Aboriginal hand fire drill....

[Paganwolf]

I was lucky/fortunate enough to spend a few days while in Oz with Australia's leading Bushcraft and Survival expert Bob Cooper
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, Bob trains the Public and special forces with the skills needed to survive in the arid conditions of the out back, and has also developed the F18 fighter pilots and Special forces survival kits.
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Being in this type of terrain is a daunting experience,

Hot, Dry, baron and harsh and living amongst the native flora is a plethora of potentially deadly snakes spiders(red back shown below),
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scorpions, and in the billabongs catfish, not to mention crocks and in the waters of the coastline sharks and jellyfish, BUT saying this a fascinating place to learn bushcraft and survival. I traveled just outside of Perth where Bob runs a Marsupial Reserve which amongst other things houses Kangaroos
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, Possums and Bandicoots and in just a couple of days its surprising how much more at home you can feel in 40deg heat and some days fairly high humidity. One thing I was shown which I thought you may like to see was the Abo hand drill which the Arabana people call a makka-tira, the upright piece is called the wapuppa kupa the child stick, and the lower one which they believe contains the fire is called the wapuppa aluka the mother stick, or some times its known as makka aluka the fire mother. They use the fire stick as little as they can as it burns valuable calories and the women carry lighted fire sticks from camp to camp. They use the makka-tira hand drill set by holding the upright between their palms and spinning the spindle by rubbing in a downward motion applying pressure into the hearth stick which is firmly held by their feet, this is some times performed by two men as they don't believe in making life difficult for themselves and their bushcraft is a complete group effort. The material widely used for this procedure is the Balga
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or grass tree a tough hardy plant with a multitude of survival/bushcraft uses the material comes from the flowering stem which protrudes spear like from the top of the plant, when its first produced this stem can be chopped up and steeped in hot water as it exudes a sugary sap to make a good energy drink,As the flower dries and dies it becomes hard and woody and ideal for making the hand fire drill
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heres a picture with a pound coin along side to give you an idea on size
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The method i was shown was to hold the hearth benieth the foot in a kneeling position as you would in the bow drill method, firstly rubbing it into the earth to create a stable position for it and then putting a leaf under the already formed notch for the coal to form on
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then holding the spindle at the top end between your palms you spin the spindle by using a rubbing action moving your hands down the spindle with a downward pressure (TOP TIP! first before using the hand drill you "chalk" it(as you would a snooker cue) in some already charred/burnt wood,theres plenty in the out back trust me, some groups place a couple of grains of sand into the hole in the hearth to increase friction)
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when the spindle starts to wobble at the top move one hand back to the top grip the top and bring the other to meet it and continue the process, this builds the punky powder and due to the heat caused by friction ignites it forming the coal,a couple of wafts with the hand is all that is needed to get the coal smoldering nicely before transferal to the tinder bundle (a soft down which comes from the base of a native fern and dry grass was used here)
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and then its blown gently to a flame, another way the Aborigines do this is to hold it in the hand and swing the bundle till ignition,
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I was surprised at how well this material and method created a coal, ive got some crack willow wands drying out at the moment of the same dimentions to try out,it drys soft and light so who knows,you could even try different tip materials with a 10mm dowel as the shaft,willow or crack willow will probably be perfect for the hearth, something to try out in the winter months while im missing the Auzzi summer eh :cry: :cry: :cry: :wink: ( just out of interest its more difficult once the material is exposed to our mankey damp climate :roll: )

[tomtom]

looks great JP.. whats the tinder in the pic with the 10p?

[Jeff Wagner]

The growing shaft very much resembles the Mullein spindles I use. Is Bob left handed? I noticed he places the opposite foot forward on the hearth board. Love the possessed kangaroo... :shock:

[Paganwolf]

Its from plant called the Zamia, its a tough fern like plant (like something from the time of the dinosaurs!) its found deep in the center where the fronds uncurl from some times in quite large quantitys in older plants, perfect tinder..

[Paganwolf]

The growing shaft very much resembles the Mullein spindles I use. Is Bob left handed? I noticed he places the opposite foot forward on the hearth board. Love the possessed kangaroo... :shock:
The Kack handed bloke in the picks is me LOL :rolmao: ill stick one up of bob, im at work at the moment so im limited to what pikkies i have .....

[Jeff Wagner]

Hon too desuka! And a handsome lad too :wave:

[leon-1]

Nice one PW :biggthump

[Carcajou Garou]

Excellent pictures PW :super:

[AUSSIE]

A few points folks:- I have used this and also seen, full blood Kooris and military survival instructors demonstrate this traditional firelighting method many times! Even the Aboriginals consider it a marginal firelighting option! Especially in the wet, colder more humid parts of the country such as the South East Ranges and coastal areas and Tasmania. Even the slightest level of humidity sends this all to the proverbial!!! Conservation and transport of burning coals was a high priority on their survival list. For this technique you need a really select set of firesticks and when you find them you hang on to em! It is true that Bob Cooper's Kit is now issued to the Australian SAS and is also purchased by others, a guy I have worked with in the past and have known for several years while he was in the SAS was the Regiments senior Survival Instructor his other specialty was climbing and he also trained many SAS soldiers in this skill, back then your Combat Survival / E&E Kit was something you assembled yourself from privately purchased items or the occassional issue gear such as NATO Wire Saws. Alternatively lots of guys bought and modified Combat Survival Kits from Survival Aids and BCB etc..

[Moonraker]

Great guide PW :biggthump

Took a little time to load the page though with my ISDN 64k :cry: I reckon you could shrink those images down at least half and not lose quality :wink: and it may be imagebucket server...

And the scary thing for me wasn't the poisonous snake but that Kangaroo which appears posessed by the devil :yikes: :o):

and I can't see anything kack handed there mate. As a lefty myself ( and well proud of course :-) ), I would have used my left foot though?! But I may be weird like that :naughty:

Thanks for posting these.

[Kim]

Fantastic pics JP.

I hope that spider isn't to scale... :yikes:

[Paganwolf]

No its twice the size of that!! lol no the abdomen is about as round as the new 5p this is because its a gravid female. :wink:

[Kim]

Despite the fact that I'm slightly intimidated by it...it's quite beautiful. Is it a one bite and you're a gonner, spider...?

Would you carry any anit-venom type stuff in your first aid kit if you were treking out there?

[Paganwolf]

Depends on a lot of factors unfortunately,weather your illergic to the bite,ill,old or very young it can be potentially dangerous, although my nan got bit on the knee while she lived out there, the bite area swelled very quickly and it was extremely painful but not fatal, there are nastier spiders around i can tell you the brown recluse is a nastyer ****** i've got pictures of a bite that'll make your toes curl :shock:

[Jeff Wagner]

JP - Out of curiosity, does your Zamia spindle have a pithy core? On this side of the pond one of the attributes of a suitable weed stem shaft is one having pith. When I make hand drill fire, it is not uncommon for the spindle to acquire a concave tip as a result of the pithy center rather than the usual rounded point. The hearth board will have a corresponding cone.

[Paganwolf]

No Jeff, its light a bit like balsa wood but slightly denser no centeral pith, interesting about yours though, any chance of a picture or 2? (PS the socketed hand drill is genius, can you Pm me a price please :biggthump )

[DOC-CANADA]

...i can tell you the brown recluse is a nastyer ****** i've got pictures of a bite that'll make your toes curl :shock:

Any chance you can post them?

:smile: Doc :smile:

[Paganwolf]

they are pretty graphic,but its a true dipictation of a recluse bite ok gimme 5 mins..

[Jeff Wagner]

No Jeff, its light a bit like balsa wood but slightly denser no centeral pith, interesting about yours though, any chance of a picture or 2? (PS the socketed hand drill is genius, can you Pm me a price please :biggthump )
I'll email you a pic this evening. I am still fine tuning the socket and will have to let you know a bit later. There will be two versions. A socket alone that you can attach to any straight spindle and a thumb loop version that will break down into a size that is pocketable. Through these devices I hope to be able to make fire by hand drill using woods that we might ordinarily use for bow drill. I think it would be clever if one could simply whittle out a plug of say... poplar collected in the bush and proceed to make a fire without need for a bow.

[Paganwolf]

Doc, PM me you email im not sure id get away with posting these as the venom destroys tissue, the bite is usually noticed after 4 to 5 days by which time its too late, its not fatal (in most cases) but very damaging. :shock:

[TheViking]

Yep, great pics PW. :-) Looks like you had a nice trip down there, i'm jealous. :biggthump

[Celtic Dragon]

PW, for the people who want to see this in action, would you mind bringing it down to Ashdown, and me videoing it???

[DOC-CANADA]

[QUOTE=Paganwolf]..... One thing I was shown which I thought you may like to see was the Abo hand drill ........

Paganwolf;

I noticed in a couple of pictures that the top of the drill had a sharpened point on it. Was this intentional, and, if so, why?

:smile: Doc :smile:

[Paganwolf]

PW, for the people who want to see this in action, would you mind bringing it down to Ashdown, and me videoing it???
Ok, its a git in the damp as its a balsa type wood it soaks in the moisture but im sure i can find someone there who will go tandem on it with me, which is how they usually how they do it any how,if i can squeeeeeeze it in ill bring it :lol: :wink:

[Paganwolf]

[QUOTE=Paganwolf]..... One thing I was shown which I thought you may like to see was the Abo hand drill ........

Paganwolf;

I noticed in a couple of pictures that the top of the drill had a sharpened point on it. Was this intentional, and, if so, why?

:smile: Doc :smile:
Well Spotted Doc! :shock: i forgot about that and there is a reason for it yes, its to stick in the ground so some nice person doesn't step on it :lol: :wink: