Fire
Batwa pygmies traditional fire lighting method
The Batwa people live in the area around Bwindi Mgahinga National Park. This park is significant because it houses half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. The Batwa were the last tribe permitted to hunt in this national park before…
Camelthorn as firewood
Camelthorn is great firewood in Southern Africa. It got an outer layer of light-colored sapwood and dark, hard, and heavy heartwood inside. This hardwood produces long-lasting coals and high heat. Camelthorn occurs from the Northern Cape province of South Africa…
Australian Firesaws
Firesaws are nowadays only known as a traditional fire making method at Pacific Islands. In Australia these methods were replaced by friction fire hand drills and later – under Western influences – by bow drills. Nevertheless, fire sawing is an…
Brief historical overview of man’s use of fire
Mankind’s use of fire goes back an extraordinary length of time. From humble collecting and guarding natural fires to producing fire by sparks or friction took about 1,5 mio years. Since more than 500,000 years, mankind is producing fires themselves…
Is your firewood wet or dry?
If you are outdoors in boreal forest biomes worldwide, it is of primary importance to protect yourself against wind and wetness. And, to light a fire for warmth. The necessary firewood should be dry in order to burn hotter and…
Manketti wood for friction fire lighting
In the north-eastern parts of Namibia, Ju/’hoansi bushmen exclusively use Manketti wood (Schinziophyton rautanenii) for friction fire lighting. At least in areas, where Manketti trees are growing. Such areas are on a slightly higher elevation compared to savanna bushveld vegetation….
Bushscout UK’s fire bundle basket
Terry Longhurst said, “Bundle baskets are what we use with young people when fire lighting, using a bundle it prevents them getting burnt, it also helps if they have special needs.” Such a fire bundle basket is basically chicken wire,…
Fire lighting with Flint & Steel
Originally, stone age- and bronze age man in Europe created fire by striking flintstone on marcasite and caught resulting sparks on tinder made from horseshoe fungi. Marcasite is crystallized pyrite (iron sulfate mineral) and is not readily available but had…
Hand drilling in UK as taught by Dave Watson
Friction fire hand drills are normally not the first choice for fire lighting in the Northern hemisphere, as it is regarded as a strenuous technique, especially in cold and humid environments. Dave Watson proved under overcast Northern Wales weather conditions,…
Bow drill standard procedure by Dave Watson
The approach of friction fire lighting with bow drill in the UK is slightly different from other countries. In the following these differences will be explained. Materials and shapes of the various bow drill elements Hearth board of the bow…
Bow drilling in Sweden by Mattias Norberg
Sweden has got a rich tradition of outdoor living and Mattias Norberg wrote the standard book about fire making in this country (‘Konsten att Elda’) . It was a great privilege having got his first hand practical instructions on one…
Bow drilling in Australia by Gordon Dedman
At the Global Bushcraft Symposium 2022 in the UK, Gordon Dedman presented the bow drilling technique he is teaching in Australia. It is assumed that readers know the basics of bow drill friction fire lighting and I therefore will only…
Hand drill friction fire lighting in Australia
At the Global Bushcraft Symposium 2022 in the UK, Gordon Dedman presented the hand drill friction fire lighting method he is teaching in Australia. As most readers of this topic will know the basic techniques of hand drill friction fire…
Australian friction-fire woods 1
At the Global Bushcraft Symposium 2022 in the UK, Gordon Dedman presented a variety of types of Australian friction-fire wood, which are well suited for friction-fire lighting methods and for tinder. The signature friction-fire method, which was exclusively used for…
Firewood from Red Bushwillows is excellent
In Southern Africa, there are fourteen species of Bushwillows, which belong to the Combretum family. Other trees of the same Combretum family are Clusterleaf species, but also Leadwood and some others. Interesting enough, not all Combretum species are suitable for…
Greenthorn tree and its uses
The Greenthorn tree (Balanites maughamii) is easily recognizable in Southern Africa due to its triangular, fluted or buttressed trunk. Its spines are green like its twigs and often forked. It is very spiny and hard to climb. It mainly grows…
Creating fire by hand drill in Namibia
Type of wood for fire hand drills changed over time Fire starting by friction hand drill was traditionally common by Khoi-san (Ju/’hoansi) people in their area of distribution, which was once over whole Southern Africa, and got more and more…
Solar fire lighting
The energy received by the earth from the sun is called the Solar Constant, which describes the effect that every 1 m2 of planet earth, facing the sun rays in a 90-degree angle (directly overhead) will receive 1375 Watts (Joules/sec)….