Uploaded September 2013 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Experimenting with making an improvised slow match or coal extender. My thinking is mainly from a short-term survival perspective. if I had no good way to make fire (ie. ideal fire devices) and eventually got success using fire by friction (ie. bow drill), could I be mobile and carry fire when trying to improve my situation? Friction fire can be tricky and often not reliable. Having an additional improvised option in an unplanned situation would be beneficial. Especially, if the weather isn't cooperative (ie. rain, fog, humidity, etc...). The challenge with this concept is a fire has to already exist before it can be utilized.
Slow matches were typically used on matchlock muskets several centuries ago (and apparently by re-enacters today). I stumbled across this historical concept and revisited it from a bushcraft/ survival approach; a quick crude on-the-spot approach. The nice thing is much of the resources needed can be found and made in the field.
Related Web Link:
**** Ulrich Bretscher's Black Powder Page ****
Making a Proper Slow Match
http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/lunte.html
To learn more, Internet search: slow match, match cord, matchlock musket, potash
Experimenting with making an improvised slow match or coal extender. My thinking is mainly from a short-term survival perspective. if I had no good way to make fire (ie. ideal fire devices) and eventually got success using fire by friction (ie. bow drill), could I be mobile and carry fire when trying to improve my situation? Friction fire can be tricky and often not reliable. Having an additional improvised option in an unplanned situation would be beneficial. Especially, if the weather isn't cooperative (ie. rain, fog, humidity, etc...). The challenge with this concept is a fire has to already exist before it can be utilized.
Slow matches were typically used on matchlock muskets several centuries ago (and apparently by re-enacters today). I stumbled across this historical concept and revisited it from a bushcraft/ survival approach; a quick crude on-the-spot approach. The nice thing is much of the resources needed can be found and made in the field.
Related Web Link:
**** Ulrich Bretscher's Black Powder Page ****
Making a Proper Slow Match
http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/lunte.html
To learn more, Internet search: slow match, match cord, matchlock musket, potash
