THE FIRESTARTER

Madeleine Howell feels the friction burn as she learns how to light a fire from only twigs

“To know you can make fire can instil profound inner confidence,” says Dave Watson, founder of Woodland Survival Crafts, when I arrive at his secluded Derbyshire encampment with one goal: to make flames from friction.

My head is filled with thoughts of Tom Hanks dancing triumphantly around his self-made fire in Cast Away (“Look what I have created! I. Have. Made. Fire!”) – but today, we’re affording ourselves one upgrade on that desert island scene. Where Hanks arduously rubbed a bit of wood on another for days, I’m channelling my inner neolithic caveman and using a bow drill – a primitive tool that helps increase speed and pressure, the two forces of friction fire.

The drill is comprised of a pointed hazel stick, while the bow, also made from hazel, is strung with rope (braided nettle cord would work). Watson shows me how to crouch down and press the point of the drill into a hearth board, then use sweeping arm movements to spin the drill and – fingers crossed – create embers for man’s red flower.

It requires elbow grease but less brute force than I anticipated. I spend the next hour trying to learn the technique – and with a bit of patience and a sore arm, smoke appears beneath my eyes. I tip the glowing ember into a tray made of bark and nestle it into a clump of dried grass and downy, ignitable rosebay willow herb (or “fireweed”), then blow on the bundle with drawnout breaths to spark the flame. I. Have. Made. Fire!

Once you know the technique, it only takes a few minutes to get embers sparking – but I wouldn’t fancy working it all out while marooned at sea. In fact, after the thrill of watching my fire catch, I feel disheartened: while I may have mastered the use of the bow drill, I have to learn how to interpret my surroundings in order to forage and store dry materials, and develop knife skills to fashion my own drill. How far off is the next leap year?

As well as friction fire-lighting days, Woodland Survival Crafts offers a full bow drill master training weekend, in which attendees are tested for their ability to head out into unknown woodland on a mission to create a flame with only a knife, a saw and an axe. woodlandsurvivalcrafts. com