If you want to get the bow drill done make the spindle small in diameter. But then you also need a bow which is flexible so that the paracord is always on tension. ►Get your APO-1S here: ➜ USA/Canada: bit.ly/3vfXPuS ➜ DE/Österreich/Schweiz: bit.ly/3pMlJ04 ➜ Europe: www.survivallilly.at

Bushcraft arms 💪

Speaking of shoe laces, I always replace my laces with paracord, that way I always have a couple pieces of 4 or 5 foot paracord with me.

I like the little shout-out to Corporals Corner. 💪

Lily, after my previous comments, I want to say, this is the most detailed and informative fire starting video beyond sparking videos. A really big thank you for this very real display!!!

I remember when you used to open by rappelling off a rock cliff into a rushing creek. Now you are teaching the use of a bow drill. Your instructions are thorough and complete. I especially liked the comment when discussing using your knife to hold the drill spindle, “If I don’t have my knife then we have a whole set of other problems.” Heh, heh…. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you. Texas

Good info Lilly, we must always be prepared for the unexpected events

Thank you for sharing a video geared toward us with less physical strength. This gives me more confidence to try.

Your arms are very strong these days. Looks like you have been working out.

Ex British Army here love watching your stuff well done Lilly thank you for your efforts 👍👍

Best tutorial ever on how to make a bow drill. Thank you for sharing.

Lilly, have you thought about adding a bearing into your knife handle design? I have never seen anybody do that, but it certainly would add a survival function to an already great knife.

Thank you Lilly, you saved me a lot of time, I would of had to learn the Hard way other wise.

Oooo, you shouted out the Corporal. You guys are my 2 favorite outdoors channels :=-D Great tutorial!

I believe this is the first video I've seen that has even mentioned a solution for those who are not all muscle. Very well done young lady. However, I was a little surprised you didn't mention options to lessen the friction if you're forced to use a rock or wood for your pivot point.

_good old physics will make a thinner spindle spin more times and quicker too. It's basically gearing_

Lilly, great video, I'll try this. Thank you...

Love the fingernail test tip.

I love how you explain it all and don't just show the end result.

OUTSTANDING VIDEO!! Your teaching method is excellent & for the FIRST time, I understand how to do this. Can't wait to try it out.

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing. This is by far, the best tutorial on bowdrill I ever watched. Thanks again and congrats for the awesome job. You rock, Girl! 💪

Thanks Lilly! I am working on bowdrill skills and this was so helpful! Now I can properly create a fire! Awesome job!

I absolutely love your content. Thank you Lilly!

Awww the puppy has gotten so big ❤️

Great instructional video Lilly. Thanks and well done.

You’ve shared good and important info. Thank you!

I’ve watched so many “man” bowdrill tutorials… and still this one showed me something new… very nice knowledge and energy 👏🏼👏🏼

I have watched a lot of fire drill tutorials but none as good and detailed as this. You went into so many finer details that others think we have assumed knowledge about. Love your realistic survival videos too, keep them up awesome job.

Excellent video. Really well explained with some great tips

I just got one of her knives, and i can definitly say its a great product, and worth the money. I work outdoors as a landscaper and ive used all week, even dug a small hole with the knife, and its still sharp.

A great informational video. Love seeing Amy, glad she is well again.

Lilly please stay dry and safe. I've been monitoring the floods in Austria.

Great demonstration, especially with the practical description of wood selection and how to avoid unnecessary fatigue. Making it easier is for everyone. There will be a bad, damp day when bowdrill will be very hard, so we all need to gain every advantage we can.

You made that look soooo easy!!! A lot of great tips, and very well done. Thanks for the demo

I really appreciate your videos. I'm still big and strong but closing in on 60 years of age and I am preparing myself for old age by trying to find methods of performing tasks with far less effort. So when I watch you perform task you adapted in a way that allows you to perform with an excellent result. I think your knife is well thought out and hope to buy one soon.

Wow! THANK YOU. Yours is the only one I've found that addresses my wimpy abilities, and lets me know that it isn't a hopeless "dream" to be able to do for myself. Thanks again.

Great tips, This is one of the more thorough tutorials I’ve seen. 👍

i love how your dog came to check on you after starting the fire XD

This is a remarkable presentation Lily. Much Respect to you. Keep doing what you do because it is outstanding.

Great explanation and demonstration ! I have tried to explain this to other people , but you have it down clear as a bell . Well done !

You're probably my favorite survival youtuber. You're very small and most of these videos are done by husky/big boned men. It's cool. Cause I'm a tiny guy and I've learned so much from you. Thanks lily.

Very informative video, thanks Lily

Great as always. I realize how much work making videos is.

Great tips. A few extras are to replace your boot laces with paracord. Also, a fresh piece of oak works well as a bearing block, or dead wood with pine resin to act as a lubricant. That said, I have researched the internet and can't find one instance in a real-life survival situation where a bow drill was successfully used. My reasoning is that if somebody has the presence of mind to go into the woods with a knife and bearing block handle, they likely know to carry a lighter with them as well, because they know how unreliable a bow drill fire can be. All of my key chains have a ferro rod, so there is always a more reliable means to make a fire. Knowing how to make a friction fire is a great skill to have, but is one of last resort.

Good stuff!!! I have medical problems that caused right sided weakness. Having skills and thought processes to help with that is always a good thing. Thank you!!!

Thank you for making this video. I will be using this method from now on. Keep up the wonderful videos please😁

Great educational video on bow drill using. Lilly I have pretty good luck with the wooden stems of the yucca plant. Nice job on explaining the differences between the woods and size of the drill. For my base I use cottonwood.

Super erklärt liebe Lilly! Tolle Techniken und sehr gut demonstriert! Das links, rechts gefällt mir außerordentlich gut! Viele Grüße Sepp

🔥Too much power !! dear Lilly

Since you mentioned corporals corner, he usually recommend a spindle no bigger than your thumb. Probably for the same reason you stated. That was an awesome Tinder bundle you had! I enjoy watching your videos and have learned a lot from you.

I like the fact that you are always trying to share practical knowledge with people... very good lesson in the basics of the bow drill, you covered all the important parts as well as type of wood choice. great video!!

This is by far the best video I’ve ever seen on the bow drill technique. I finally see where I was making mistakes.

excellent bow drill article,.. Lilly. I am definitely going to practice bow drill fire starting this summer; you gave so many important technical points,.. thank you.

A really excellent tutorial. Thank you.

Great skill to have Lilly. Thank you for showing us how to. 👍😁

Really enjoyed this, Lilly! Love the primal implications of being able to ‘create fire’…and your steps are superb! Several years ago I excitedly bought a bow drill off Amazon to show my daughter but never got the chance… Good job!

Hi Lilly, oh your are amazing and knowledgeable. Thank you for your teachings. Blessings

Hey Lily, That was the best description of how to start a bow drill fire that I have seen. Cheers from Juneau Alaska, Greg Chaney

Good instructions Lilly, great to see Amy again :)

Good information and demonstration. Thank you.

Thanks Lilly for the info.

And now I understand the details of how to properly use a bow drill. Thank you Lilly. ❤️👌 Furthermore, I had thought of it, and now I will be wrapping my APO 1S sheath with paracord.

Very good info thanks for sharing.

Best video! Best instruction I've seen so far. Thank you :)

Thank you for this video! This is a very intimidating skill for me. Now I know a better way to try it! Kudos Lilly!!

Not crushing the ember is vitally important as well! Great teaching video on this subject!

Prolly one of the best vids on bow drills I've seen. Seen one other that did a better job at describing best combo of wood types but lacked on the rest. Very good!

Excellent video again Lilly, one of the best bow drill videos I've seen on KZfaq, simplified and to the point but with good detail that's often skipped over. Good idea with the knife handle btw! Thanks from London England 👍❤️💪😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Thank you Lily, i will try it just for my outside fireplace....have a great weekend jou 2😍

Awesome! I'll use these tips for when I teach my niece the bow drill. She is also very tiny.

Dog still looks around whenever Lilly speaks. "I just....wha.........who is she talking to?" 0:05

Very good demonstration! I'm almost 70 years old and I need to practice. Thank you!

Great information!

Great tutorial! I have used a bow drill for 30 plus years and unless it is super cold and I want a “fast fire” I start all my fires this way. I did make a special bearing block with a walnut section that fits my hand and a sealed bearing counter sunk and mounted in it. I keep this, short 10” fire board, 4” square leather pad to catch the ember and tinder in my fire bag and always in my pack along with flint and steel with char cloth I make. If I have dry wood handy, I will make a fire wood with my tomahawk or knife. I do build the occasional fire with a piece of wood for a bearing block, but just to stay in practice. Making fire goes back to the dawn of our species. Thank you for all the good videos.

Very Nice demonstration of an essential bushcraft/woodsman skill!

Excellent tutorial! Thanks for showing us how to do it! 👍

Lilly, this was the best bow drill video I've seen! (The next best on is from Connie & Lonnie from Up North Bushcraft.)

Cooles Video 👍 Danke für die Info und die Links 👍

Fingernail test, I learned something new today. Thx Lilly!

I hope you are safe from all of the flooding going on in the area!

Great information! Mr West also recommends the smaller spindle, I'm working on it. Mostly I have a bunch of black walnut, pecan , ash and oak. Rather than bushcrafting I probably should take up fine wood working. 😃 Up north I have pine but it's always either sappy or punky. I have learned to identify Cottonwood but haven't found one I can access properly seasoned wood from yet. Other possible options for my area might be cedar and crepe myrtle. The search continues...

A very good instruction on bowdrill , your an excellent and capable teacher, thanks lilly.

Great video Lilly!

Really enjoyed your video Lilly have a great weekend. 😉👍👍

I just entered my seventies. Although all of us (or maybe I should just speak for myself) find things a bit more difficult as time goes on or that is the fact for me. I don't plan on stopping my outdoor activities any time soon. This is a very useful video for people that have to face harsh reality. Thanks Lily.

best bow drill explanation I seen . well done

Brilliant tips Lilly 👍 meanwhile does it much better to get an ember if I use a thinner spindle, thick as my pinkie, and to have a ball bearing for a hand hold. Finally more success and less fails 😀👍. Helpful and great video..... thanks a lot 😀

So many good tips in this video, love it. Just like your 3 hour survival bow. You're good with the little details and sharing a lot of your own experiences and it's what makes you unique. Keep doing exactly what you're doing, it gets you views. Because if there's one thing I've noticed, is that even if I already know this stuff, I always learn (or can adapt) some little tip from your vids, to improve my own skills, like stabilizing the knife (or alternative) on your knee. And the wood and fingernail trick and what woods you found useful, from better to best. Great info.! And it's what keeps me coming back. I don't do that typically, because if I already know it well, I'm not usually interested in watching even more people do the same generic stuff and I learn nothing. But you share so much, not just the tips you've found, but the things you found are bad/ineffective and even dangerous. Like how you made the notch and the advice about just doing it a better way, so as to not be cutting toward your hand. Things like that are awesome, people get to learn by your mistakes (or things you noticed could turn into a mistake) and you're not afraid to share them. And people learn by your successes too, quite a bit actually and what worked for you, which may not be what worked for every other survival channel/vid/person. And you think outside the box, like this one "what about bow drilling for weaker people?". Yeah, exactly, what have other KZfaqrs like you "not" covered that could be useful?! Thinking of new angles to make videos more interesting. You are very creative, candid and honest and I like that. I find info. that mentions (or shows) what not to do, more valuable when coupled with what's right to do, than with right alone. You avoid pitfalls better that way. Just keep being you and being real, it works. I find the fact that you are fallible and sometimes videos don't go the way you want them to, but publish them just the way it happened and don't hide it, an endearing trait. And you don't come off like a lot of KZfaqrs, with perfect videos and edits and it always makes them look good. Because they did a tonne of takes to make it too polished and they never fail, make mistakes or have a bad luck day. Nope, your survival bow lasted 6 shots, oh well, that's how real life goes and that's how it's going up on KZfaq.

learned a couple more things from your perspective. thank you

Good info, and cool to see your doggie again. Corporal Kelly is awesome at bowdrill. Love to watch him at it.

Great video, Lilly! Have you ever done a video on fire plow method? Is it something you've explored? Most bushcraft folks focus on bow drill technique and only a few have done a video on the fire plow tecnique. Thanks and more power!

2:28 *Corporal's Corner = Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rambo & a BEAR!*

I saw on another channel where he fed the ember powdery dried rotten wood. You never have to rush. You just feed the ember, blow on it a little until you have a large ember to work with. This seemed to work well. Thanks for sharing. Stay well and be safe.

Good video, I have a suggestion for a future video do one showing how to start a fire with the wood plow method.

Thank you Lily I don't consider myself a weaker person but I have MS so there are days when I can't function the way I wish that I could or used to be able to So I think these tips you have given will come in handy thank you again

Hello Lilly, for bowdrill cord i use always the inner bark from elm tree or from black locust they work the best. The best wood for bowtrill i think is bass wood. Gruß Felix

Lily I’ve seen a lot of people in the past use the bow drill. But I’ve never heard anyone explain it so concisely as you have. What a great job. I tried bow drilling a couple of times. And failed. No one ever mentioned about cleaning the point with your knife to give it a fresh start. Also placing your knee up againstYour hand. To keep it steady. Also the longer stick for your bow drill seem to help immensely. But I did find it amusing that you put a hole in the handle of your knife. Where I live if you carried that knife on your hip everywhere you went just in case there was an emergency. I probably get arrested for it being over 3 1/2 inch blade. LOL 😃 people get very nervous today about stuff like that. When I was a kid you could carry a knife in your pocket at all times even in school. And no one blinked an Eye. That is not the story today. They would have the police at your school and you probably get suspended. Actually you would Get Suspended. Again great job with the demonstration. I wish I had the time to do what you do every day

Lilly: So sorry to learn of the flooding around Salzburg. I hope it is not lasting very long, and that there is help for those who have lost homes, property, and loved ones.

You can also put a bit of live grass or other live leaves in to your bearing block to reduce the friction it works a treat! (I seen that somewhere i cant remember where) nice video too

Love your knife. I wish I could afford one. Thanks for the bow drill lesson.