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A Friction Fire Inquiry: Bow Drill
By Storm

The Past: During the winter of 1999 I was fortunate enough to teach at an outdoor school in southern California with Jeff Stauffer, now the Ethnobotanist of that school and an adjunct primitive skills instructor for Raven's Way Traditional School in Arizona. It was then that I first became aware that fire lay dormant within sticks, ready to expose itself with a little coaxing from humans. Jeff would reverently bring out his bow drill set, knead together a tinder nest, and with about fifteen seconds of bow-draw, an ember would magically appear. A spark was planted inside me at that very moment.

I moved to California at the top of 2000 and mostly lost that valuable, one-to-one mentoring that has served to bring into each successive generation the exact duplication of skills necessary to promote us into the future. So I began to rely on the wisdom of elders in print: books, journals, newsletters, correspondence and Internet. I was inspired by the local work of Dick Baugh, who offered encouragement and guidance. I was amazed at the variety of theories and techniques that surrounded friction fire. My amazement turned to confusion, however, when some applications consistently worked for me while others did not. Questions revolving around the nature of friction fire began to burn within me, questions that only I can answer for myself. Thus began an experiment. Here are the queries I wished to address:

1. Which local woods worked best?
2. Do woods used on themselves (e.g. buckeye on buckeye) generally perform better than woods used on other species (buckeye redwood)?

For the past eighteen months I gathered bow drill spindles and hearth boards from every single species of tree, shrub, liana and forb within a half-day walk of my home within the redwood forests of Loma Mar, California. As I collected such diverse materials as madrone, pear, and blackberry, I labeled and then dried the pieces for at least a week (in the house) before using them. I ended up with three or four spindles and a few hearth boards from each of the forty-four native and non-native species I was able to identify.

After cutting a piece of hairy honeysuckle for the bow, purchasing 500 feet of parachute cord, and finding a stone handhold in the tidepools, I began to attempt ember-making with all 1,936 possible combinations of the woods. Incredibly, the bow and handhold (which never heated up!) survived the entire experiment, while I ended up using around 400 feet of the cordage. Knowing from the onset that one of my goals was to add to the current amount of available information, I determined that the best way to relate what I felt was going on was to quantify the amount of effort I was putting into each attempt at an ember with a particular combination of woods. Effort ratings ranged from 1 (easiest) to 4 (very difficult), with a 5 representing the failure to get an ember. A summary is represented in Table One.

The Present: Over the course of thousands of ember-making attempts, I developed an affinity for certain wood species. Elderberry, buckeye, clematis, redwood and box elder seem the more reliable bow drill woods in this area. Table Two ranks the woods in order of overall performance (easiest to most difficult).

While amassing the data I became concerned with the subjective nature of this endeavor. Interpreting effort expenditure can be highly variable, depending on such volatile factors as daily health, time of day, mindframe, energy level, and so on. One statistical procedure that can help gauge the coherency of the data is based on the overall average of the effort ratings. Since this is a comparative study, I had to quantify an average effort and assign it a number (in this case, 3). One could also argue that as I became increasingly proficient with the bow drill, my estimations would become skewed. So I looked at how close the average effort rating was (over all 1,936 data points the average was 3.22) to my initial average effort estimation (3.00). If these two numbers were significantly different, then I would conclude that the experiment was lacking in consistency, but I think that they are sufficiently similar.

It is interesting that while the overall average effort of all wood combinations is 3.22, using woods on themselves is just slightly lower, 3.18, the difference seeming insignificant.

The Future: One purpose of this article is to broadcast this data in hopes that others will experiment with woods in their areas and share their findings.

I've nearly finished a separate hand drill experiment that involves seventy-two California species of spindles and just four species of hearth boards (no sense going overboard again). I have further concentrated on the role of wood density, incorporated the value of nascent growth for spindles, and am exploring the best woods for producing non-notched spindle coals. I am also investigating the use of polypore mushrooms and rocks as potential hearth boards.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone regarding any of these endeavors!

About the Author: Storm grew up in northern Maine, where he attained a B.S. in Ecology. Working westward as a logger, ecological field technician, farm laborer, National Marine Fisheries Service Observer, bar-room bouncer, and most recently naturalist/aboriginal skills teacher, he now calls home the temperate rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, ancestral lands of the Makah, Klallam, Hoh, Ozette, Quinault, and Quillayute. He values the sharing of knowledge and skill, so please feel free to contact him via the following addresses: Olympic Park Institute, 111 Barnes Point Road, Box 1, Port Angeles, WA 98363; storm@stoneageskills.com.


Table 1. Effort Rankings For Bow Drill Ember Attempts. Non-Natives Are Underlined.
Effort ratings range from 1 (easiest) to 4 (very difficult), with a 5 representing the failure to get an ember.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HEARTHS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOWDRILL - Effort Ratings

 

aca

map

box

buc

ald

mad

sag

coy

lil

cle

hor

dog

haz

cyp

s.b.

euc

bur

ivy

toy

o.s.

tan

hon

lup

app

wax

pin

plu

che

fir

pea

oak

cof

rho

goo

ros

bla

thi

wil

eld

rw

ced

bay

huc

gra

 

Acacia sp.

Acacia

3

2

3

1

4

5

3

2

5

2

2

4

3

1

3

4

5

3

5

5

2

2

1

3

3

2

4

3

2

3

3

4

2

2

3

4

2

5

1

3

4

4

3

3

 

Acer macrophyllum

Big-leaf Maple

3

2

3

2

3

3

1

3

4

2

4

3

4

2

3

2

3

4

5

2

4

2

3

3

3

2

2

3

1

2

3

2

3

3

2

2

4

5

1

2

2

2

4

3

 

Acer negundo

Box Elder

4

2

3

3

4

5

2

3

5

2

3

3

4

4

4

3

3

2

5

5

5

1

4

1

3

4

3

2

2

1

3

4

4

2

1

3

2

4

1

2

2

2

4

2

 

Aesculus californica

CA Buckeye

2

1

2

1

3

3

2

4

2

1

1

3

3

3

3

1

2

1

3

2

4

1

3

1

3

3

2

3

2

2

3

3

2

1

1

2

2

2

1

2

1

2

4

1

 

Alnus rhombifolia

White Alder

3

3

3

4

4

5

2

4

5

2

5

3

2

3

4

4

3

4

5

5

5

2

4

3

4

4

4

2

2

4

3

4

5

4

2

4

3

3

2

1

3

3

4

3

 

Arbutus menziesii

Madrone

4

5

5

4

4

5

5

3

3

3

3

4

4

3

5

5

5

4

5

4

5

5

5

5

5

5

5

2

4

3

5

3

2

4

5

4

4

4

3

4

5

4

3

4

 

Artemisia californica

CA Sagebrush

3

4

2

3

3

5

3

4

3

2

3

4

5

3

4

2

2

4

5

5

4

4

5

4

5

3

2

4

3

2

5

4

5

3

2

5

3

4

2

3

2

2

4

1

 

Baccharis pilularis

Coyote Brush

4

2

5

3

5

4

3

3

3

4

2

3

3

2

2

3

4

3

5

5

5

4

3

3

4

3

4

3

1

3

5

5

3

3

3

4

4

3

3

3

2

3

4

3

 

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus

CA Wild Lilac

2

3

2

3

4

5

3

4

4

3

5

3

5

4

2

2

3

3

5

5

5

4

4

4

5

3

2

4

2

3

4

5

3

2

3

4

4

4

2

3

4

4

5

4

 

Clematis ligusticifolia

Clematis

3

2

2

2

3

3

3

3

3

1

3

3

4

3

3

1

4

4

3

5

4

3

2

2

4

3

1

2

2

2

2

4

4

2

1

2

3

2

1

2

3

3

4

4

 

Conyza canadensis

Horseweed

4

4

1

2

3

3

2

1

4

3

1

3

4

3

3

2

3

3

3

3

1

1

3

4

4

3

1

3

3

1

5

5

4

3

3

5

4

3

3

2

1

3

4

2

 

Cornus sericea

Amer. Dogwood

2

1

4

2

3

3

2

5

4

3

2

4

4

2

4

3

3

3

3

3

4

4

5

3

3

3

2

2

2

4

4

4

4

4

3

5

4

3

2

3

3

4

5

4

 

Corylus cornuta var. californica

CA Hazelnut

3

2

2

3

5

5

4

5

4

2

3

4

3

4

3

3

4

1

5

4

5

3

3

4

4

3

5

5

3

3

4

4

5

3

3

5

3

4

2

3

2

4

5

4

 

Cupressus abramsiana

SC Cypress

2

4

4

4

4

3

3

5

3

2

2

4

5

2

3

4

3

3

4

4

5

3

4

2

5

5

2

2

4

4

3

4

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

4

3

4

4

 

Cytisus scoparius

Scotch Broom

1

3

5

1

5

5

3

4

4

3

4

3

4

2

3

2

3

2

5

4

2

3

3

2

5

5

5

4

3

3

4

3

4

3

2

4

4

3

1

1

2

2

4

4

S

Eucalyptus globulus

Eucalyptus

4

3

2

2

2

5

1

5

3

3

1

3

3

2

4

4

4

3

4

4

4

5

2

2

4

3

4

3

4

4

5

4

1

3

2

5

3

2

1

2

2

3

4

5

P

Euonymus occidentalis

Burning Bush

5

3

2

2

4

5

4

5

4

2

4

4

5

3

4

4

3

5

4

4

5

3

2

4

5

2

2

5

2

4

5

4

4

2

2

5

4

4

4

4

3

3

5

3

I

Hedera helix

English Ivy

4

2

4

1

3

4

2

3

4

3

4

4

3

1

4

2

4

4

5

4

3

3

3

5

4

1

2

4

3

4

4

5

5

3

3

5

3

2

1

2

3

2

4

4

N

Heteromeles arbutifolia

Toyon

3

5

3

2

4

4

5

5

5

3

5

5

3

5

4

4

3

4

5

2

4

3

4

4

5

5

3

2

2

4

4

5

3

5

5

5

3

4

3

3

3

4

5

3

D

Holodiscus discolor

Ocean Spray

2

4

4

3

4

5

3

5

3

2

3

5

4

4

3

4

4

3

2

3

5

3

4

4

4

4

5

4

1

2

4

4

3

3

5

3

5

4

1

3

2

2

3

2

L

Lithocarpus densiflorus

Tan Oak

1

3

5

2

5

4

4

3

3

4

5

4

5

4

4

2

4

4

4

3

5

5

4

3

5

5

2

4

3

4

4

4

2

3

5

4

4

5

2

2

3

3

4

3

E

Lonicera hispidula var. vacillans

Hairy Honeysuckle

2

2

4

1

3

3

3

3

3

4

3

2

2

3

4

4

3

4

2

3

5

1

2

3

3

2

1

3

1

2

4

5

5

3

4

2

2

3

1

1

2

4

3

3

S

Lupinus arboreus

Tree Lupine

4

3

3

2

4

5

5

3

4

3

5

2

4

4

3

2

4

4

4

4

4

4

5

3

2

4

4

2

3

2

5

4

2

2

4

5

3

2

3

3

4

4

5

2

 

Malus sp.

Apple

2

3

2

1

3

5

3

3

3

1

3

4

4

2

5

2

4

2

5

5

3

1

2

4

4

2

3

3

2

3

3

3

3

5

2

4

4

2

3

2

3

4

5

3

 

Myrica californica

Pac. Wax Myrtle

3

3

4

2

3

4

4

3

4

2

2

4

5

5

4

2

2

2

4

5

4

4

4

4

4

3

2

3

3

1

3

4

2

4

4

5

3

4

3

3

4

4

5

5

 

Pinus radiata

Monterey Pine

4

2

3

2

4

4

3

5

3

2

2

4

3

3

3

3

2

2

4

3

4

1

2

2

3

3

3

3

2

2

2

3

4

3

2

3

3

3

1

1

2

1

3

2

 

Prunus cerasifera

Cherry Plum

3

3

1

3

4

4

4

4

3

4

5

3

5

3

4

3

4

4

2

5

4

3

3

3

5

3

5

3

3

2

4

4

4

5

3

3

3

5

3

2

3

5

5

3

 

Prunus sp.

Wild Cherry

4

1

2

2

5

4

3

4

4

3

3

1

5

2

3

2

2

5

3

4

3

2

5

4

4

3

4

3

2

4

5

3

5

4

5

3

3

5

2

1

5

4

3

1

 

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Douglas Fir

2

2

3

2

2

5

3

3

4

2

1

4

4

3

2

3

2

3

4

4

3

2

3

1

2

3

2

1

2

4

2

3

3

4

1

3

3

2

1

2

2

3

3

3

 

Pyrus sp.

Pear

5

4

2

2

2

4

5

5

4

1

4

3

3

4

5

2

3

4

4

5

2

2

2

5

5

2

2

4

1

4

4

4

3

5

1

3

3

3

2

1

2

1

5

2

 

Quercus wislizeni

Interior Live Oak

5

4

5

4

5

5

4

5

5

4

4

4

4

5

4

4

5

4

3

5

3

5

4

3

4

3

3

2

2

5

5