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June 16, 2002
Fire
(Photos and report by Walter Muma) |
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Ten people met at Walter & Julie's in Cambridge for a
study group on fire making methods. The group included a few who had never
yet made fire in a primitive fashion -- there were a few "firsts"
today.
Rob Bicevskis and Peter Moc were on hand to share their
experience with us.
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We met in the garage
because it was raining on and off outdoors. The
floor was quickly littered with cedar chips and shavings from
people's projects. Most people made a bow drill set first. |
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For more info on all of these fire making topics,
visit
the Wildwood Survival website,
Fire
section. |
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Here is a series of five movies of Rob Bicevskis
demonstrating a bow drill:
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Transferring the coal to the tinder bundle and starting to blow it
into flame |
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Windows media format
320x240, 748 KB |
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| 4.
Transferring the coal to the tinder bundle and starting to blow it
into flame |
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Windows media format
320x240, 927 KB |
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Rob showed us an alternative way of winding the string
around the drill. This method helps to reduce the wear on the
string.
Rob calls this an "Egyptian" bow drill
because of this winding. |
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Click on the small photo to
watch the hand drill in operation
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Windows media format
320x240, 633 KB |
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Here's Peter Moc
working on the hand drill. |
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Next we moved on to the
fire plow. Here is a movie of this fire plow being used. Notice that a lot of smoke is generated. We
need more practice before a coal is obtained. |
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Click on the small photo to watch
the
movie |
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Windows media format
320x240, 722 KB |
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After the fire plow, the fire saw: click on the small photos
to see the movies...
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1. Just getting started |
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Windows media format
320x240, 466 KB |
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2. Lots of smoke |
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Windows media format
320x240, 601 KB |
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| 3. Carefully
lifting the fireboard to expose the coal |
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Windows media
format
320x240, 434 KB |
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4. Extracting the coal and
placing it in a larger tinder bundle, ready to blow into
flame |
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Windows media
format
320x240, 473 KB |
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Flint and Steel... |
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Click on the small photo to
watch the movie
(demonstration by Rob Bicevskis) |
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Windows media format
320x240, 446 KB |
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Pump drill
(equipment demonstrated by Rob Bicevskis)
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Pump drill movie: |
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Windows media format
320x240, 697 KB |
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And several other miscellaneous methods of making
fire...magnifying lens, carbide, flashlight, and ice (we didn't use ice,
just discussed the theoretical possibility of using it to make fire).
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Her first fire! |
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A very rewarding and educational day was had by all
participants. Many thanks to Rob Bicevskis and Peter Moc for sharing their
expertise and experience with us!
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For more info on all of these fire making topics, visit
the Wildwood Survival website,
Fire
section.
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