PSKOOK Bow Drill Kit Fire Starter, Primitive Wood, Survival Practice Friction Fire Tool for Scout Outdoor Activity Teaching, Outward Bound Training, Wildness Survival Beginner

I wanted my middle school students to get a feel for what it was like to start a fire without modern tools, and this was a great tool for them to use. The success rate was about 20-30% (it was a moist day), but all the groups had a lot of fun, have a tactile memory of the effort required, and practiced team work in doing this. I will order again for next year.

Got this to learn and perfect my fire bow skills. Correction: my non-existant fire bow skills. I figured since I'm a dude and I'm used to the rapid use of my arm moving in a back and forth motion thst I'd be abke to start a simple fire. I was wrong and now I'm tired. I know it works because there's smoke... but no Amber's yet and I'm sure its just me. Not going to count against a proven fire system because I lack the skill to use it properly. Just gonna have to keep trying. In the end, at the very least, ill get stronger and faster at other rapid, back and forth motions.

Reminiscing of my time in the BOY Scouts of America, I decided to purchase this so that I can teach my kids this crucial skill. Upon first use I was able to get an ember and start up a fire. The most impressive part of this is the bearing system. If you use this spindle up and needed a new one, it would take just as much time to taper the bearing block end of the spindle and make a bearing block as it would to just whittle the bearing block end to accept this bearing system. There is absolutely NO heat generation with this bearing system! The only end that makes heat is the end you need to make heat. The only issue I have with this is that the wood is very soft (this is good for beginners because it makes it easy to make an ember), however, for those who are not beginners this wears down pretty quick. Also, the ember generating end of the spindle is tapered too narrow. This can literally make it into a drill with it being so narrow. Now that mine has worn down to just the beginning of the taper it is wearing down much slower. For the beginner I cannot recommend this enough, it is an easy way to learn the basics of bow and drill fire making. For the expert I still recommend this for the bearing system, it's genius and you can use it on your own spindles! The design is well thought out as I have made three of these and have successfully made fires with all of them using this as a template (1" dowel, drill, small sign stake, some whittling, and para-cord).

After a little trial and error my son and I got in a rhythm and started a fire! It was really cool!

So it was a great idea. Taking it out of the box was a little confusing mine didn’t come with instructions or anything on how to set it up. I tried while I was camping and it wasn’t a success. It was a little hard to set up and to actually get, it moving and going so this wasn’t for me but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad product like I said, maybe I’m just a little inexperienced with this. It’s easier for me to just have a lighter in my pocket when camping or even a flint, I find those much easier to use Have experience with this I say give it a shot and see if you can do it

It works how it supposed to do and I really enjoy the product, the only thing I do see wrong with it, is it does not last long. ( the wood your use to start the fire) it goes fairly fast

It was larger than I thought and was made durable; great price for it!

I got a couple of these to introduce my young sons (ages 5 and 7) to the concept of friction fire. I really like that the bow is attached to the spindle, so it removes the frustration of having the spindle fly away from the bow like a regular bow drill. I think this is a great teaching tool for those unfamiliar with friction fire as it eases the learning process, especially for younger users. We got to practice our form, and learn the concept, which was the goal. While they weren't able to get an ember during their first attempts they did learn some things, and most importantly, they didn't get frustrated and had FUN! We will continue to refine our techniques with this kit until they are able to get an ember and start a fire, and then we will progress to a regular field crafted kit. Overall, I think this is great way to teach newcomers, and it is also a great way to share and spend time with your kids.