1. Philipine Fire Saw. Take a two foot (60 CM) long, two inch (5 CM) diameter piece of bamboo, and split it in half lengthwise. Cut a notch across one piece of the bamboo. Split the other piece of bamboo into two pieces lengthwise. Place tinder under the notch. Saw back and forth in the notch with the thinner piece of bamboo.

2. New Guinea fire piston: Details may be found in “Bushcraft” by Richard H. Graves.

3. Fire by Lens or Mirror: A four inch (10 CM) or larger should be used for best results. Try adding a small Fresnel Lens reading magnifier to your kit for such purposes. Radio Shack used to sell a Solar Cigarette lighter. See if you can find one on EBay. (Atomic Bomb designer and engineer Dr. Theodore Taylor once lit a cigarette with an old automobile headlight, a piece of wire to hold the cigarette and the heat flash of an open air atom bomb test. (“The Curve of Binding Energy” by John McPhee.)

4. Bradford Angier and the Herters mentioned starting a fire by spreading a dry rag over the muzzle of a gun, pointing it upwards, firing a shot through the rag and fanning the smoldering rag into flames. This does not work very well, but may have worked better in the days of black powder, which produced more muzzle flame than smokeless powder does.

5. Some Esquimos would start a fire by holding a piece of wood down with their foot over the tinder, while sawing a leather thong back and forth between hands.

If you are Jewish (especially Orthodox Jewish) and want to astonish your Rabbi, you might want to practice these low tech fire starting methods and give your religion (Bar Mitzba) class a demonstration of how hard it was to start a fire 2000 years ago and why the Pentaluc forbided making fire on the Sabath. Note how this lead to Boston Baked Beans and New England Boiled Dinners and hay box slow cookers. ( Book to read for hay box construction:”Cache Lake Country” by John J. Rolands.) (Nope, I’m a gentile, a member of the Goyem.)

can make a compass out of a watch.

~The yackityyackerwhoyacks

Why not use a sack of frozen corn or peas as a cold pack? Then re-freeze it.

On one occasion I Microwaved a frozen burrito, used it as a hot pack, and then ate it.

The curve of the crescent moon always points at the sun. (Crutch: Diana’s Bow (the moon) is always shooting an arrow at the sun.) At sunset the waxing (growing) crescent moon points at the setting sun. Before sunrise the waning (shrinking) crescent moon points at the rising sun. This will work even on nights when you can not see stars.

bob is awesome. yo

LOL!!!

TTYL!!!

~Man vs. Wild Guy (Bear)

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