Rubbing Two Sticks Together

[RingTwist]

Have you ever actually started a fire by rubbing two sticks together? I remember trying when I was a kid and didn't have access to lighters or matches, but once I got my hands on those, I haven't had the patience to try starting a fire without them.

 

[Bojib]

I tried it as a kid too. I could get the wood hot, but no fire.

 

[wvbreamfisherman]

I've managed to make fire with a bow (exactly ONCE in numerous tries). I DID get nice and warm though.

I suppose under perfect conditions, with exactly the right wood, it could be done. I'd be trying to find some flint and a piece of steel, rather than play with sticks, though.

 

[Grandpa]

Like wvbream, once with a bow, never with just two pieces of wood. I have managed with just a piece of granite off the back side of my knife. I just make sure I have a bic at all times when outside.

 

[CozInCowtown]

I honestly think that only works in the cartoons.
Same results as everyone above.
DC

 

[Theo]

Depending on how you define two sticks, I have. Here is a video of one of the best friction fire methods I've run across.

Bamboo Fire-saw "How To" - YouTube

 

[ghostdog]

It works...if the wood is the right kind and it is bone dry. It is fairly easy for me to make a flame from yucca type stalks, last years crop that has seasoned. I make the drill and the baseboard from that material. A hand drill is very hard and takes a lot of power but a bow drill can do it fairly fast. It is important to find the right kind of material in your own country. This also applies to the dry material you place your coal in. It is a skill but any of you could learn to do it. I'll say this, it does feel like some kind of magic when you get that flame.

 

[Theo]

I still say the two best bushcraft inventions are the butane lighter and the fire steel.

 

[ghostdog]

I still say the two best bushcraft inventions are the butane lighter and the fire steel.

Yes, instant fire, can't beat it with a stick.

I'm a big firesteel fan. It is the only way I light fires or stoves. I even carry a miniature BSA hotspark on my keychain with a small block of fatwood and a small waterproof capsule with a cotton ball inside. Just a little bit of insurance...

 

[Theo]

Well, duh! Never thought about putting fatwood on a keychain. Thanks for the idea!

 

[dashboardc33]

I've tried to do this when I was younger with no success. I don't remember, but probably gave up way too quickly. We just bought a new fire starter from REI, where you rub a metal striker piece up against another rod. All it does it create sparks for me and things would have to be extremely dry to actually start a fire from scratch. I like the method of a lighter or matches the best.

 

[ghostdog]

...We just bought a new fire starter from REI, where you rub a metal striker piece up against another rod. All it does it create sparks for me and things would have to be extremely dry to actually start a fire from scratch...

You can start a stove up with those 5000 degree sparks easy. If you want a fire, you need some micro tender. A small portion of dry, 100% cotton ball is best. If you carve off several thin curls of fatwood and lace them in the piece of cotton ball it will flame right up on the first stroke and burn for several seconds, enough time to lay on some more small tinder and get that thing going. :flame: It never gets damp and useless like matches can over time if they age enough and you can't accidentally loose all your fuel as is possible with a lighter.

 

[Esperahol]

Not with sticks, but with a bow - it didn't take too much effort all things considered. It was a lot harder to do in the woods with fingers I couldn't really feel and my stomach trying to eat it's self, but it worked because desperation is a special kind of magic. That said I just carry extras of everything now and I prefer not to go solo.

 

[dinosaur]

I like the video Theo posted but my favorite is still a lighter and a tioxane tab.

 

[shaun]

I have managed to make a fire with sticks a few times. It worked because the weather was very hot, the wood and the tinder has completely dried out. It still took me an hour to spark the tinder and my hand was blistered from the friction.

 

[Yab9]

I have never managed to do this. And I have tried it numerous times. I can only manage to make fire by hitting two stones together but I still prefer my old trusty matches.

 

[3ofusnow]

I would never try and start a fire by simply rubbing two sticks together. If I had shoes with laces on at the very least I would make a bow drill and try it that way.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi..


As a youngster I always heard about the 'rubbing two sticks together' way to make a fire, so I tried it..by literally holding one stick in one hand and another stick in the other hand and rubbed them together. Naturally, nothing happened. Talk about disappointment...!! Oh, well...adults tell kids plenty of tales...and that was another one.

Now, I carry in my BOB four ways to make a fire, and my BOB is either with me or within my sight when I'm afield. The only tinder I carry is some vasolined cotton balls.

I never want to be caught in a position where I HAVE to make a survival fire (or just a simple cooking fire) any other way.

 

[Boroffski]

I've gotten embers with a bow-drill, but never by hand.
Set-up is everything. Hard wood seems to burn as it comes apart, gathering as a pile of ash. But softer woods gather as a pile of wood dust and becomes an ember with the heat from the friction. I WILL get a hand-drill fire one day.

 

[Theo]

I've gotten embers with a bow-drill, but never by hand.
Set-up is everything. Hard wood seems to burn as it comes apart, gathering as a pile of ash. But softer woods gather as a pile of wood dust and becomes an ember with the heat from the friction. I WILL get a hand-drill fire one day.

Maybe you're not shopping at the right store.:rofl:

FLAMMA - Making fire with IKEA products - YouTube