Special Bow Drill 'Complete Kit' with written instructions!

Super light yet strong!

Entire kit only weighs just over .5 lbs.!

If you are conscious and concerned about weight and are looking for a bow drill kit that is super light yet strong and will hardly add any weight to your pack then here it is!  The whole kit only weighs slightly over 1/2 pounds!

Except for the jute rope and leather coal catcher, the bow, spindle, fire board, and handhold used for this Bow Drill kit are all hand harvested from nature and are all handcrafted. They don't and won't look or feel like they just came out of a factory warehouse or woodshop. 

The bow drill is an ancient and primitive tool used to make friction fire. The bow drill consists of a bearing block or handhold, a spindle or drill, a hearth or fire board, and a simple bow.

The bow drill offers a primitive method of starting fire without matches or a lighter. It’s a method that applies friction to generate heat. The heat eventually produces an ember in the burnt wood dust. The ember is tiny and fragile.  Once formed it is carefully placed into a "tinder bundle" where it is carefully nurtured and coaxed into flame. Once the tinder bundle bursts into flame, it is placed into the fuel that has been assembled ready for ignition.

About your Bow Drill Kit:

The Bow: made from the fruit stem or fruit branch of a palm tree. It is super light yet strong. It is stiff yet has some flex. It is treated with boiled linseed oil to help protect it from the elements.

Bow String and back-up string: 550 paracord with 8 strands. Each strand is 3-ply or made of three strings. As seen on the photos, I use one long piece of paracord string. Half of the string is already tied to the bow for use and the other half is wrapped around the handle to be used as a quick back up just in case the string breaks. Since the back-up string is already tied on the handle end of the bow, all you need to do is tie the other end for a fast transition. You can of course take the whole paracord from the bow and use it as cordage for whatever need that arises. 

Directions on how to take the bow string off and coil it around the handle to carry and pack your bow easier: see pictures #5 and #6 

  1. The string is tied on the tip of the bow with a special slip knot. Loosen the slip knot and slip it towards the other end or towards the handle of the bow until the slip knot is on or near the leather wrap. See pictures 5 and 6
  2. Hold the string and rotate or turn the bow to coil the string around the handle.
  3. Tighten the slip knot to secure it. See picture #6
The Bearing block or Handhold: made from Oak or Ash.  Ash is even harder than oak. The handhold is round in shape and it has a handmade steel plate insert so that it is virtually frictionless. The steel plate insert is also shiny enough to use as a signal like a mirror in an emergency.

The Drill or Spindle is made from the Sotol Plant. It is carefully hand-cut, hand-crafted and sun dried to make sure it is as straight as possible so that it will rotate with very little wobble, if any, when spinning. It has been tested and burnt in to make sure that it will work properly when used to make a coal ember. I have found that Sotol spindle is much faster in creating a coal dust ember compared to other spindles made of other types of wood. A few stokes with the bow and it starts to smoke right away. This means that you'll have fewer bow strokes to do to create a coal ember for your nesting material to start your fire. This translates to faster and less work!
The Fire board or hearth board is also made from the Sotol plant.  It is tested and burnt in with a /\-notch cutout.

The Coal Ember Catcher: made of genuine leather. The leather is big enough to be used as an ammunition holder pouch for a sling shot if you have the other parts to make one.

The Jute Rope: used as nesting material with your coal ember. It's made of thick, heavy duty natural jute fiber. You can cut a small 2-inch piece and fluff up the fibers thoroughly then easily ignite it with a ferrocerium rod to make a quick fire if you have to.  The rope is coiled in a way so that all you need to do is pull on the loose end to get the length of rope you need.  You do not need to unravel the coiled rope. Click on this link to see the video: eBay item number: 302153023545. You can also use this jute rope to tie things with if the need arises.

Bow Drill Kit: What you will receive with your purchase:

• Bow made from the fruit branch or fruit stem of a palm tree. It is treated with boiled linseed oil.

• 8-strand, 3-ply 550 paracord bow string and back-up string.

• Bearing block or handhold made from Oak or Ash with a metal plate insert that is virtually frictionless.

• One fireboard made of Sotol already burned in and with a /\-notch cutout.

• One spindle made of Sotol that is already burnt in.

• Genuine leather coal ember catcher.

• 10 ft. heavy duty jute rope used as a nesting material for the coal ember. Just pull on the loose end to get the length of rope you need.  You do not need to unravel the coiled rope.  Click on this link to see the video: eBay item number: 302153023545

• Written instruction on how to use your bow drill. If you don't know how to use a bow drill yet there are plenty of videos on YouTube that you can watch on how to use one.

This is my guarantee to you: If you are not satisfied with your Bow Drill kit you can return it to me within 30 days so long as it's unused for a full refund.

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