Description

Bow drills were used between the 4th and 5th millennium BC. It is an ancient tool used to make friction fire. It offers a primitive way of starting fire without matches or a lighter. It’s a method that applies friction to generate heat. The heat eventually produces an ember in the burnt wood dust. The ember is tiny and fragile.  Once it is formed it is carefully placed into a “tinder bundle” where it is carefully nurtured and coaxed into flame. Once the tinder bundle bursts into flame, it is placed into the fuel that has been assembled ready for ignition.

Parts description:

• Bow is simple and strong yet it has some flex. It is hand harvested; hand crafted and shaped from an Oak branch then treated with boiled linseed oil.
• Bearing block or Handhold is made from either Oak or Ash. Ash is a harder wood than oak.  Each handhold is treated with linseed oil and has a handmade steel plate insert for the spindle that is virtually frictionless. The steel plate insert is also shiny enough to use as a signal like a mirror in an emergency situation.

• The Bow String is made of parachute cord which is rot resistant and very tough. One long piece of paracord is used for both the bow string and backup string.  Half of the string is tied to the bow and the other half is wrapped around the handle to be used as a quick back up just in case the other one breaks. Since the back-up string is already tied on the handle end of the bow all you need to do is tie the other end for a fast transition. You can of course take the whole string from the bow and use it as cordage if the need arises.
• The Spindles or Drills are made from Willow, Sotol or Cedar. They are carefully hand-cut, hand-crafted and sun dried to make sure they are as straight as possible and that they will rotate nicely with very little wobble, if any, when spinning. Each spindle has been tested and burnt-in to make sure that they will work properly when used to make a coal ember.
• The Fireboard is made from cedar. It is burnt-in with a /\-notch cutout. You’ll see that the notch cutout is carved wider on its underside in order to have more room to collect coal dust.  I had to buy the cedar wood since there are no cedar trees in my neck of the woods.  The main reason why I decided to use cedar wood for the fireboard is that it is soft and has its own natural oil. You can use a knife, a broken piece of glass or something similar to scrape a small mound of fibers from the board.  You can ignite the fiber mound  using a ferrocerium rod if for some reason you need to start a fire right away and don’t have the time to start one using the bow drill.
• The Coal Ember Catcher is made of genuine leather. The leather is big enough to use as an ammunition holder pouch for a sling shot if you have the other parts to make one.
• The Jute Rope used for nesting material is made of thick, heavy duty natural jute fiber. You can cut a small 2-inch piece and fluff up the fibers thoroughly then easily ignite it with a ferrocerium rod to make a quick fire if you have to.  Just pull on the loose end to get the length of rope you need.  You do not need to unravel the coiled rope. You can also use this jute rope to tie things with if the need arises.

You have two back-ups to be able to make fire using the cedar fireboard and the jute rope if for some reason you accidentally lost or broke your bow provided that you have a ferrocerium rod available to ignite them.

Directions on how to take the bow string off and coil it around the bow handle to carry or to pack easier:  The string is tied on one end with a slip knot. Loosen the slip knot and slip the loop down towards the handle.  Wrap the string around the handle by holding the string at its base and turning the bow to let the strip wrap around the handle. Tighten the slip knot to secure it once the string is fully wrapped around the handle.