Success!!

For those of you who have been following our blog, you know that dave and I have been trying to “bust” a fire using the bow drill set our friend Kari gave us for our wedding. It has not been an easy task. Numerous times we were able to get smoke only to have our hopes dashed as the spindle would fly out of our hands or the smoke would yield no coal. We would nurse our bruised hands and wait for another opportunity to try again. If you haven’t ever tried the bow drill method of fire making it is hard to explain how difficult it is to have all the factors working for you at the same time. Down pressure is by far the biggest key to success. Without enough pressure you can try and try but success will elude you. It is often difficult to apply enough pressure straight downward because your body needs to lean backwards somewhat to move the bow back and forth.

Another factor we have been struggling with was our top rock. This is the rock on top of the spindle you push on with the downward pressure. Our rock was sandstone and it was eroding each time we attempted to “bust” and the fine rock dust would fill in our hole, preventing a coal from forming. Kari had told us a cow ankle bone make the best top rock. Ironically, while we were visiting my previous supervisor, Merry, she knew where some dead cows were. So we hiked into the cows and found three bones that didn’t require us dissecting any hides or muscles to get. We were eager to try out our new found top rock.

Each night we have been back in the forest since leaving Irvine, we would collect firewood for the night and build a small fire but wouldn’t light it in the hopes we would be able to do so with the bow drill. I had my first round of success with help from dave. As you may remember in a previous blog, Kari helped dave and I by adding extra downward pressure. She called it tandem. dave was successful with this method before we left Texas but I was still without this victory. I was surprised one night in the desert when sure enough the smoke started and a coal formed. I still didn’t believe a full fledged fire would come out it but sure enough my nest (a bed of kindling where the coal is placed) caught fire.

jody and Her Fire

The next night dave was determined to start a fire without any help. We hadn’t even got the kindling and firewood together when all the factors came together. It was noticeable that he had a good rhythm going to me as I was 25 feet away collecting grass to make a nest. The smoke was billowing from his spindle and he claimed it was the easiest this process has ever felt. I guess Kari was right that once you get the system down things would all come together. As for the cow bones, I don’t think we’ll go back to the sandstone! We’ll continue practicing until we can get as good as Kari and “bust” with three or four strokes of the bow. Now that is something to aim for.

dave Makes Fire