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Extreme Fireboards #2
Bow Drill in the Extreme Cold
by Allan Beauchamp

January 9, 2004

(photographs by Allan "Bow" Beauchamp)

 

Allan Beauchamp deliberately set himself the challenge of making a bowdrill fire under conditions of extreme cold - he actually planned this ahead of time the night before after having seen the weather forecast.

Bow likes to challenge himself and push his limits. Once he  has tried something in relatively safe conditions (such as in his backyard), he will go out into the bush to test his limits there. He likes to do this so that if he is faced with a real situation in the bush - such as extreme cold - he can successfully survive.

These photos are presented here to inspire others to take this challenge and try wilderness survival activities in severe cold conditions. Try these techniques at home where you have a safe and warm place to retreat to. This way you will become familiar with the specific skills needed in the severe cold, before you need these skills in the actual wilderness survival conditions, when your life may depend on getting a fire.

Please be careful, however -- frostbite can creep up quickly in these temperatures.

 

 

The Environment Canada weather data archive for January 9, 2004 for Sudbury, Ontario, where Allan lives, shows the temperature at 6:00am was -30.4 degrees C., with a wind-chill of -41 degrees C! The relevant numbers are highlighted in yellow.

  

Here's Allan getting ready for his self-imposed challenge at 6:00am.

Note his bare hands.

  
The fireboard is smoking.
  

Nice coal forming.
 

All done: a nice coal, ready to be used to set fire to a tinder bundle and then a full fire!!

Bow takes over the narrative here:

"My fingers are frozen solid, and I should go warm them -- they pain and sting a lot!
So, now we have pics of -40 to -45 below fire board.
I started this off rather early and now it has warmed up some , but not too much."
 

  
Here is a photo of the equipment Allan used for his challenge.
  

Survival      Fire      Bow Drill      Winter      Winter Bowdrill

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