Uploaded July 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Friction fire practice. My original intent was to use all naturally found materials from scratch. I started off making everything from Longleaf Yellow Pine (common here in Florida) and Saw Palmetto fibers for the bowstring. I used dried Pine sap as a lubricant for the bearing-block.
Well, it didn't go according to plan. As I was prep'ing the set a thunderstorm was rolling in and it started raining. I did bring the materials home and tried again later, but just couldn't make it happen. So, I resorted to using a proven Laural Oak set with an in-line roller blade wheel as a bearing-block to at least get a coal and blow it to flame.
So, I ended up cheating, but what I was most interested in was how well the natural cordage bowstring held up. Surprisingly, after countless attempts today it never broke and is still usable.
Friction fire practice. My original intent was to use all naturally found materials from scratch. I started off making everything from Longleaf Yellow Pine (common here in Florida) and Saw Palmetto fibers for the bowstring. I used dried Pine sap as a lubricant for the bearing-block.
Well, it didn't go according to plan. As I was prep'ing the set a thunderstorm was rolling in and it started raining. I did bring the materials home and tried again later, but just couldn't make it happen. So, I resorted to using a proven Laural Oak set with an in-line roller blade wheel as a bearing-block to at least get a coal and blow it to flame.
So, I ended up cheating, but what I was most interested in was how well the natural cordage bowstring held up. Surprisingly, after countless attempts today it never broke and is still usable.
