# Best way to start a fire using sticks only? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2001, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992 "2001-01-27T09:11:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/21 "2001-01-28T10:14:41Z")
- - - “Animal gut”, , , -ugh. Be warned, to keep it from drying out and cracking, you have to work animal fat into it (-the fat presumably from the animal you killed to get the gut) by rubbing it in the fat, using a lot pf pressure, for a while. (You really gotta _want_ that fire, caveman) Most small animals do not have enough fat to do this with very well. -So first, you need to make a spear… - MC ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/22 "2001-01-28T14:26:40Z")
**Doc** , why don’t you go about this in stages? That is, rather than making a completely natural fire starter, try out the basic concepts at first. If you experiment and know _you_ can make a fire with a bow and drill, it will give you confidence when you try it out with “all natural” materials. Re: “So first, you need to make a spear.” Reminds me of the old joke about how to make chicken soup from scratch. First you create the chicken… Re: The “stick-in-groove” method. One of the tribes on _Survivor_ tried that without success. Rudy was roundly ridiculed for that. “You’re a Navy Seal and you can’t even make a fire?” IIRC they got some smoke, but no fire. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/23 "2001-01-28T15:53:38Z")
\ I swear, you guys. \<----keying Walkie on Channel 3, " Props to set please, with lighter fluid and cotton batting. Also, some waters for Mr. Hanks please on standby? ". See how easy that was? 😃 😃 😃 Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/24 "2001-01-28T15:58:43Z")
I saw a Beret doing this on tv yesterday. Used a 2 to three foot bow & a yucca stick. Took him less than a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/25 "2001-01-28T16:20:02Z")
That’s one fucking talented hat ! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/26 "2001-01-28T21:28:08Z")
William Poundstone in his Biggest Secrets books claims it is almost impossible to start a fire using only two sticks and friction. I don’t really believe him, this time. He does claim the Scoutmasters generally cheat to light fires using “natural” materials. I think it can be done if you keep your tinder try, but don’t ask me to trust in God on this one. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/27 "2001-01-28T22:18:56Z")
I did this to research my article for Parabola on the Thunderbolt. It does work. But: 1.) Use hard wood for the turning stick nd the upper socket. 2.) Use soft wood for the Base you turn it into. 3.) It’s a good idea to carve the tips of the turnin stick so they fit into the upper and lower socket. After you’ve spun it for a while, you’ll notice that it “polishes” nto the correct shape. Use your knife I assume you’ve got ne) to “knock off” any rregularities. 4.) After you’ve twirled it “into shape” (see #3), try lubricating the upper socket with anything handy, including “Nose grease” (from the sides of your nose). 5.) THere’s a prehistoric carving of a human figure with what seems to be the upper socket Strapped to His Chest. This is a good idea – you don’t need a bow in that case, you can hold one end of the strap in each hand. 6.) String isn’t a good idea for the strap – leather s much better. Use your belt, or cut a thin piece off t. 7.) Poundstone was being tongue-in-cheek about not starting a fire with sticks in that chapter (He was putting down the BSA for the assorted campfire starting tricks they’ve used. As an Eagle Scout, I’ve seen these in action and everyone concerned acnowledged that they were just tricks.). The U.S. Army survival guide and Sir James George Frazer’s “The Golen Bough” and lots of other sources agree you can do it. ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/28 "2001-01-28T22:24:29Z")
DOC, Get Tom Brown’s survival book. he walked into the woods NALKED and lived a year. Your problem: Matches-best, Bow drill next, but your limitations…OK, You get a long 3 ftStraight stick (drill) start t the top,rotatate it as you are moving your hands down, get to the bottom - start over. Proper tender needed. Keep at it. It will work. And you will get better. But learning curve(!), and expect blisters. I did it using only stuff from nature. Pure. Work, patience.and ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/29 "2001-01-29T00:53:30Z")
Forget _Castaway_. Go rent _Quest for Fire_ and watch how cute (and naked) Rae Dawn Chong does it… ---
**Author:** ![hapaXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@hapaXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hapaXL)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/30 "2001-01-29T18:49:35Z")
i saw a documentary on how Vietnamese soldiers survived in the forest. aside from tips on how to catch and barbecue insects while walking, it also had a demonstration of what seemed like a relatively easy way to start a fire. i can’t remember exact details, but it involved a dry bamboo stalk. you crack it in half with your machete, shave some slivers off and place them in one half of the bamboo. cut a couple of notches in the other half, rub furiously at a perpendicular angle and blow. seemed pretty efficient to me. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/31 "2001-01-30T15:30:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Re: The “stick-in-groove” method. One of the tribes on Survivor tried that without success. Rudy was roundly ridiculed for that. “You’re a Navy Seal and you can’t even make a fire?” IIRC they got some smoke, but no fire. You should have watched the first episode of _Survivor II_. _Both_ tribes failed to start a fire. One was using the stick-in-groove method and getting nowhere. (The person trying it kept saying “but the book said to do it this way!”) The other was using the bow-drill method. They kept getting smoke (and breaking bowstrings) but were trying to pick up the stick and transfer it to a pile of tinder after the smoke started instead of putting the tender around the stick in the first place. Later on they showed someone with a pair of reading glasses focusing sunlight, but it apparently never occured to the person holding them to try to start a fire that way. (Why does no one on that show ever take a lighter as their luxury item, btw?) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/32 "2001-01-30T16:42:25Z")
> [@](#): > > trying to pick up the stick and transfer it to a pile of tinder after the smoke started instead of putting the tender around the stick in the first place. Yeah, I saw that. WTF were they thinking? That the stick would light up like a giant match? I seem to remember an illustration accompanying the instructions on how to use a fire bow. IIRC, it showed the rig in the “using” position with flames at the base. Perhaps they saw a similar illustration and assumed that the flames were at the end of the drill? Like a big joss stick? ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/33 "2001-01-30T17:05:18Z")
If you end up stranded somewhere a little (well perhaps a lot) cooler, you could try this: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/local\_heroes/challenge/yorkchal.shtml](http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/local_heroes/challenge/yorkchal.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/34 "2001-01-30T17:13:24Z")
As was said, DRY wood is essential. Also, the difference between soft wood and hard is helpful. The V-groove thing works pretty good. I never tried the bow drill method, but having started a few fires (well, smolderings) while woodworking with various hand and power tools and (dried) wood, I can say it is possible. It does seem to go better with dry timder like wood chips or sawdust. I hear hair helps, too. If you want to add some metal implements into the equation, it gets a lot easier. I remember in grammar school there were kids who used to start fires in pencil sharpeners by trying to “sharpen” metal rods vigorously. Once the shavings in the container got to smoldering, they’d innocently go back to their seats and wait for the smoke to pick up. A couple of times I’ve accidentally set steel wool on fire with sparks from various sources. It seems o be singularly flammable. Maybe because it oxidizes (rusts) so readily? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2001, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992/35 "2001-01-30T17:51:52Z")
> [@](#): > > A couple of times I’ve accidentally set steel wool on fire with sparks from various sources. It seems o be singularly flammable. Maybe because it oxidizes (rusts) so readily? I wonder if you could bring a bag oc steel wool and a 9v battery as your luxury item? (BTW: What’s the deal with that woman bringing _eye liner_?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-start-a-fire-using-sticks-only/51992.md?page=1)