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Use Urban Materials To Make a Fire Bow

Posted on September 9th, 2010 by Leon in Make a Fire

Making a fire under survival conditions could mean improvising with whatever materials are available.

The firebow setup works well, but takes considerable skill and practice to use. It would not be a good choice for survival firemaking for most people.

Here’s a fun post that a reader sent in. It demonstrates how to to make the best of available materials if a survival situation happens in a box store at the mall!

Currently Sean Jacox (Senior Patrol Leader of Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, OR) and I have invested about six hours in attempting to find natural materials to make a fire bow. Our self-imposed requirements are that the materials to build the firebow would have to be gathered inside the city limits, from vacant lots.

We’ve tried mullein and cattail stalks and willow for the spindles; and sagebrush and juniper wood for the hearth board. So far, we haven’t even been able to make smoke! (But we also picked up an amazing amount of trash, including a Gerber folding knife, a hammer, piece of rope and a piece of plastic that would make a pretty decent shelter.)

A reader, Eric, sent this urban firebow video to me via

Facebook. He points out it’s: “Handy cold weather survival instruction should you find yourself stranded with a handful of Ikea products.”

Another reader, Dustin, sent a link shortly after this story was published. The post takes you step-by-step through making a firebow and getting it to work, and the author provides good information.

(I know a firebow will work: Peter Kummerfeldt demonstrated how to use one last year at the Deschutes County Sportsman’s Show. I just need to stick with it. I love the readers SurvivalCommonSense.com has been attracting – they are polite, informative and willing to learn or teach. All of us know more than one of us! )

4 Comments on “Use Urban Materials To Make a Fire Bow”

Leon
Commented on 09/09/2010 at 2:40 pm |

Probably not. Making a firebow out of IKEA materials would never enter my mind! But that’s what great about some of the info people send me!
Rick
Commented on 09/09/2010 at 10:12 am |

Very interesting, I would bet a lot of people haven’t even thought about doing that with every day items they probably.
Leon
Commented on 09/09/2010 at 9:24 am |

Oh, Sean and I haven’t given up on making a firebow, we’re just regrouping! I’m fascinated by any firemaking method and intend to master the firebow. I’ve found a local guy who can teach me, it’s just a matter of us getting together.
Do you use flint and steel also?
Dustin
Commented on 09/09/2010 at 9:07 am |

Bearing block – same hardness or harder than spindle/fireboard
Spindle & Fireboard – same hardness

You can make all 3 components from the same wood (what is taught in Tracker School Standard) – use a little soap or skin oil to lube the bearing block once you’ve got your divot set.

You want a medium hardness wood species for spindle and fireboard to get a good coal… pine is too soft, oak is likely too hard

http://www.wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/bowdrill/pmoc/basicbowdrill.html

I would use cattail for a handdrill, but don’t think it could handle the downward pressure needed for a bowdrill.

It takes a lot of practice, and you need to be form-perfect, but it is reliable once mastered, and definitely a skill worth having.
Stalking Wolf taught Tom Brown Jr to focus on 3 critical skills: hand drill, debris hut, throwing stick… everything else is luxury. I am not good at handdrill (yet) but I can whip up a good flame with a bowdrill, so I stick with that for now.