Can you make fire with one stick?

Answer 1

Knowledge is power. Fire burns UP. Prepare your fireplace/firepit/oven (with flue) and load with tinder at the bottom, and a FEW small twigs on top of them. Have progressively larger pieces of wood handy for stoking. Stoke so as not to Choke. That means, leave room for the air to circulate. A fire must be built from the botton UP.

Friction is the key answer.

You will need some (preferably very dry) pieces of wood.

One could be a flat piece, as in a stick, split in half.

Another piece, preferably round and pointed on both ends.

Method one, my preferred method.

Make a third piece that fits into your palm.

The flat first piece is placed on ground. Make a small cavity where you want the fire to start.

The third piece is held in your palm. Make a bigger cavity in this.

Place the second round longer stick between these in both cavities.

This makes out how you hold them together in an upright condition, not angled.

Now for the trick of applying a lot of friction fast.

Make a bow with a juicy fresh piece of a young small green tree.

The rope/string need to be of some quality, otherwise the friction will eat it away fast.

There are methods one can use to minimize friction here as in adding a bit of oil or water to the rope. (Oil might be a bad choice if the rope/string you use does not manage to "grip" the pointed stick afterwards. In most cases it will but it depends on the rope)

When you have made the bow, twist the string one or two times around the pointed stick.

Place the stick as mentioned before and start moving the bow back and forth. This will spin the stick clockwise and counterclockwise creating the friction needed.

If you place some very dry moss at the bottom of the stick and start spinning, then it should only take a few minutes to create the heat needed to make the moss catch fire.

When it smokes a lot, it will be glowing and then a little gentle blowing would make it catch fire.

Obviously you should have a fireplace ready with dry tiny bits of wood so that you just move the burning moss over there and it will light up the rest if it is done properly.

This is my preferred method of creating a fire as it actually involves little physical effort for the friction and provides almost a guaranteed result every time.

Method 2:

The flat piece of wood is placed on the ground.

if you have split it perfectly, then you should have a narrow canal in the middle.

If the piece of wood does not have this canal, then you will have to make one.

Put a piece of very dry moss or something equally as flammable at the end of the canal.

Place the second round stick with the pointed end down into the canal at approx 45 degrees angle and start moving it back and forth towards the moss.

Apply some pressure as this increases friction.

Within not too long you should see smoke, then it will start glowing. when it is glowing you need to "catch" the glow into the moss and blow a little bit for it to light up.

Practice makes master. If you do not succeed first time, have a short break and start again.

Method 3: Cheating.

Wear protective glasses. This method can hurt your eyes if not careful.

We would need some petrol. A tiny amount is often enough. 3-4 drops.

If you are able to find some hard rock and some tiny hard pebbles of quartz or granite then carry on.

On a big flat rock you place some moss.

Add 3-4 drops of petrol. (More is not better as it will be unsafe)

Put one little hard pebble of granite or quartz on top.

Smash this with a big rock.

(If you can not find any suitable small pebbles then it might work well with some dry sand (spoonfull) from a beach but add a drop or two of petrol to this too.)

As the pebble is crushed this causes friction and sparks. This is often enough to ignite the petrol. The petrol will ignite the moss. Move moss to your fireplace.

Petrol, turpentine, pure alcohol and other highly flammable liquids work well.

Oils as in diesel and various household oils will most likely not work. The reason for this is that they do not give off flammable fumes. These oily liquids does not catch fire easily unless they are heated up quite a bit first.

Answer 2

A very long time is the only answer that can be given. The variables include:

• Dampness of the sticks being used.
• The type of tinder you use to help catch sparks.
• Relative humidity or precipitation.
• Outside temp.
• The amount of contact you maintain between the sticks.
• The method you use.

Answer 3

It's important to gather dry tinder, first. Making a downed tree limb into a base is easy, hardwood is best- use a knife to make a round hole with a keyhole cut-out to the side. Cut another stick and trim one end into a dull point, which will insert into the keyhole on the other stick. It's also important for the second stick to be about a forearm's-length long, and pretty straight. Place the dry tinder on a dry spot on the ground, place the keyhole slot so that heated ashes (really small coals, really) will fall into the tinder. Place the dull point of the second stick into the hole, and step on the keyhole-slotted stick to hold it steady. Place your hands as if in prayer on each side of the upright stick, and spin it back and forth very fast. Soon, friction will heat the area where the sticks are rubbing together. As the (small) hot ashes fall out, you may have to blow on them to give them enough air to flame up. This would then need to be put under slightly larger sticks to make a larger fire. It's not easy, so practice before you actually have to rely on it.

Answer 4

Yes. You can also make a fire with no sticks