Bow Drill Monthly: January Sycamore
The first of a monthly series we’re creating here at Howl: A Bow drill set from scratch in the wild. Crafting a set, and taking ember to flame with tinder available on the day.
Today's effort I thought I'd ease into it with Sycamore (Acer Pseudoplatanus), a firm favourite of mine to introduce the technique to beginners. It can often be found in the right condition for the bow drill method, although it quickly goes too far and becomes crumbly.
Today’s weather was clear and sunny, temperatures around 4-8C. It had rained and snowed heavily for the previous two days. I walked into the woods at 11am, knowing I wanted to create a bow drill fire I started looking for materials as soon as I got off the main paths.
The tinder bundle was the first thing to gather, as it had been wet I wanted to maximise the opportunity to gather just the driest stuff and be able to dry if further while I gathered everything else.
A mix of tussock grass and cleavers, which I'd collected from the eastern slope of a hill so it would have had the sun drying it all morning from last nights rain. I attached the grass to my pack to keep it in the breeze and you can see later I have it hung from a tree in the breeze while I make the set, further drying it.
I found an area of sycamores in a small woodland stream valley, protected somewhat from today’s gusts and winds. I located a potential dead bough which had fallen from a stool of a dozen arm-thick stems, the dead one was rested at 45 degrees. So the underside was more rotten than the top due to retaining moisture, but the soft rot seemed only superficial so I started work. I didn’t go far to do this incase I needed to swap to another stem.
Initially I carved both pieces from the same dead standing bough, but the thinner end that I'd used to carve the spindle was too far gone and crumbled during the first test drilling. I typically get my sets to about 80% finished, enough to give them a try and see whether it’s working, before finishing them with the critical final 20%.
As the spindle was crumbling, I knocked up a second one from a different sycamore section and got to work testing the set. Black smoke almost immediately and a nice consistent action this time. So I finish everything off and get the ember on the first run.
Once I'd collected everything, it took 45 minutes to carve the set and get the ember (given that I ended up carving two spindles).
Thanks for reading, our next instalment should feature myself and Max, due mid Feb.
If you’d like to learn this technique yourself, check out our wildfire course below.
There’s a quiet magic in coaxing flame from wood and breath. On Wildfire, you’ll learn to shape your own bow-drill kit from the forest’s offerings and bring fire to life with your own hands. Guided by experienced bushcraft instructors, you’ll come to understand the rhythm of friction, the patience of smoke, and the moment when ember becomes flame. This course is a return to the elemental: a conversation between you, the wood, and the wild.
Discover the primal art of fire-lighting with friction
On this full-day bushcraft experience, you’ll learn to craft your own bow-drill fire kit from raw woodland materials, then deploy it to create flame by friction. Under expert guidance, you’ll delve into every stage: identifying the right trees, selecting optimal components, making the kit, preparing natural tinder, and bowing to ember and flame.
Why this fire course is different
We don’t just teach fire-lighting, we invite you into the wild rhythm of the woods. You’ll travel the course site across our 1,000-acre private woodland and locate materials yourself, forging a deeper connection to the process and to the environment. You’ll leave with a personal bow-drill set, new skills, and the confidence to replicate this craft in your own field adventures.
In this detailed bushcraft course I’ll give you all the tuition you need to be successful in making wildfire from natural materials. This one day course is a detailed experience of hands on work enabling you to make fire from scratch this way in the wild.
You can now purchase a place on a course as gift certificate. You’ll receive a welcome pack about the course and a voucher to book any convenient date within 18 months of purchase.