Friction Fire Courses

Earth Connection's friction fire making courses focus on technology, technique and the cultures to which these skills belong. The Bow Drill, the Hand Drill and the Fire Plow are just the beginning of what we teach.

FRICTION FIRE MATERIALS IDENTIFICATION

This course will focus on the skills that we consider the most important in the art of friction fire. These skills are plant and tree identification and proper material selection. We will study plant and tree families to learn general characteristics and then focus on the unique attributes of individual species. For example... did you ever try to use Hemlock pine for drills and fire boards? Did you use the trunk wood from a tree, or the branch wood? There is a surprising difference between the different parts of the same tree. The trunk wood is as soft as Cedar and makes suitable drills and boards, although the smoke is harsh to breathe while making the fire. The branch wood, however, has never yielded a fire to me. It is almost as hard as Ash or Elm, and full of resinous pitch, which as you will learn, is a lubricant. Good for Handholds, bad for fire boards....so that's the kind of advice we will be packing into this one day long class. Students will go through field and forest, identifying, harvesting and then using suitable woods and plant materials to construct fire making sets during the class.

Beginning Fire Makers are welcome too. We will be demonstrating the assembly and proper use of fire kit materials and then using the kits during the course. We will teach the Hand Drill, Bow Drill and Fire Plow friction fire making methods.

This class has been a long time coming, but this may be the most important class we offer in our fire making curriculum. Anyone can put together something that will pass as a shelter, water isn't too hard to find in most of the world, but making a fire is usually the the make or break point in survival situations. And the wood you select will determine whether you get fire or not.

Dates and Pricing

Date in 2008	Length	Cost
August 24	1 Day	$80

This class is available year-round as a Private Class, see the bottom of the Course Description page for Private Class info.

A young, lean, hairless Tim demonstrating the Hand Drill; boy that's an old picture!

This course will focus on the Bow Drill and Hand Drill methods of friction fire making and how to easily start a fire. Fire safety, tinder, fire wood selection, and setting up a primitive fireplace will be covered in addition to some of the history and physics of friction fire making. Proper construction and use of the fire making equipment will be emphasized during the course. Students will construct fire making sets which will be theirs to keep from a variety of materials provided by us.

Our one day Friction Fire Making course teaches the Hand Drill friction fire making method because it is the easiest fire kit to make, and this method had the widest use through prehistory and world cultures. The Bow Drill is also taught in this course because it is the easiest method for beginners to make friction fire.

Dates and Pricing

Dates in 2008	Length	Cost
February 9 August 23	1 Day	$80

This class is available year-round as a Private Class, see the bottom of the Course Description page for Private Class info.

How do you explain Fire Palooza??? This is the next evolution of Earth Connection's Fire Making curriculum. The two day long Fire Palooza course has been designed to further enhance a student’s friction fire making techniques and understanding of advanced variations of construction and technique. Fire making methods include the Bow Drill, the Hand Drill, and other friction fire making methods such as the Pump Drill, the Fire Saw, the Fire Plow, and the Arctic Mouth Drill. Advanced subjects will include plant and tree identification and use; the use of wet and difficult materials; Bow Drill cordage construction; the use of stone age tools more. Students will also have the opportunity to make and use a Pump Drill, Fire Saw, Fire Plow and an Arctic Mouth Drill. This course is also designed to show many of the primitive uses of fire and explain the importance of fire in many different cultures and time periods. Fire lore, legends and stories from all over the world will also be an important part of this course.

We recommend that students have completed our one day Fire Making course and be proficient in the skills presented there, or have comparable skills, to be eligible for Fire Palooza. But come on anyway if you want to!

Dates and Pricing

Date in 2008	Length	Cost
September 6-7	2 Days	$200

Dates and Pricing

Dates and Pricing

Dates and Pricing

Information Request Form