So here we are, at the end of another day. Was there adventure you ask?
Today's adventure was in our very backyard where we (father and I) had an idea for a survival exercise. The exercise was to create fire from the materials we could only find on hand. These were: a knife with a rounded blade (it looked like a mini-machete about as long as my hand) and a giant pile of wood branches, needles, etc which were once two large pine trees.
So, it looks like it's time to rub two sticks together caveman style.
Now, it is necessary when using wood to create fire to have two kinds: hardwood and softwood. There are three methods available for your choosing: twisting a columnar hardwood twig on a flatter softwood piece to get some smoke going, a bow method involving a rounded piece with some twine across it (looks like an archery bow) that is used to twist the twig involved in the first method mentioned, and then there is what I like to call the scraping method.
The scraping method (the one which we chose to attempt) uses a softwood base upon which a hardwood scraping-like tool is dragged in order to create friction. The idea is to cut a notch about 3cm wide by 1cm deep down the flat softwood, then in a slow continuous motion create heat by moving a hardwood piece up and down the notch. Bits of kindling (or tinder) are created in the process at the end of the softwood where the notch ends. The idea, if successful, is the friction caused by the movement of the two woods together overtime will light the tinder on fire once the wood starts to smoke.
So we have our knife which we used to cut flat a piece of branch and make a nice little firestarter. Placing these two together, away we went on vigorously scraping the twig down the notch back and forth. After several minutes though, we discovered while heat was being generated, the pine on pine combination wasn't creating enough friction to warrant creating a fire.
Nature: 1, H: 0.
This little episode reminded me of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations when he was in Ghana helping make palm wine. Being a smoker in his case allowed for the villagers to create fire quicker as he had a lighter. The glorious thing about butane lighters is that even after they get wet, so long as they dry off, they work.
Lesson for traveling? Take it from a former smoker, pick up a pack of lighters. Sure beats having to start a fire by rubbing wood.
(Further note: if one wishes for some entertainment and a demonstration of firemaking techniques, watch Cast Away with Tom Hanks. "I HAVE MADE FIRE!!!")
