Starting a Fire Without Matches or Other Modern Methods
If you have your Go Bag with you — as well you should — you should have several “modern methods” on-hand to start a fire including: water-proof matches, a lighter, and a magnesium striker. If for some reason you have been caught without these items, or they have been lost, or fail – here are some tried and true methods of starting a fire the “old-fashioned” way.
These techniques can and do work – but they are not as easy as you may have seen in the movies. Making fire without modern fire starters takes a lot of skill and patience, and can be physically demanding and frustrating. That is why it is so important that you carry more than one reliable method of starting a fire in your Go Bag.
You should practice these methods in your backyard until you can do one, or more well, before you should have to do so in an emergency situation. All primitive fire-starting methods use heat generated by friction for ignition. The two most reliable “primitive” fire starting methods are:
The Fire-Plow
To use this method, cut a straight groove in a softwood base and plow the blunt tip of a hardwood shaft up and down the groove. The plowing action of the shaft pushes out small particles of wood fibers. Then, as you apply more pressure on each stroke, the friction ignites the wood particles.
The Bow and Drill
The technique of starting a fire with a bow and drill is practical, but it requires much effort and patience to produce a fire. You need the following items to use this method:
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