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101 Camping Out Ideas & Activities
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DRILLING A FIRE
The Indians protected their wigwam cooking fires like prized possessions, for naturally they had no matches or lighters at their disposal. If they had to build a new fire, they could do this only with a fire drill. As a matter of fact, even today many gauchos on the Argentine Pampas, the natives of Samoa, and the Eskimos still make their fires this way, and recently I learned that drilling fires is a part of the NATO pilots' training course, so they will be capable of managing for themselves behind enemy lines without any technical resources in case of emergency.
To drill a fire, you need a bent branch, string, a hardwood stick, a bit of wood for a mouthpiece, and, finally, a softwood drilling board and tinder.
Bow with cord and hard wood stick : Mouthpieces : Softwood board
The piece of softwood serves as a base. Cut a little hollow in the surface. Then place the hardwood stick vertically in the hollow and twirl it energetically back and forth between the palms of your hands. This drilling produces a hot, fine powder. Make a notch at the side of the hollow so that the powder will fall out, and put some tinder there. You can use shredded bark or fine wood
Eskimo drilling a fire
Fire drilled by two people
shavings for tinder. The hot powder will light the tinder, and you have a fire. In order to increase the friction in the hollow (and thereby the heat produced), put in a few dry grains of sand. In order to speed up the revolving hardwood stick, catch up the stick in a bowstring the way the Eskimos do it. Since the person who is drilling the fire alone has to hold the stick, he makes himself a mouthpiece for this purpose. The mouthpiece is also used when two people drill without a bow.
Other methods of drilling: turning a pliable hardwood stick or scraping vigorously with it
Another way of starting a fire without matches is by rubbing cotton between dry wood until you can smell it burning, then start it glowing with a quick wave through the air, and light a wood fire with it.
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