Making Fire

Stephen Blake demonstrates four ways of making fire, rubbing two sticks together using the hand drill, bow drill, fire saw and fire plough methods.

David Welch discusses fire making amongst indigenous people of the world, from ancient times, and in particular amongst Australia’s Aborigines.

Making fire is a basic survival skill, a way of attracting attention if one is lost alone in remote bushland. Shown here without using modern tools, it is possible to use crude pieces of rock to fashion fire sticks and from these, to make fire.