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In this video I demonstrate how to start a fire with your knife and ferro rod and using only one hand!
Mora Garberg:
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0:00
So what if you injure yourself when you're out on a hike and you need to start a fire and you only have one hand
0:07
We're going to try this out today and see what happens. Stick around, it's going to be a good video
0:19
So recently I was talking to my friends over at Nutrient Survival on their podcast
0:26
and we got into the discussion of starting a fire if you only had one of your limbs, one of your hands working because of an injury
0:35
And of course we're talking about if you only had a ferro rod and your knife, how do you get a fire going
0:42
Obviously with a Bic lighter, one hand is no problem, but these scenarios, they do happen
0:50
And it's also just a good test of your skills to try these different things out to see if you can do it
0:57
It's a way of pushing yourself a little bit, obviously it's a training tool and you may never use it
1:05
but it's always cool to say, yeah I tried it and you will learn something from it
1:10
So what I wanted to do today is, since this is something that is kind of fresh in my mind after this discussion
1:17
I want to try it because it's something I haven't done. So why not goof around with this, see what happens, see if there are any things that I can learn from it
1:27
and then hopefully while you guys are watching you learn something too
1:31
So let's get into it. So the scenario is you are out hiking around with your gear and for whatever reason you're on a trail
1:42
you're in the backwoods and you take a tumble and you lose some of your gear, some of your stuff is missing
1:48
and you've injured yourself. You've potentially broken your arm, it may be your dominant hand or dominant arm
1:58
And now there is an imminent threat of not being able to get back to your vehicle because of your injuries
2:07
or because it's getting dark and it's not safe to travel when it's dark
2:12
So what do you do? Well, obviously the things that we always talk about when you're out in the woods and something like this happens
2:21
is that you want to stay put and hopefully someone knows where you're at and eventually they'll come to your rescue
2:29
But if this happens, you may have to start a fire. And because fire making is important, it's going to help with keeping you warm
2:39
If temperatures are dropping and you have minimal gear with you, you may want to have a fire
2:44
It may also help in signaling, getting people to your area. And then of course it is a psychological boost to have that fire
2:54
It is a calming effect, it will help you relax and not panic
3:00
So, with all that said, how would I get a fire going if all I had was my ferro rod and my knife and I only had one hand to work with
3:12
Now, if you're using your dominant hand, it's going to be a little bit easier
3:18
But if you're only working with your non-dominant, and that would be my left, things are going to be considerably tougher
3:25
So, let's try to simulate this and just see what can be done with minimal gear, what would be the best method
3:36
So, the first thing we need to do is, we need to simulate the injury
3:56
We need to immobilize that hand. This particular piece of gear that I have here, this is a military issue cravat
4:19
This is the triangle bandage. You'll see them in military surplus in OD Green, sometimes they're tan
4:28
This one happens to be the ACU, or the digital camo. It's just what I had
4:35
But this is what it's for, it is for creating a sling that you can immobilize your arm
4:43
A million uses, but this is one of them. And so, now, if I can't use this hand, or this arm, because I've injured myself and I don't want to use it, what am I going to do? Well..
5:00
See, already it's hard not to want to do stuff with it, so I've got to make sure that I'm not using it
5:10
So, first thing is, my gear, I've got my ferro rod now
5:16
I've got my big beefy one, so this is going to be a little bit easier to use than the smaller one, so I'm going to put that in my pocket
5:22
And then I've got my knife. That's kind of hard to draw out of that kydex
5:36
I've got my Mora Garbird, which is an excellent choice for this
5:42
So, we've got that. So, now, what I need to do is, I need to get some wood collected and processed that I can actually start a fire with
5:55
So, now I'm looking for natural resources that are going to help me get this fire going
6:12
And this is interesting. So, I've got this nice splintered wood, which is already broken up for me
6:29
If I can get this off of here with one hand, this is going to be great, because I can actually, I think I can do a feather stick with my knife one-handed with this, because this is already broken down
6:44
So, I'm going to try and get this off of here. It's already fuzzed up
6:57
Maybe that's cheating, but I don't think so. The whole thing about being in the woods and working with this stuff is you've got to be able to look for natural resources that are available and take advantage of what you find
7:17
This is a fantastic find, like this. Okay, one thing I failed miserably at doing, I've talked about this in other videos, and it's something I always forget to do
8:00
is I needed to put my gloves on when I was processing that wood back there, pulling that stuff off
8:06
That would have helped, because the risk of splinter was definitely pretty good
8:15
So, now I've just got to get one of these gloves off
8:19
Which one do I need? Off my bag here with one hand
8:26
It's not easy. I find stuff right here, but what I want to do is, I want to try to do some curls and feather sticks, because that's what's going to take a spark from a ferro rod
8:43
Now, I've got this, this material right here, which is really awesome, because it's already broken down
8:52
It's real fine and feathery, so I'm going to put that in my cap so I don't lose it
9:07
Okay, see the problem is, you've got to get that knife in there good and deep so it is a solid platform
9:15
And then what I'm going to do is, I'm going to draw my piece of wood across the blade to create my curly hues
9:31
Get this down a little bit. Of course, that Garberg's got that exposed tang on the back
9:52
It's actually doing a pretty good job doing feather sticks instead of just curls, so maybe I'm going to miss it
10:03
I'm going to get my cap. This is a pain in the butt
10:33
I'm going to try something different
10:57
I'm not getting lots of curls. It's taking a lot of time
11:02
That's all I've really produced. But now, with this particular knife, the Garberg, it's got a sharpened spine
11:11
And a sharpened spine is really good at creating really fine dust
11:26
This is actually doing a better job than the actual knife blade
11:31
A lot easier. So actually, longer strokes and then slower
11:56
More pressure against that spine is producing much finer curls. And then what I'm able to do is, the handle has, it's a little pronounced down here
12:10
It's a guard for your hand to stop, for your fingers to stop. But what I'm actually able to do is, is press the wood up against that so it's kind of a brace
12:21
And then draw this. And then cut. Luckily I've got a good sized ferro rod
12:45
That helps. Get my knife out of there
13:01
Normally I wouldn't do this on a stump, but it certainly does help having that platform
13:12
So now you can start adding, like you normally would, sticks. I've gotten this broken down material here
13:25
Nice dry stuff. And then what you would do is, you would be adding bigger and bigger pieces as you go
13:38
It's a lot harder to feed this fire with one hand
13:56
It's a lot slower. I'm just going to grab material off the ground I'm finding
14:04
And then I can start adding bigger wood. I'm going to put this out obviously
14:08
We're not going to let this burn on a stump. But I think it illustrates the point that you definitely have the ability with the right tools and some practice that you can probably do this
14:22
So I did the challenge. I lucked out because I found that splintered down branch that had some really nice broken pieces that were small enough that I could bust them off with one hand really easily
14:40
Now if I was out here and I didn't have that, it would definitely be an issue
14:46
It would be a little bit harder because I would have to break thicker branches and then try to cut those down with my knife
14:54
But with a good solid blade, full tang, sharpened spine, the Scandi grind did really well
15:04
Putting that into a stump really gave me a good base to work from
15:08
I was able to manipulate that wood and get the real fine stuff, especially with the spine
15:12
That did fantastic. And then with a decent ferro rod, a good size one, that was easy to work with with one hand
15:21
And that stuff took a spark like that. I mean it was quick
15:25
And then once that got going, it was easy to start putting that extra material on and getting a fire going
15:31
Now like I said before, I wouldn't recommend doing this on a stump
15:35
But if you found a downed log, you could use that. You could obviously clear off a spot with your knife to create a flat spot and then put your knife into it
15:50
And then of course get your sparks that way. That worked out really well
15:58
So it was a good experiment. It's not something I'd want to do every day obviously because it really sucked doing it
16:05
It was hard. My hand got fatigued working with one hand. But it is possible if you have the right tools
16:11
Obviously as a woodsman, bushcrafter, survivalist, whatever, you're going to be carrying multiple ways of starting fire
16:19
Matches, BIC lighters, man-made tinders, a ferro rod, and a good knife
16:25
That way you would not be stuck in this situation. But if I was, and this is all I had, these are the only two things I had, I could definitely get it done
16:33
Alright guys, thanks for watching. It was a great experiment. Please check out the Facebook group
16:39
It is growing. We're about to hit 5,000 members. Of course the YouTube channel is growing really well
16:45
I appreciate you guys watching the videos. Check out the website, preparedwanderer.com
16:50
Articles, information on there, as well as links to videos and the web store
16:56
So we'll see you next time on the Prepared Wanderer. Get my knife out of there
17:12
Normally I wouldn't do this on a stump, but it certainly does help having that platform
17:23
So now you can start adding, like you normally would, sticks. I've got this broken down material here
17:34
Nice dry stuff. And then what you would do is..
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