The Grand Finale: One of the most common (and significant) mistakes
people make with the fire bow is at the end of the process. They’ll get the
smoke and the ember, then blow it by trying to make the fire as fast as they
can because they think the ember is going to burn out. You don’t have to
jump up like a jackrabbit; the ember is not going to burn out in a matter
of seconds. You’ve put a lot of kinetic energy into that glowing mass, and
if you treat it right, it will smolder for a while.
So once you’re pretty confident that you have an ember down there,
pull away slowly and cautiously, all the while holding the baseboard down
with your hands to make sure you don’t upset it when you take your foot
away. You’ll need to transfer the ember to the tinder pile very carefully.
Slide your hands underneath the tinder bundle, and gently close it
around the ember, being careful not to suffocate it. (You will likely be shaking
from exhaustion at this point, which is normal.) Essentially, you’re creating a
mini-furnace in the middle of the tinder pile. Blow softly onto the pile until the
heat from the ember transfers onto the tinder and catches the tinder itself.
Blow slowly at first. Once you’ve got a glowing red ping-pong-ball-
sized mass inside the tinder pile, you won’t likely blow it out, so you can
begin blowing more vigorously.
At this point you should be ready to transfer your tinder pile to your
fire pit, where you can begin to add stage 2 and 3 tinder, followed by small,
dry kindling.
The Fire Bow Method
- Make a fire bow using a piece
of wood with a slight bend in it
and any piece of cord (shoelace,
string, rope, etc.).
(^126) | Survive!