How to Make Feathersticks

The ability to make good feathersticks is a key skill for fire-lighting, particularly if you’re making fire in cold, wet conditions or on well-used sites that have been stripped of thin, dry kindling. They can be easily transported to your fire and arranged. The curls act as tinder and the stick as the first stage of kindling, making them super-effective. Really well-made feathersticks have fine enough curls that they can be lit with a ferrocerium rod, although a match or a lighter is more ideally suited to this method of fire-making.

1. Choose a piece of well-seasoned straight wood roughly the thickness of your arm. Between 25 and 35 cm long is about right.

2. Split it into smaller sections. This will give you enough good sticks to make a fire with. Take a thumb thickness straight-grained piece with no knots. Remove the bark.

3. Place the end of the stick onto a firm surface (a log will do) and adopt a safe position for using a knife. Kneeling works well for this.

4. Hold the knife in your dominant hand and grip the stick at the top, holding it upright. Be sure not to have your fingers dangling down.

5. Begin by placing the part of the blade closest to the handle onto a corner edge of your stick, about two thirds of the way up. Remove any bumps or rough bits until you have a straight edge.

6. On this straight edge, place your blade about a third from the top (still using the part closest to the handle) and tilt the cutting edge until it barely bites into the wood. Taking it slowly, push your knife down the stick, keeping an even pressure on the handle. You should be shaving a curl. Stop a few centimetres from the bottom.

7.  Repeat this action. Ensure that each cut starts at the same point and finishes at the same  point.

8.  As you cut away the corner of the stick and the curls become broader, you can reposition  your knife so that you have a fresh corner edge to work on.

9.  It is normal for some curls to fall off. If you find that you’re cutting all of your curls off,  slow down. Straightening your knife arm and bending from your waist will help you to  have more control.

10.  Keep going until the end of the stick where the curls start, is thin. If you stop too early,  and the stick is still too thick, your curls won’t be able to set fire to it.

· If your curls are too thick, your knife will jam before you get to the finishing point—imagine that you’re peeling a carrot—a light touch is all that’s needed.

· Above all, keep practising— like anything worth doing, it takes a while to learn how to make these properly. Once you get proficient at making feathersticks, experiment with tilting the knife upwards to send your curls towards the tip, and downwards to send your curls towards the handle of your knife.

· To adapt this technique for people with a physical impairment or for young children, knock the knife into a block with the blade facing away from the user. They can hold onto the knife (or the instructor can) and run their stick along the blade, pulling the stick in towards their body. It takes a bit of practice to keep an even pressure but can work well.