Uploaded January 2010 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Bow drill fire by friction using all natural materials. The big deal here is the bowstring is made from strands from a Palm tree branch. This vid shows you don't have to have a shoelace or paracord (or other man-made cordage) to make fire using the bow drill method.
The spindle and fireboard are made from Pine and the bow is made from Oak. The hand-hold is a river rock with a dimple in it. The coal-catch pad is a piece from the palm tree.
I've only done this a handful of times. Overall, it took me about an hour to do (using a proven bow drill set). I just changed out the shoestring I was using as the bowstring for the palm strands bowstring.
My goal was only to get a glowing ember (not start a fire). This is usually the hardest part when attempting to start a fire using this method.
Bow drill fire by friction using all natural materials. The big deal here is the bowstring is made from strands from a Palm tree branch. This vid shows you don't have to have a shoelace or paracord (or other man-made cordage) to make fire using the bow drill method.
The spindle and fireboard are made from Pine and the bow is made from Oak. The hand-hold is a river rock with a dimple in it. The coal-catch pad is a piece from the palm tree.
I've only done this a handful of times. Overall, it took me about an hour to do (using a proven bow drill set). I just changed out the shoestring I was using as the bowstring for the palm strands bowstring.
My goal was only to get a glowing ember (not start a fire). This is usually the hardest part when attempting to start a fire using this method.
