground.
The smoldering cloth will be ejected from the barrel.
Put her on the tinder.

Flint
It is a stone that is found almost everywhere.
If you hit it with a metal object, then hot sparks are cut out of the flint (a).
With the help of a wreck hacksaw blade, which is part of the survival kit, you can get a fairly large sheaf of sparks.

Accumulator battery
Attach two pieces of wire to the battery terminals. If there is no wire, use metal tools. When using a car battery, remove it from the car first.
Slowly roll over the tinder bare ends wires.
Before they connect, a spark will fly between them. For this purpose, a piece of cloth soaked in gasoline is best suited as a tinder.

fire bow
When a hardwood rod rotates in a recess made in a softwood base, flammable wood dust and heat are generated by frictional force. Both the rotating rod and the base must be dry.

Make a small indentation near the edge of the base.
From below, under the recess, cut a cavity for the tinder. Give the rod that will have to be rotated into a cylindrical shape. From a flexible branch and a rawhide strap, twine or shoelace, make a bow.
Use a stone with a notch or a piece of wood with a hole cut into it to press down on the top of the rod as it rotates. Wrap the string of the bow once around the shaft. Set the bow in the recess of the base, and lightly press on top with a stone or piece of wood prepared for this purpose. Move the bow back and forth to give the shaft a rotational motion.

When the rod starts to go deep into the soft wooden base, increase the rotation speed. When the rod penetrates the cavity, increase the pressure on it and further accelerate the movement of the bow. Try to keep the rod upright while working the bow evenly. One foot can be placed on a wooden base. Keep working with the bow until the red-hot tip of the rod falls on the tinder. Lightly blow on it to start a fire.

Rotation of the rod by hand
This is a simplified version of the method of making fire described above.
Cut a V-shaped notch into the hardwood base.
Make a small indentation next to the notch.
Use a piece of hollow stick as a rotating rod. soft wood.
Roll the rod between your palms, pressing it into the indentation.
When the tip of the rod is red hot from friction, bring it to the tinder and fan the fire.
To increase friction, pour a pinch of sand into the cavity of the rod.

"Fire Plow"
Cut a straight slot in the softwood base, use the hardwood rod to make quick back and forth movements along the slot.
This produces tinder, which then ignites.

Getting fire with chemicals
The following compositions ignite when rubbed with stones or under the end of a wooden rod, with the help of which fire is produced by friction. When mixing them, care must be taken to avoid contact with metal and stored in a dry place.

Potassium chlorate and sugar in a ratio of 3:1. - Potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate crystals) and sugar in a ratio of 9:1. - Sodium chlorate and sugar in a ratio of 3:1.

Potassium chloride is part of some tablets used in the treatment of throat diseases. Potassium permanganate is available in your emergency kit. Sodium chloride is a herbicide.

When working with chemicals take special care. Sodium chlorate ignites on impact - do not shake or spill it - spilled chemical will ignite if stepped on!

Let's say you went to nature or a hike and are completely sure that you are equipped with everything you need. Unfortunately, you find that you forgot your matches! The ability to make fire with friction can save your life in an extreme survival situation.

This article gives detailed description one of the most interesting and difficult methods of making fire with the help of a bow spindle ("Indian violin").

Training

1. Find tinder. As a rule, these are dry, fibrous materials that are flammable from a spark (villi from clothes, plumage of birds, thin wood shavings, dry moss, crushed fibers of dry plants, the inner layer of cedar rocks, birch bark, fir cones, pine needles, tinder fungi, burnt cotton and flax, wax paper, dust produced by woodworms)
2. Kindling and fuel.
   • Collect a few handfuls of kindling. Long dry rods as thick as a toothpick are best suited. Gradually increase the rods to a pencil thickness.
   • Use wood as fuel. they burn well, give a lot of heat and smolder for a long time. Soft conifers burn out quickly and give off a lot of sparks.
   • Try to avoid wood lying on the ground (it will most likely be damp or damp). Instead, collect firewood and kindling from deadwood. Look for dead branches that have become entangled in bushes or the lower tier of trees. It should be noted that mixed dry and damp firewood burns for a long time, and the smoke emitted from damp wood will drive away insects.
3. Do "nest" for coal. Wrap the bundle of tinder in a denser material like dried grass or leaves. Make sure you leave a recess for the charcoal and small gaps for ventilation.
4. From flexible elastic wood (hazel, bamboo) make onion.
5. Wooden board. For the manufacture of boards, those that do not contain juice are best suited. Choose a light, dry wood and shape it according to your needs. the following sizes: thickness - 2-3 cm, width - 5-8 cm, length - at least 30 centimeters.
6. Spindle (drill) it is recommended to make from hardwood that does not contain resins or other juices. However, you can use the same wood as for the board. The main thing is that the tree is dry and light.
7. Find or make an upper spindle support. can be made of wood, bone or stone.
8. Prepare coal collector. A dry leaf, wood chips, bark, a piece of paper, etc. can be used to insulate from the cold ground and move the coals to a pre-prepared nest with tinder.

We get fire

Voila! Now you can warm up and relax near the long-awaited fire…

Possible problems and solutions

• Practice. Work out at home in your free time to develop experience and habit.
• If you get a good hot coal, then the tinder in your hands will literally flare up, so always prepare kindling and firewood in advance.
• The shape of the chimney is important, but not essential, as long as it is slightly wider at the bottom than at the top. It is recommended to use a narrow chimney with a cut angle of about 60 degrees (1/6 of the cake) and U shape , but V-necks work too. A chimney is a place where hot wood powder collects and mixes with air, allowing it to turn into coals. A wider chimney usually means you'll have to create more tinder (hot wood powder), but on the other hand it will allow for more airflow.
• Keep the position of the bow relative to the middle of the spindle. If the string moves closer to one of the ends of the drill, then there will be an imbalance in the moments of forces and the drill will most likely pop out of the socket (support block) or hole in the board. To return the string to its original place, change the angle of the bow when moving back and forth. The string should always be parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the drill. Never point the tip of the bow at the ground or at the sky. Learn to control the bow in a horizontal plane.
• A hole in the board and the tip of the spindle that goes in there should be rough rather than shiny and smooth. Roughness increases friction. If they become smooth, then pour some sand into the hole. This is an old Indian trick that many settlers overlooked.
• If you're tired, don't be afraid to take short breaks. The process of making fire using the bow spindle method takes a lot of energy, unless you are one of those people for whom this activity is natural and everyday. If so, then you're in luck. For the rest of us, rest breaks can mean the difference between a warm, cozy night in the friendly surroundings of a forest and a cold, dark night in an inhospitable wilderness. Try to almost completely fill the chimney cut with dark wood dust, and then take a break or pass the baton to your partner while the sawdust is still warm.
• If there are two people, you can work in tandem. The first person remains the main (or leader) and sets the pace of work, and the second adds effort to each movement. Such cooperation greatly facilitates the extraction of embers, especially in the first couple.
• It has been found that it is easier to work if your hands are slightly sticky (eg in resin).
• Position the tinder nest under the chimney and you won't have to take any risks while moving the coals. This technique will greatly reduce your efforts.
• If you know you'll have to make a fire this way and you don't have a flashlight, make sure you allow enough time for this procedure before nightfall. Experienced campers have been doing this for years and still have difficulty working in the dark. Even if you have a flashlight, do it during the daytime. You'll be glad you did.
• Do not allow the board to wobble while drilling.

Warnings

• The spindle, board and socket get very hot.
• This method of making fire does not always work and takes a lot of time and effort.
• If you no longer need the fire, then cover up the ashes and make sure they are not harmful to the environment.
• Be very careful about what kind of wood/leaves/branches you burn. For example, it's very poisonous, so make sure you don't use it as fuel. Do a little research so you know in advance what you can (and can't) burn.

Required accessories

• Knife or sharp stone
• A board made from soft wood (such as cedar or lime)
• A spindle (drill) made from the same or softer wood (such as poplar root)
• Resilient wood bow (hazel, ash, wattle, mulberry, osage, yew, bamboo)
• rawhide or durable
• A support block (socket) made of something smooth, a piece of hardwood or stone with a recess.

In English terminology, the word wattle is the common name for trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia (Acacia), mainly growing in Australia and South Africa.

Osage or Osage Orange(inedible American orange) is a tree from which American Indians made their bows. Counts the best wood for making homemade bows. By their own mechanical properties approaches the yew. Other names: Bois d'Arc ( bow tree), Maclura aurantiaca (orange maclura) or Maclura pomifera(maclura apple-bearing), Bow wood, Horse-apple, Adam's apple, False orange. Maclura fruits are widely used in folk medicine.

The best drill-board combinations:

• Willow - Linden
• Willow - Willow
• Hazel - Linden
• Willow - Maple