Fire by friction is a defining skill of wilderness survival and primitive living. Here is the first in a series of videos to help people learning the bow drill method. Future videos and articles will cover the construction, from scratch, of a friction fire set and the ultimate skill of harvesting all materials from the landscape using stone tools also gathered on the spot. Thanks for watching.
We don’t have many Pitch Pine where I live in Connecticut. This one is in Southern Maine in an area that is essentially a tiny sand barrens. They are a great bushcraft/primitive skills tree for many reasons. One can use them for tea or medicine the same way as any other pine (though the taste may be less appealing) and, as their name suggests they produce an abundance of “pitch” or more accurately sap. Pine sap becomes pitch once it is mixed with another substance like wax, fat, or charcoal to make it more useful as glue, a lubricant or preservative.
Some people may not see this tree as beautiful in the same way the stately White Pine is. Thriving in a difficult environment of sandy soil and adaptations to forest fire give it its own kind of elegance I suppose.
Above and below show the needles and old female cones. The needles are twisted and in groups of 3.
Above are male cones and below a partially formed female cone. I am not sure if this cone is brand new or an unfertilized cone from last year. These picture were taken in Feb and neither male or female cones start to grow until spring. I saw many male cones and several female cones on the trees.
I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching workshops as a satellite school of the Maine Primitive Skills School here in Northfield Connecticut. Workshops and dates are on their 2008 calender now. Please check it out, there is also information about the facilities I have access to here in Northfield as well as tons of information on the Maine school.
There is a link to the Left side of this page.
