Another great tutorial video. The explanation makes all the difference. I definitely appreciate the Five Minutes concept and format, and how much info you can, in concept, pack into a one hour segment of instruction (though it would be a lot of info in a relatively short amount of time, compiling these and putting them on a single DVD or other format would be a genius move); 12 lessons in a hour would be a great way of consolidating information. Rock on, Dave. Passing this on puts you damn near in hero status with a lot of folks. People are hungry for knowledge. Thank you.
Great explanation. Instead of just a "do it this way and it works" demonstration, you give the theory that permits us to achieve the goal while adapting to varying materials and situations. After getting the theory, the demonstration makes so much more sense, and confidence is raised. Now to try it. Excellent teaching. Thank you!
Great video Dave. That's the first time I've heard an explanation that really explains the process. Makes a lot more sense now that I understand how it works. Thanks for the video and thanks for these short 5 minute videos.
Great video, Dave! I've never been able to get a friction ember ad tried to blame it on the wood, but now I know it's because I didn't understand how it's properly done! I'm going out back right now to give it a try!
Love these 5 minutes to better bush craft videos Watch all your stuff but really love these short, sweet, to the point and great explanations and demonstrations Keep it up Cheers Damon from Australia
Dave. I've enjoyed your videos for years. I'm not a "fanatic" of anything, but watching your videos is as close as it gets for me. Keep the videos coming. Ive gone as far as ti rewatch all of your "water's edge" and "21st century long hunter" series of videos. Always putting out great content! Thanks for what you do!
Thanks Dave. I have yet to master the hand drill. I have come close but no cigar. I think my problem has been the hearth board. I have mullen and horse weed spindles but have only been able to try mimosa (probably not 100% dry) and white pine. I get smoke but very little charred fluff to fill the notch. I will keep on trying though. I need to find me some dry willow. The distribution map shows Tree of Heaven to be in the parish just north of me but I don't recall seeing any. It looks as if it resembles sumac and Hercules club. I will have to keep an eye open for it as your spindle created smoke almost immediately. Good video.
Tree of Heaven likes to grow right up against the sides of buildings, even out of a crack in concrete. To verify, beak off a leaf (it's a compound leaf, so break the whole stem off the limb). It has a very distinct and strong (bad)smell.
Cool instructional video. When using a thinner fire board, would it help to create a small pocket underneath the notch to allow some of the material to fill up there instead of becoming compacted inside the notch (i.e. to allow more O2 to mix with the material)? I saw that you may have had to remove some excess material from notch to allow more O2.
Great video , Dave , Thanks ! I never could get an ember from a bow drill . I've tried several times with no success . Now I know that my notch was too small , not allowing enough oxygen to get in .
Good tip, Dave! It'd be real interesting if you did this sort of thing for the fire plow, since you don't need as much in the way of optimum materials. P.S.- You can make a fire piston out of 2 1/4 bamboo nodes (a node & the one above it with 1/4 of the next one).
Tried off & on for 50 years to make a bow/hand drill fire with no success. Then several years ago watched one of David's videos. The man explained it so well, I saw exactly what I had been doing wrong. Not enough oxygen. Went right out back to the wood pile..BAM... success! Get er done damn near every time now. The only thing I do different is make the ember right on top the tender bundle, don't use a hearth. Eliminates the transfer.
That was a great demonstration. I've found hard and fast to create the char dust produces bad char, its like its already been burnt, is to fine and doesn't ignite very well. Going slower to produce the char makes a superior material, easily ignites into an ember. I'm wondering what wood you were using? Sure seemed to work very well.
Great explanation Dave!! I have never seen the creation of a friction fire ember explained so well! Questions... It is better for the drill or the fire board to be the softer wood? And neither should be a hardwood? 5 Minutes to Better Bushcraft...when will this new book be out? If you explained everything as well in the book as you have been with this video, it will be awesome!
Guess I'm like a lot of other guys Dave....best wood? I got oak, cottonwood, pine, etc. This is good stuff, Dave, no need to answer here necessarily, maybe a 5 minute vid on material and a good detail on those notches.?.?
Best woods a something you can drive a fingernail into for a bow drill and something pithy for a Hand drill spindle. I like polar, cedar, and Willow combinations
Dave as always great video and great series. I did see a couple of guys do videos on making a bow drill fire with green privet hedge all components. I didn't believe it at first but I have so much faith in their work that I went out and gave it a shot with 95 % humidity . I'm about to be 69 yrs old but I had to give it a shot. It took me 2hrs 15min but I succeeded However I could not have done it without their instructions . This seems to go against the grain but I also did it with cotton wood which for some reason took an hour longer .had to alter the technique for the softer wood slightly. I sure do wish you'd try this and tell what you think of it. Nwprimate was one of these and David West was the other .I think David took his video down for lack of viewers . I was shock to find this out. You have always been my favorite survivalist though.
Dave, You just gave the best explanation I have ever heard. I haven't tried the bow drill or hand drill method sense I moved to the pacific north west and I haven't seen poplar up here in Washington state but pine should work, I think (Does anyone know)
David Canterbury what are the key properties required of the drill and the board respectively? E.g, should they both be soft woods? Thank you for your teaching
Dave, two questions; how far into the notch would you place your drill holes, 1/3 or 1/2 of the radius of the drill holes into the notch? And wood types, would you look for a harder wood for the spindle, or is from the same material source be sufficient to remove the material into the notch? I've been trying primitive fire starting methods every time we head out to camp, even though I have modern means, I practice first, then if I fail, I still have the modern means to make the wife and kids happy, lol
The dust that was created by the friction looked black and it’s the fuel that feeds the ember. That’s like the char cloth that takes a spark and fuels an ember isn’t it. That black dust is like char cloth.
Dave, what can be said about the notch. I have been told on at least one of my failures to get an ember that the notch was probably too big. Is there a science to this? I'm running about a 50/50 success rate. But honestly, I don't know what I don't know. Materials should be fine, I got them at the gathering and they have worked, I know it's more operator error than anything (totally inexperienced).
Dave, is there an easy way to discern which types of wood are best for friction fire? I've personally gone nearly mad trying to get an ember for hours on end with what must be the wrong types.
love the videos thanks so much for sharing. Have you seen the Milwaukee folding saw? accepts any sawzall blades. would like to know what you think of it. got mine at Ace hardware
Hey, Dave, I've been trying to use cotton ball with the white ash from a fire pit anyhow, and I'm trying to put. I put it on a cotton ball or cotton T-shirt and then I try to roll up between 2 boards to get the friction in that. And I'm not having any luck. And I'm not understanding what I might be doing wrong but I was wondering if you'd be able to do A. Friction rule likes out on a video and hopefully I can get it. To see it to see what maybe I'm doing wrong or if you have some answers, can you please get back to me? Thank you, sir. Happy holidays. By the way to you and your family you'll be safe
Love the videos! Is it true that you can get salt from boiling hickory roots? Also how would you make bread from natural resources if you didn't have flour, yeast, and all the grocery store goodies? (What plants would you recommend using?)
I have done that.heat the sheith just a little until it gets soft.stick in the garburg .an form the top of the sheith to set it around the ridge of the knife handle. Dont let the knife handle get to hot.an melt it. You may have to do it a few times ,until it holds good. Works fine for me.
Nothing to add here, but repeating (i guess) that I like these short rehashes of things i have seen a lot of times before. And i don't actually mind because repetition is one of the ways to learn, the great thing about this particular format is that it's different from some other video, which i think can be a downside of repetitional learning, as in that you falter in 'repeating the actual same thing' and the whole just becomes boring. These different formats (and over time different demonstrators too i guess), remove some of the boredom of repetition while the important aspects still get repeated. like that a lot :)
Hay dave we both live in the same kind of woodland environment. I'm in wv and I was wondering have you seen a increase in hornets in the woods? Seems like every time I go out I find a new nest there taking over . Do you have any idea of what to do besides run like hell when you get into a nest of them ? Lol
You make it look so easy !!!!! hahahah but I know it's not ...great video Practice makes Perfect .... I'm still practising ...thanks for sharing my friend :)
This 5 minutes to better bushcraft series is awesome! Can't wait to see more! Awesome work Dave. God bless.
Another great tutorial video. The explanation makes all the difference. I definitely appreciate the Five Minutes concept and format, and how much info you can, in concept, pack into a one hour segment of instruction (though it would be a lot of info in a relatively short amount of time, compiling these and putting them on a single DVD or other format would be a genius move); 12 lessons in a hour would be a great way of consolidating information.
Rock on, Dave. Passing this on puts you damn near in hero status with a lot of folks. People are hungry for knowledge. Thank you.
These five minutes videos give you a great basics to start from thank you David for them
Yes explanation I have heard from anyone on this subject and well supported with the practice too. Great job Dave.
Great explanation. Instead of just a "do it this way and it works" demonstration, you give the theory that permits us to achieve the goal while adapting to varying materials and situations. After getting the theory, the demonstration makes so much more sense, and confidence is raised. Now to try it. Excellent teaching. Thank you!
Dave while you are the Guru of Bushcraft I thank you for going over the basics for those of us who are still at square one!!! LOL
Thanks for showing the close up with explanations of what speed at what time. Makes a hellofalot more sense now
Great advise Dave 🖒. You do a hell of a lot for the bushcraft community. All the best 🖒
Thanks Dave, great focused lessons. Precise and concise.
Excellent explanation and demonstration. Now the light bulb came on in the head.
Because of this I fully understand now, thanks Dave I really appreciate what you teach and do..
Love these quick videos Dave. Thanks!
Great break down of the actual process. Thanks, Dave
Great video Dave. That's the first time I've heard an explanation that really explains the process. Makes a lot more sense now that I understand how it works. Thanks for the video and thanks for these short 5 minute videos.
Great demonstration and explaining the importance of how and why you do each step.
That is the best explanation for why I fail at bowdrill fires!!! Thanks David!
Great video, Dave! I've never been able to get a friction ember ad tried to blame it on the wood, but now I know it's because I didn't understand how it's properly done! I'm going out back right now to give it a try!
Jeff Glover - Did you have any luck this time around?
Not yet, but I don't give up easy.
Love these 5 minutes to better bush craft videos Watch all your stuff but really love these short, sweet, to the point and great explanations and demonstrations Keep it up Cheers Damon from Australia
Dave. I've enjoyed your videos for years. I'm not a "fanatic" of anything, but watching your videos is as close as it gets for me. Keep the videos coming. Ive gone as far as ti rewatch all of your "water's edge" and "21st century long hunter" series of videos. Always putting out great content! Thanks for what you do!
Dave your a bad ass dude Much respect.. you make everything look so easy
Thanks for explaining the reasons for the method!
Love them videos Dave. You keep making them and I will keep learning something from your exhibition of bush craft knowledge.
Great series !
wow, very cool ! Thanks Dave
nice demonstration! that was the best I have seen yet
Really enjoying this series Dave. All the best mate.
excellent video with a unique angle to let us see what was going on. Thank you!
Very informative and educational. Thank you very much
I was just talking to a friend yesterday about this, you explained it much better than I did👍🏼 cheers brother🍺🍺🍺
Thanks Dave. I have yet to master the hand drill. I have come close but no cigar. I think my problem has been the hearth board. I have mullen and horse weed spindles but have only been able to try mimosa (probably not 100% dry) and white pine. I get smoke but very little charred fluff to fill the notch. I will keep on trying though. I need to find me some dry willow. The distribution map shows Tree of Heaven to be in the parish just north of me but I don't recall seeing any. It looks as if it resembles sumac and Hercules club. I will have to keep an eye open for it as your spindle created smoke almost immediately. Good video.
Tree of Heaven likes to grow right up against the sides of buildings, even out of a crack in concrete. To verify, beak off a leaf (it's a compound leaf, so break the whole stem off the limb). It has a very distinct and strong (bad)smell.
This is an excellent demonstration and explanation. Thanks for putting it up here.
Loving this series brother. Thank you.
Much better than in Arizona no blisters lol awesome video.
Cool instructional video. When using a thinner fire board, would it help to create a small pocket underneath the notch to allow some of the material to fill up there instead of becoming compacted inside the notch (i.e. to allow more O2 to mix with the material)? I saw that you may have had to remove some excess material from notch to allow more O2.
Never stop.
Love your content brother.
👌
Great video , Dave , Thanks ! I never could get an ember from a bow drill . I've tried several times with no success . Now I know that my notch was too small , not allowing enough oxygen to get in .
Really good explanation. I hadn't thought about the whole fuel-first thing.
Thank you dave for another great video.....
Good tip, Dave! It'd be real interesting if you did this sort of thing for the fire plow, since you don't need as much in the way of optimum materials.
P.S.- You can make a fire piston out of 2 1/4 bamboo nodes (a node & the one above it with 1/4 of the next one).
Fantastic info, haven't seen anyone else show the buildup of fuel dust before.
Very useful information, now I actually understand whats happening and in turn will probably make this easier to do since I’ll know what to look for
Good one Dave. Very informative.
Tried off & on for 50 years to make a bow/hand drill fire with no success. Then several years ago watched one of David's videos. The man explained it so well, I saw exactly what I had been doing wrong. Not enough oxygen. Went right out back to the wood pile..BAM... success! Get er done damn near every time now. The only thing I do different is make the ember right on top the tender bundle, don't use a hearth. Eliminates the transfer.
That was a great demonstration. I've found hard and fast to create the char dust produces bad char, its like its already been burnt, is to fine and doesn't ignite very well. Going slower to produce the char makes a superior material, easily ignites into an ember. I'm wondering what wood you were using? Sure seemed to work very well.
Great video,thank you for breaking it down...you make it look so easy. Appreciate it greatly sir
Nice video! Thanks!
Thanks for breaking it down that cleared up questions I had.
Great explanation Dave!! I have never seen the creation of a friction fire ember explained so well! Questions... It is better for the drill or the fire board to be the softer wood? And neither should be a hardwood? 5 Minutes to Better Bushcraft...when will this new book be out? If you explained everything as well in the book as you have been with this video, it will be awesome!
I'll definitely apply this to my next attempt, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience
Guess I'm like a lot of other guys Dave....best wood? I got oak, cottonwood, pine, etc. This is good stuff, Dave, no need to answer here necessarily, maybe a 5 minute vid on material and a good detail on those notches.?.?
Best woods a something you can drive a fingernail into for a bow drill and something pithy for a Hand drill spindle. I like polar, cedar, and Willow combinations
The one method I have not tried yet when it comes to making a fire and that's using friction.
I just recently tried friction fire and o can say speed didn’t help me so that’s a good point I started fast
All these years I wondered what the secret was. Now I know. Just took the best teacher.
How can there be 6 people that give it a thumbs down?I'd like to see their friction fire video.Great video love the series.
Dave as always great video and great series. I did see a couple of guys do videos on making a bow drill fire with green privet hedge all components. I didn't believe it at first but I have so much faith in their work that I went out and gave it a shot with 95 % humidity . I'm about to be 69 yrs old but I had to give it a shot. It took me 2hrs 15min but I succeeded
However I could not have done it without their instructions . This seems to go against the grain but I also did it with cotton wood which for some reason took an hour longer .had to alter the technique for the softer wood slightly. I sure do wish you'd try this and tell what you think of it. Nwprimate was one of these and David West was the other .I think David took his video down for lack of viewers . I was shock to find this out. You have always been my favorite survivalist though.
Thank you for the insight and understanding.
Loving the 5 min videos! On a side-note set the white balance on your camera to manual
Great video....what are the best types of wood to use?
dsaccucci look at the comments, he answered this more than once..
THANK YOU FOR YOUR.HELP BROTHER BILL
Very cool!
Awesome video...what material would be best to use for each piece...I am surrounded by pine cedar and oak...,
Pine is okay but you need a piece without any resin in it.
Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
Great job
Great vid Dave
Dave, You just gave the best explanation I have ever heard. I haven't tried the bow drill or hand drill method sense I moved to the pacific north west and I haven't seen poplar up here in Washington state but pine should work, I think (Does anyone know)
Thx Dav..
can you elaborate on the preferred wood to use for this? I am assuming that you would want hardwood for your spindle and softwood as your base???
well done it was nice to see so close for once, sadly i live in a country where friction fires are not a good option, i general to wet
I saw a guy in Norway doing it during the winter, so I don't think it's a good excuse man ;)
Did you say what materials you used ? Thanks
tree of heaven drill and poplar board
thank you Dave
tree of heaven, i like the sound of that.... is there an equivalent found in New England?
Chuk Flanagan - It's Alanthus, looks similar to Sumac
David Canterbury what are the key properties required of the drill and the board respectively? E.g, should they both be soft woods? Thank you for your teaching
Dave, two questions; how far into the notch would you place your drill holes, 1/3 or 1/2 of the radius of the drill holes into the notch? And wood types, would you look for a harder wood for the spindle, or is from the same material source be sufficient to remove the material into the notch?
I've been trying primitive fire starting methods every time we head out to camp, even though I have modern means, I practice first, then if I fail, I still have the modern means to make the wife and kids happy, lol
Thanks that explain a lot trouble I have had
Great explanation 👍👍
Tested! It's working!
The dust that was created by the friction looked black and it’s the fuel that feeds the ember. That’s like the char cloth that takes a spark and fuels an ember isn’t it. That black dust is like char cloth.
very nice explanation!!
Dave, what can be said about the notch. I have been told on at least one of my failures to get an ember that the notch was probably too big. Is there a science to this? I'm running about a 50/50 success rate. But honestly, I don't know what I don't know. Materials should be fine, I got them at the gathering and they have worked, I know it's more operator error than anything (totally inexperienced).
could you use charcoal dust to fill the gap and become an ember? i mean bring charcoal dust from a previous fire.
That helps a lot! Thank you!:-)
very good!!!
What material should be the board and the spindle respectively, should it be hard wood or soft wood ? Thanks
Dave, is there an easy way to discern which types of wood are best for friction fire? I've personally gone nearly mad trying to get an ember for hours on end with what must be the wrong types.
Thank you
love the videos thanks so much for sharing. Have you seen the Milwaukee folding saw? accepts any sawzall blades. would like to know what you think of it. got mine at Ace hardware
Dave, great video!!!!!!! Is the spindle and board poplar?
Spindle or drill in this case is Tree of Heaven
Thanks Dave. I am ignorant in my terminology , drill it is. Thanks
Hearthboard?
Wayne The Seine - Poplar
Hey, Dave, I've been trying to use cotton ball with the white ash from a fire pit anyhow, and I'm trying to put. I put it on a cotton ball or cotton T-shirt and then I try to roll up between 2 boards to get the friction in that. And I'm not having any luck. And I'm not understanding what I might be doing wrong but I was wondering if you'd be able to do A. Friction rule likes out on a video and hopefully I can get it. To see it to see what maybe I'm doing wrong or if you have some answers, can you please get back to me? Thank you, sir. Happy holidays. By the way to you and your family you'll be safe
Learn from a Master Thanks
Love the videos! Is it true that you can get salt from boiling hickory roots? Also how would you make bread from natural resources if you didn't have flour, yeast, and all the grocery store goodies? (What plants would you recommend using?)
How long should it take to get an ember? Approx estimate.
anyone know if the garberg will fit into a compaion hd sheeth?
i have mine modded and love it; this is why i ask
I have done that.heat the sheith just a little until it gets soft.stick in the garburg .an form the top of the sheith to set it around the ridge of the knife handle. Dont let the knife handle get to hot.an melt it. You may have to do it a few times ,until it holds good. Works fine for me.
David is the best. We know it by now
Very good. Thank you very much
dave what is the best wood to use i live in nh
For bow drill I would go with White cedar it is almost fool proof
Nothing to add here, but repeating (i guess) that I like these short rehashes of things i have seen a lot of times before. And i don't actually mind because repetition is one of the ways to learn, the great thing about this particular format is that it's different from some other video, which i think can be a downside of repetitional learning, as in that you falter in 'repeating the actual same thing' and the whole just becomes boring. These different formats (and over time different demonstrators too i guess), remove some of the boredom of repetition while the important aspects still get repeated. like that a lot :)
Hay dave we both live in the same kind of woodland environment. I'm in wv and I was wondering have you seen a increase in hornets in the woods? Seems like every time I go out I find a new nest there taking over .
Do you have any idea of what to do besides run like hell when you get into a nest of them ? Lol
Fist bumps 👊👊👊👊👊, high fives/pats on the back ✋✋✋✋✋
You make it look so easy !!!!! hahahah but I know it's not ...great video Practice makes Perfect .... I'm still practising ...thanks for sharing my friend :)
good info
Now I get it !
Was that a Thor's hammer on your neck ?
like !