Intro

Creating a fire by rubbing two sticks together is surprisingly challenging, which actually should not be surprising, since everybody who’s tried will tell you it’s challenging. There are so many variables before you even commence with the frictive part. Where do you get the sticks? What kind of wood do you use? Do you take the bark off or not? Do you sharpen the ends or round them? How dry do they have to be? How smooth? Which stick goes where? How do you rub them? I’ve tried just using my hands and I’ve tried with a bow and line. So far, not even a wisp of smoke. The ace in my pocket is my friend Jay, who is the executive director of the Boulder Outdoor Survival School. Jay is the inspiration for my recent fascination in ancestral outdoor skills. When I first met and interviewed him for a podcast, I learned that BOSS’s underlying mission is not teaching survival skills so much as enabling a more intimate relationship with nature. My adventures had already been moving in that direction, so the idea resonated powerfully, and since getting to know him, I’ve been on a self-directed mission to rewild myself through fundamental knowledge and the applied use of materials. I’ve collected pine pitch to make glue, oak-wasp galls to make ink, quartz shards to make a hand drill. I feel a little sheepish, as if this is nothing more than cosplay, but I’m getting pretty good at spotting pitch and galls from afar, so there’s that.