Fire has been a survival essential, whether for cooking, warmth, or signaling. What if you are trekking or on a wildlife trip and forgot to bring matches, or maybe your backpack gets lost? It needn’t be something dramatic – even wet conditions can render matches useless.

In case of a survival emergency where lighter or matches are unavailable to cook or warm yourself, here are survival hacks to try to start a fire without matchsticks.

• • Friction: The commonest way to create fire. Rub wood together using a plow or bow.
  • Sparks: A standard way to create sparks that will ignite the fire is by using materials like flint, rocks, or battery with dry wool.
  • Sun: If you have the right weather and material, the sun can be helpful to make fire by concentrating sunlight at a point to generate enough heat to make fire.
  • Chemicals: The least common method. However, you can carry selective chemicals that combust when mixed.

Bow Drill

The bow drill is a more effortless and effective friction-based method to use.

Items needed:

• • Bow wood- A piece of wood with a slight curve extended from your arm to fingertips.
  • Bowstring- Create a string with the help of a paracord or another type of rope.
  • Socket- Use a piece of shell, rock, or hardwood that can easily fit your hand and has a notch to hold the spindle.
  • Fireboard- A thick flat piece of dry wood
  • Spindle- 8 inches long dry softwood, whittled blunt points on both sides.

Process:

• • Make a small hole on the fireboard where you’ll place the spindle for drilling. Carve v-shaped notch beside the hole to collect the hot dust and coal formed. Do not forget to place the firewood on top of a leaf to collect ember on it.
  • Wrap the bowstring around the spindle, place it on the small hole made on the fireboard, and put the socket on top of the spindle to hold it.
  • Apply pressure downward on the socket and move the bow quickly back and forth until you see an ember.
  • Use the leaf to transfer burning embers to the tinder nest.

Flint And Steel

Place a little piece of tinder or char cloth on top of the flint and hold them together in one hand. Using the steel striker, strike down at a 30-degree angle to produce a spark. Make sure the spark should land on tinder or char cloth. Carefully transfer the ember to the tinder nest and blow it gently till it starts to catch fire.