For me, learning to make fire by friction with the bow drill was the skill that first grabbed my interest all those years ago. I was fascinated by the idea of making fire by 'rubbing sticks'. After seeing Ray Mears demonstrate this on TV, I had to achieve it for myself. After a lot of hard work I made my first ember and blew it into flames. This literally ignited my interest in Bushcraft!

Hopefully with the information on this page you will learn faster than I did to get my first flame. But remember... You can't become an expert over night so be patient. Half of the skill is in the mind. If you remain persistent and calm after many failed attempts you will eventually achieve fire. This skill can take many weeks to learn; that said, if you have all the right materials and your technique is good, you may be able to make fire within just a few hours....

Dry dead wood is obviously more suitable than fresh wood. Either cut wood and leave it to season, or select already dead pieces.

Dead wood found on the forest floor will be damp unless the climate is very dry. Instead search for dead-standing wood, or wood caught up in other tree branches and so suspended off the ground.

Cut a section of wood about a foot long and three fingers wide. There should be as few knots as possible; knots are too hard.

Carve the wood down so that it resembles a small plank. You could start by splitting a round baton of wood in half and then carve the round side flat. A small hatchet is great for this.

I never measure anything when i make the parts, but just to see, i measured the thickness of a few of my hearth boards, they are all about 15-16mm thick. This thickness works very well for me.The width should be at least twice the thickness of the drill (about 4cm).

For the drill I look for shoots of wood that are already about the right thickness

Strip the bark off. Then carve one end pointed and the other end into a blunt point as shown. your drill should be perfectly straight and about 6 or 7 seven inches long.

The bottom of the drill is carved to a blunt point so that there is a lot of surface area to cause as much friction as possible; whereas the top end ideally needs to be as friction free as possible.

I tend to make my drills pretty much always about 2cm thick (do this by eye).

Note: The wider the drill the less full rotations it will make for each stroke of the bow. Also I find it harder to apply as much downward pressure with a wide drill.

Many beginners automatically think that the bow should be bendy, but actually it should be rigid and pretty much as thick as a broom handle. If the bow is springy, this can allow the string to slip around the drill. A bow about 85cm long is a good length (from your armpit to your fingertips). A slightly bent shape is nice, although this doesn't have to be much at all.

There are various natural materials from which you could make the string, such as, buckskin, rawhide, sinew and also some plant fibres, however I admit that I have not experimented with such materials enough to give advice about them. For practice, I recommend sticking with something that is very hard wearing, such as nylon cord. Personally, I use the cord which is used on the pull-start of garden machinery, I have found that this material is virtually indestructible for bow drilling. If you were in a survival situation you could try using your shoe lace, although I have found that many boot laces are not usually strong enough for repeated use. If you wanted to be a super prepared survivalist, you could always use pull-start cord as laces, then you'd always have good cord at hand :-)

You can tie the ends of the cord to the bow in many different ways. I personally just use a few overhand knotts.

Just for fun I personalised this bow by burning patterns on to it using a metal kebab skewer.

The bearing block should be as friction free as you can make it, some tough hard wood is best. I like to use Yew, elder, holly, oak. The old weathered oak branches that look like bones are pretty good.

A small section of wood is all that is needed, I often just split the wood down the centre to produce 2 possible bearing blocks and carve a depression in the centre using the tip of my knife. This small depression will hold the pointed end of the drill in place.

You should make the bearing block comfortable to hold. Carve off any sharp corners etc.

stuffing some fresh leaves into the depression acts as a lubricant to help reduce friction. Ivy leaves are my favourite for this (not poison ivy).

There are many possibilities for tinder. My personal favourites are Lime (Basswood) bark, Clematis bark and Honeysuckle Bark, but there are so many other materials that you could use. Just look around for fibrous materials that are as dry as you can get.

A lot of tinder takes preparation. Buffing it between your hands will break the fibres down and produce fine fluffy tinder. Keep your tinder somewhere dry, in a pocket for example. If it's damp, keeping it against the warmth of your body will help to dry it.

You can add a small amount of downy tinder to the centre of your tinder bundle where you plan to introduce the ember. For example, the downy seeds of thistle & reedmace work well. This acts as an ember extender. This is not necessary though

Ideally you should be in a position that is comfortable, stable and one that allows you to breath properly. You will feel quite tired and energy depleted if you are not able to breath normally (kind of like going for a run whilst holding your breath).

This photo shows the most practical and frequently used drilling position.

The hearth board is pinned to the ground by your foot to stop it moving. The bearing block is held against your shin to keep the drill from wobbling about; this is VERY important.

If there is an ember, the pile of black dust on your ember pan will continue to produce smoke by itself. Stay calm, you have some time (although not a huge amount). Encourage the ember a little by gently wafting air over it with your hand. This short time also allows the ember to 'solidify'. If left longer you'll see the hot glow rise to the surface.

Peel back the hearth board away from the ember. Now you're ready to transfer it to the finest part of your prepared tinder.

Congratulations if you achieved fire!
If you liked this article, you may also like my eBook on the hand drill method: