Uploaded August 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
I Decided to spend a few hours practicing both the bow drill and hand drill friction fire methods using only all natural materials from scratch (found on the spot).
It rained all day yesterday so I was curious to see how wet the woods would be and if it was reasonable to think I could be successful with a friction fire using a fresh unproven set. I collected and prep'd some materials to lay out in the Sun to dry.
Oddly enough, I tried multiple times with the bow drill without success. I tried with Sabal Palm and what I think is Slash Pine using a Saw Palmetto cordage bowstring. No luck.
I then decided to try my luck with the hand drill using a Dog Fennel spindle on a Sabal Palm fireboard. Then it started to rain. I had no cover so everything I just collected and prepared got wet.
The Sun came back out after about 10 minutes of rain and I laid everything out to dry again. I tried various ways to improve my chances of success as things were drying.
I just eeked out a hand drill success. Believe it or not, it's my first on the spot hand drill success. All my other hand drill successes have been with materials taken home first to dry before attempting a coal.
I purposely used the Pine Needle tinder bundle that was wet from the rain earlier. I was curious to see if it could be done. Though, I had some Palm Hair I just air-dried on standby just in case.
I Decided to spend a few hours practicing both the bow drill and hand drill friction fire methods using only all natural materials from scratch (found on the spot).
It rained all day yesterday so I was curious to see how wet the woods would be and if it was reasonable to think I could be successful with a friction fire using a fresh unproven set. I collected and prep'd some materials to lay out in the Sun to dry.
Oddly enough, I tried multiple times with the bow drill without success. I tried with Sabal Palm and what I think is Slash Pine using a Saw Palmetto cordage bowstring. No luck.
I then decided to try my luck with the hand drill using a Dog Fennel spindle on a Sabal Palm fireboard. Then it started to rain. I had no cover so everything I just collected and prepared got wet.
The Sun came back out after about 10 minutes of rain and I laid everything out to dry again. I tried various ways to improve my chances of success as things were drying.
I just eeked out a hand drill success. Believe it or not, it's my first on the spot hand drill success. All my other hand drill successes have been with materials taken home first to dry before attempting a coal.
I purposely used the Pine Needle tinder bundle that was wet from the rain earlier. I was curious to see if it could be done. Though, I had some Palm Hair I just air-dried on standby just in case.
