Making Friction Fire
You’ve gone out and harvested all this great wild food…now how are you going to cook it up? In this video, firemaster Delmar Lathers shows us how to gather all the natural materials you need to make fire. He has used over 20 different woods in this area of southern California to make friction fire, including wild tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) as a hearth and mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia) as a drill. In this video he highlights using an alder hearth, horseweed drill, and mugwort fire extender. Delmar has been teaching at Primitive Skills gatherings around the country for many years. If you are interested in learning more about primitive skills check out the Rabbitstick Rendezvous links page.
what is the thing that starts the fire?
the pressure of the drill (tall stick) on the hearth-board (bottom piece) creates sawdust. the sawdust heats up and forms a coal. the coal is then put into a starter (mugwort used here) and fed air (blowing) until it ignites!
cheers, ~sunny