Damp Wood Bow Drill in Real Time

By request…no cuts, no music, no sped-up footage. This is the set from the Conifer Bough Fire Booster video, showing the drying, drilling, and ember formation from start to finish.

Trying to show different aspects of the process while keeping videos short and watchable is always a challenge. For that reason, I usually speed up the bow drilling footage but I occasionally have people asking me to show it in real time.

Because the tree I picked out for this set was greener than I expected, I took time to run a few short drying cycles and really focused on the principles explained in the “Building an Ember” video and so this seemed like a good example to upload full length so that you can get a feel for both the speed of drilling, and hear the sounds of the set through the process.

Super fast bow drill embers are cool to watch, but damp wood requires a slower, more methodical approach.

This ember came much easier than I expected, which was no doubt in part due to the drying cycles; something I learned from Lonnie at Far North Bushcraft & Survival who I believe was introduced to the concept by David West. (links below)

Full Video: (Conifer Bough Fire Booster to Burn Wet Wood)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj3j0WNUPSQ

How to “Build” a Friction Fire Ember
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5h5tSAYPcw

Supercharge Your Ember
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQCWpmS2Gs0

David West on Drying Cycles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhXd7rYmLrY

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkoXX8XsMW3lZEP_PF0eMdaiJOg2ABhoS

Far North Bushcraft & Survival on Drying Cycles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0oShx2TUnA