Chapter 13 Making bow drills, preparing to drill wood for fire
As Zhao Xinqing spoke, she took out a handful of long, pointed green leaves from her backpack.
Although they had been on the road for half a day, the mountain road was difficult and the two of them were not very fast.
Zhao Xinqing carried a lighter load and was not idle. She would stop to collect something from time to time, and then quickly caught up with Su Bai.
Sometimes it was some berries. Zhao Xinqing would give half of it to Ye Yun and chew it while walking.
Sometimes they were leaves, but Su Bai didn't recognize most of them.
For example, Su Bai didn't recognize the one in Zhao Xinqing's hand.
"What is this?" Su Bai asked.
Zhao Xinqing smiled and said:
"This is a sisal leaf."
"There are sharp reddish-brown thorns at the top, and the leaf veins connecting the thorns are straight and tough, and they are natural needles and threads."
"It's also a very good material for twisting ropes."
"I can twist the rope in two minutes."
After Zhao Xinqing said that, she found a place to sit down and started rubbing the rope with sisal leaves.
Her small hands were as dexterous as a butterfly threading through flowers. As she turned up and down, a rope soon appeared between her fingers, growing from short to long at a very fast speed.
Su Bai took a second look and found that he had nothing to teach Zhao Xinqing about the single item of rope braiding, so he lowered his head and searched carefully on the ground.
Soon, Su Bai picked up some stones and came back. While picking them up, he explained to the drone camera behind him:
"Although it is a sunny hillside, there are a lot of fallen leaves on the ground and the soil is still a little damp."
"If you want to drill wood and make fire in this environment, you first need a dry bedding."
“Otherwise, it’s easy to fall short.”
Su Bai pointed to a flat stone slab with a dry surface in his hand and said:
"It is relatively easy to find such a dry stone slab that has been dried by the sun on a sunny hillside."
In addition to this piece, there were several other stones, which may not be dry but are still in useful shape. Su Bai also picked them up.
"After we have a dry bedding, we also need two relatively dry pieces of wood."
Su Bai raised his head and looked at the big tree next to him. He stretched out his hand to support the drone's live broadcast lens, allowing the tall tree crown to enter the live broadcast screen.
"It is very difficult to find dry wood to drill for fire in this humid environment."
"The best choice is not on earth, but in heaven."
"What we are looking for are dead tree branches that have fallen off the branches, but are supported by other branches and leaves, have not fallen to the ground, and can receive enough sunlight during the day."
Su Bai pointed to the crown of this big tree.
Through the branches and leaves, you can vaguely see a short branch as thick as a forearm, stuck between two branches. There are no leaves growing on it, and the angle is different from other branches. It is obviously a branch that was broken earlier.
Dead branches.
"It takes a little luck, and that's one of the reasons why I chose to camp here."
As Su Bai said this, he began to extend his fishing rod.
"It takes a certain amount of skill to remove such a high branch."
"Look, stretch the fishing line, and then make a lasso near the fishing rod, similar to the lasso trap used to hunt rabbits in the wilderness."
Su Bai tied a slip knot at the end of the fishing line and demonstrated in front of the camera:
"When the branch is lassoed, I pull the end of the fishing line underneath and the noose tightens, so I can tie it up and pull the branch down."
Listening to Su Bai's explanation, the barrage was filled with joy.
【Oh my God!】
【Master, this is definitely a master.】
[This kind of ability to adapt to local conditions and be flexible is absolutely impossible without sufficient accumulation of knowledge!]
[Who else among you is dissatisfied? Ah? Stand up! What about the Pang Family Army? Your anchor can’t even compare to a rich second generation! 】
While Su Bai was using a fishing rod and fishing line to tie up the dry branch high up, Zhao Xinqing had already finished weaving a straw rope.
The straw rope in her hand is more than one meter long, which should be enough for drilling wood to make fire.
Zhao Xinqing thought for a moment, put down the straw rope, and searched around, and soon found a branch with a natural curvature.
This branch is as thick as the middle finger, and it is indeed very moist. If you use this branch to drill wood to make fire, you may not be able to generate enough heat for a lifetime.
However, it is excellent to use its curvature as a material for bow drills.
There are different ways to drill wood to make fire. The crudest one is to rub it with two palms.
This method is very difficult. Even a survival expert can easily break the skin of his palm without creating any sparks.
In today's humid environment, this approach is even more undesirable.
Another more mainstream method is the bow drill.
In addition to the friction wood strips and wood chips, a straw rope and a curved branch are also needed.
Tie the straw rope to both ends of the curved branches to form a bow drill.
Then wind the straw rope around the wooden bar for friction, and pull the bow drill to drive the wooden bar to rotate and rub, generating heat.
This is a more efficient way of drilling wood to make fire!
When Su Bai asked Zhao Xinqing to weave straw rope, Zhao Xinqing knew that Su Bai was going to use this method to make a fire in a humid environment.
It took Su Bai about five minutes to slowly remove the dead branch from the tree.
Zhao Xinqing used this time to not only bundle up the bow drill, but also collect some dead leaves and branches on the surface of the ground. After a day of sunshine, these things were at least relatively dry to the touch.
If you can light a small fire on these dead leaves and toothpick-like twigs, then larger, moister firewood can also be successfully ignited by the temperature of the flame.
Su Bai and Zhao Xinqing went separate ways and found some suitable firewood in the forest.
As expected, the firewood that could be found on the ground felt damp as soon as it was touched, at least the part that was close to the ground was damp.
"Okay, let's get started. This firewood is enough for us to burn for one night."
Su Bai asked Zhao Xinqing to sit opposite him and said seriously:
"Even if all the favorable factors are gathered together, if I were here alone, there is a high probability that I would not choose to light a fire tonight."
"Because it's really difficult."
"But there are two of us."
"It's much easier for two people to drill wood and make fire than it is for one person to do it alone."
"The most important thing about making fire by drilling wood is to accumulate enough heat between the two pieces of wood. Once there are sparks, the tinder can be ignited."
"Most of the reasons for failure are that human upper arm muscles often cannot provide enough endurance and accumulate enough heat."
"But the two of us can relay."
"When I'm tired, I'll pull you over as soon as possible. I'll try my best to succeed."
Zhao Xinqing listened very carefully.
But at this moment, someone jumped out of the barrage and shouted to stop:
【Wait! Are you stupid?】
【Have you forgotten something very important?】
[What about tinder? If there is no tinder, can you just use sparks to light the wood? Can this ignite the fire? You are too unreliable!]
[Pretending to be like a great god, don’t you even know the most basic things? 】
Su Bai took a closer look and saw that several of the names were very familiar. Sure enough, it was Wang Bang Bang and Luo Xun'er's friends squatting in the live broadcast room who were causing trouble again.