Friction Fire Failure in a Cedar Swamp

If you’re not failing regularly, you’re probably not pushing yourself.

An online buddy issued a challenge to make a hand drill fire with a solid wood spindle, using a species that I had never been successful with before.

I’ve only been able to pull off on-site hand drill embers during the summer months, but you can learn a lot by trying what seems like a long shot. I’ve already attempted and failed his challenge a half dozen times, but today I opted to dry Douglas fir.

I did my best to make it happen but fell short. I don’t like to leave without an ember if possible, so after my hands had had enough I collected some cedar roots and shortened the spindle down for bow drill.

Douglas fir is usually an OK choice for bow drill, but this one was missing some bark, which meant that it had probably spent too many seasons in the rain.

I don’t usually take the time to edit videos from failed attempts, but I think it is important to show all aspects of this hobby. I don’t want people who are just starting out to think that it should work every time, so I plan on periodically uploading failed attempts from time to time for some balance. Just know that it happens more often than you’re seeing it here.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcome.