Making a Stone Age Hand Drill Friction Fire With Stuff Gathered on the Spot

[@sk8corpuz]

Start a fire for a man, keep him warm for a night Set a man on fire, keep him warm for the rest of his life

[@SkillCult]

+sk8corpuz thank you for that teaching oh wise one!

[@claybaudoux]

Lol! Thank you for the chuckle, it's been "a day"...btw, I'm steeling this!

[@jmeinecke14]

Keep getting these sweet KZbin recommendations for videos I didn't know you had. The channel so deeper than I thought

[@SkillCult]

:)

[@congamike1]

I've seen a lot of videos on this subject. This is by far the best.

[@toadstkr]

If you’re thinking man this looks easy! ,try it, what you are watching is a lot of practice and skill. Super impressed

[@williamwhite9481]

I love the way mugwort leaves break up. So perfect

[@SkillCult]

yeah, good stuff.

[@mawilkinson1957]

I love your videos. Great, down-to-earth attitude. You are the man.

[@SkillCult]

Thank you sir :)

[@djhogan65]

Thanks for your work. Yesterday I started my first fire with a fire bow and drill made from sticks near a stream. It was very satisfying, but now I want to be able to start a fire with a hand drill as you did, and your video has given me a lot of confidence that I will be able to do it after some practice. By the way, I used some dead dry lantana, a common weed here in Australia, and it works really well for the fire bow method.

[@SkillCult]

Hand drill can be hard to learn because it's like doing several things at once. It definitely doesn't have to be difficult though. Eventually I'll do some more stuff on it, but there are other good videos out now I think. Just keep at it. Inconsistent downward pressure and using extra energy by tensing or not focusing the energy into that one spot seem to be the common mistakes. They are often invisible though. It can actually help to watch other people doing it while you are trying to learn. You can pick up a lot of ques visually. I've actually found that demonstrating effective technique is one of the best tools in teaching it, but it has to be right as they are drilling, like I do a pass down the drill and hand it back over to them.

[@fuzuku]

-so awesome Steve. A naked human with nothing could do this and begin to build civilization. What an amazing thing to be able to do. Thank you for this unique and beautiful expression of humanity. I have to try this!

[@SkillCult]

It is a very empowering skill to learn for sure. FIRE!

[@ryandavis6660]

You don't get enough, appreciation for your work!

[@SkillCult]

I won't argue with that lol.

[@nwlady1844]

thanks for this video. Best video I have seen on any subject recently.

[@SkillCult]

+NW Lady Awesome! Thanks for commenting!

[@mariawood5784]

Really enjoyed watching this video. Very clear and interesting at the same time. Love your videos :)

[@SkillCult]

Thanks :)

[@MrZluvu4ever]

Best video on hand drill ever...thanks so much!!!

[@SkillCult]

Thanks! I still haven't done any more on hand drill yet, but I'm going to harvest fire boards tomorrow! so hopefully... Check out my buddy David West on KZbin. He has awesome fire stuff and lots of hand drill. And he's just a solid dude.

[@MrZluvu4ever]

@@SkillCult Thanks...I've been a subscriber of his for a while now...he's kind of fire-making's mad -scientist!

[@natejansen892]

Prior preparation prevents piss-poor performance. An old military guy said this to me once when I was younger. I never forgot it. Anyway, great video! I appreciate the knowledge your passing on.

[@SkillCult]

My high school teacher used to say that :)

[@blmeflmm66]

Finally a true primitive fire making video! No tools, no shoe strings no BS. This is the real deal. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skills. Doing it in dry conditions is hard enough, but how about a primer on primitive fire making in damp conditions? Thanks again and keep up the great work.

[@SkillCult]

Friction fires under damp conditions is quite difficult. Chances are you'll have to have a lot of knowledge, skill and conditioning to pull it off. That means knowing what materials to look for in what environment (and that is basically regional knowledge), putting together the best functioning kit you can and having outstanding skills to be as effective and efficient as possible. And that may involve extreme physical output. People didn't do that in the old days. They carried reliable means of making fire just like we do today. Add doing all that with stone tools and no string and you have a serious challenge which is sometimes going to be impossible. I'm not the person to teach you that, and really no one is since it is very regional. Check out youtube channel Stay Primitive My Friend. That guy is a fire making stud and deals with making fire under damp conditions. There's a comment from him on this page you can follow to his channel.

[@redactedcanceledcensored6890]

Thanks for telling about the mugwort leaves, something like those are common around here. Instead of leaves that have seemed to burn through, I have mostly used a flat piece of thin wood or a piece of pine bark. I have found that rubbing pitch into the handle is more effective than rubbing it on the hands (sticky hands might rub together in some strokes, which may lead to blisters and "stolen energy" ).

[@SkillCult]

I usually just spit on my hands, but some people are squeamish about that. Mugwort is great stuff. Very unique material.

[@brianvannorman1465]

Interesting. Thank you

[@Im-just-Stardust]

Great great video man, I don't know why I am discovering people like you so late. Some channel just don't seem to show up much in the recomendation between some people it seems Subbed and shared, good job man.

[@SkillCult]

+Primitive Hey, thanks! The search and suggestion algorithms favor certain things like comments and high number of views. I think it just takes a while to get some momentum. Things have improved a lot in the last couple months. Thanks for your support!

[@SchwarzeBieneOutdoor]

Awesome 👍👍👍

[@SurvivalSherpa]

Looky what I found. Nice demo, bud. I looked for mule fat last summer when visiting our son in Las Vegas but had no luck. Guess I'll stick with my local sticks.

[@SkillCult]

there's probably something good almost anywhere. I like mulefat/seepwillow, though it's not my absolute favorite, which is California Buckeye. What do you use there?

[@SurvivalSherpa]

Mullein, yucca, box elder, horse weed. We've got plenty to chose from I've just always wanted to try mule fat, lol.

[@andyspry2301]

Great video, loved it.

[@SkillCult]

I just went back there yesterday to gather drills.

[@TheTribeOfBenjamin]

This is no easy task but you sure made it look easy! Great vid, lots of good info, enjoyed it!...Ben

[@SkillCult]

+TheTribeOfBenjamin It actually was pretty easy that day. Conditions were very good and the materials were good. I'm actually not in the best hand drilling shape ever right now, so good thing ;)

[@anserafers8088]

Brilliant work mate ✅

[@williamwhite9481]

I used to need a 16 inch spindle to get an ember. Now after a year i can use a 5 inch spindle floating the whole process. I just made a little pocket sized set. I also made a video of using a 5 1/2 inch spindle yesterday

[@SkillCult]

That's great. I used to have much better hand drilling skills, but haven't kept them up very well. I consider floating a legitimate skill and not just a parlor trick. If nothing else, it shows the ability to keep consistent pressure which is one of the major problems in hand drill fire making.

[@elzorrovo5]

Great video SkillCult' very informative and interesting. I told others that I know that are interested and hand drilling to check out your video! Looking forward to future hand drilling videos from you. Take care Alberto

[@SkillCult]

+elzorrovo5 Thanks Alberto, and thanks for sharing. There will be more at some point.

[@jakobgrunstein1092]

awesome

[@HomeroTheHobbit]

You're just awesome, man! Thanks!

[@butchvandyk1051]

This is my tipe of stuff....FIRE....FIRE....FIRE

[@larlob1]

Nice job w/ the rocks! That was inspiring. I saw you playing guitar in some of your "year in review" videos. It sounded great. I'd love to hear more of your own music in your videos. BTW: I used to live in the Santa Cruz mountains. Looks like you're not too far from there. - Beautiful area!

[@SkillCult]

I haven't taken the time to record anything well and I'm always rusty because I hardly play anymore. I'd like to use more eventually though. I have enough equipment to make decent recordings.

[@cronkthecrunk]

That was fast as hell

[@SkillCult]

Yeah, it doesn't usually take that long if the kit is good.

[@cronkthecrunk]

@@SkillCult takes me like 10 minutes I'll have to focus on better materials 👍

[@thrivingscout8404]

That's really cool man I definitely learned a lot thanks for a great vid

[@SkillCult]

You're welcome. Future videos will talk about hand drill theory and some practical tips.

[@TheSonoranDesertGrower]

I hope you got that Leatherman

[@SkillCult]

I wasn't even in the running. A couple experiences like that is why I stopped submitting projects in those contests. The judging is really weird. You need a lot of votes and you don't get them unless you are already popular on instructables, which I'm not because I don't put in a lot of time there. The contests I've won there have been judges prizes, not by popular vote.

[@HoboJIm117]

I've done bow drilling, have never tried hand drilling though. bet it would be fun, bow drilling was really fun but I would always knock my knuckles on something and make them bleed lol

[@SkillCult]

+HoboJIm117 I like hand drill obviously. Bow drill is fussy and there is the whole string issue. it is also a lot of intense work. I think there is a place for it. I'm not great at it. Since I don't really like it, I don't do it much anymore. I think it's good to know how to do both though.

[@daisy8luke]

Great vid, bro. Definitely subscribing to your channel!!

[@SkillCult]

+daisy8luke Thanks dude!

[@gundog5]

Nicely demonstrated, SkillCult! So did you win the Leatherman? Looks like you've been doing this awhile. Videoing friction fire-making demo's often adds to the challenge, trying to keep it interesting, in a timely manner (ie. short attention span audience), and be successful in the process, preferably with little or no struggle, ha ha. It's something I always struggle with.

[@SkillCult]

+gundog5 Seriously probably took about 3 or 4 times as long having to lug around equipment, think, talk, etc... I feel like I covered it pretty well, but yeah it was a challenge to even get it that short and deliver some distilled quality information. It was pretty easy going out there on a dry day in the creek bed this time around. Not much of a challenge really. I won't know if I won for a while. At least the contest lit a fire under my butt to make a hand drill video anyway. Wow, looks like you're really into friction fires! What are your favorite hand drill woods?

[@gundog5]

I hear ya. when I make a vid, I often have to do a couple awkward takes to get into the groove of getting something reasonable on video. At least the talking parts. Then there's the other variables to film-making, ambient noises, bad angles, missed shots, dying battery, out of memory/ storage, etc..., ha ha. Almost as bad as all the variables to deal with when going for a freshly found successful friction fire, ha ha. Favorite hand drill woods. Probably Teasel I picked up in Chicago (on Coconut Palm). Caesarweed's a close 2nd when I can find it in a suitable state. Elderberry's a good all-around option for either/ both spindle & fireboard, easy soft-medium option. Dog Fennel is most commonly available with medium effort (somewhat available year round) on Sabal Palm (Cabbage Palm). Cattail when it's dry and in a good state-of-decay. Although, it can add to the challenge when balancing speed, downward pressure, and finesse, ha ha.

[@SkillCult]

Yep, I do a lot of first scenes over and over too. I'm getting better though. Who thought it would be so hard? It's easy in my head :) I barely made it with the one battery I had on this one! Thanks for the list. I have a hard time with cattail crushing. It sure can be great though. Our elderberry is hit and miss. It's often actually too pithy. Might be a different species. Teasel grows here, but I haven't tried it before.

[@tomthomas334]

I fuckin love your videos.

[@SkillCult]

Thanks dude :)

[@tomthomas334]

@@SkillCult always welcome, it was one of your vids that helped make the first fire with mullien, downward pressure is key

[@Prosecute-fauci]

Great video Steven. Question: are you particular about the boots you wear, and if so, what boots do you wear?

[@SkillCult]

I've been subsisting off of thrift store shoes for years. I just bought my first pair of new shoes in over 20 years. so, no :)

[@BacktotheBasics101]

🔥 👍🏼

[@TonyTapay]

Great video. Gentle nudge though would be to change your text font/format. It's really hard to read. Looking forward to watching more.

[@SkillCult]

+Tony Tapay Thanks Tony. I have changed my font. I really like the one I'm using. It is almost always pretty easy to read and I can make it a lot smaller. Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.-

[@tomthomas334]

Good video. I was going to subscribe but to my surprise I already am lol! wtf I must need some lions mane

[@SkillCult]

I do a lot of different content, so you might have subbed on something unrelated. Subs don't mean that much in terms of the recommendations yt gives you, it's the bell that matters.

[@crosscountryoutdoors2472]

Knowledge is life. “I knew someone “ whose cousin was a genius. He had a very high IQ. He, without help, would probably die in a couple of days in the outdoors. Intelligence does not always equate to knowledge. You seem to have both. Good video. First try friction fire! Luck or skill?

[@SkillCult]

So true. I'm sometimes heard to go off on that very point. Part of the problem is that very intelligent people get enmeshed in theory and information to the point that they loose sight of the forest for the trees becoming too far divorced from reality. Also, becoming impressed with your own intelligence is dangerous. Mechanical intelligence is a tool, but it can be misused.

[@jamieparry6420]

4 years, 14k views, 0 down votes.

[@Anson120]

Oddly enough nature just gave you a leather man in those rocks.

[@SkillCult]

I couldn't find the pliers.

[@ghidfg]

*life without fire is lame* lol

[@SkillCult]

it really is :)

[@jakobgrunstein1092]

edifying? what is that? I probably spelled it wrong. life without fire is lame.

[@SkillCult]

It's around education, like enlightening, instructive etc.. Yes, life without fire is lame.

[@HoboJIm117]

I've done bow drilling, have never tried hand drilling though. bet it would be fun, bow drilling was really fun but I would always knock my knuckles on something and make them bleed lol

[@SkillCult]

+HoboJIm117 I'm a big fan of hand drill, obviously. Bow drill can be really effective, but i always feels clumsy and there are so many moving parts (and now you need knuckle guards! :). It seems to often require a very large fast energy output too. I'm not alone in thinking that it is often harder than hand drill. That of course varies by circumstance. I'm not that great at it though, because I avoid it as much as possible.

[@HoboJIm117]

I've done bow drilling, have never tried hand drilling though. bet it would be fun, bow drilling was really fun but I would always knock my knuckles on something and make them bleed lol

[@SkillCult]

+HoboJIm117 Bow drill is pretty awkward no matter how you cut it. It can allow tremedous pressure though. I think hand drill is a lot more fun. Give it a try sometime.

[@HoboJIm117]

SkillCult I'll give a go the next time I go camping :)