The show places one man and one woman in a remote area somewhere in the world and they have to survive - naked - for 21 days. Each contestant is allowed to bring one survival item with them on the 21 day challenge and they are given a burlap knapsack and map of their surroundings and where the extraction point is at day 21. They typically endure terrible environmental conditions - rain, starvation, biting insects, and dehydration.
One after noon we were sitting around talking about some of the contestants struggles and experiences that we have watched since the show first aired. We all started discussing what we would bring with us if we were cast on Naked and Afraid. Would you bring a knife? Hatchet? Fire starter? Handy Man always says that he would bring a pot to boil water in.
We discussed the contestants struggles to build shelter, keep warm, ward off insects, and find a fresh water source. The more we carried on the conversation, we decided it would be fun to see if any of us could actually start a fire using "primitive" survival skills. The idea quickly spun into a cheeky competition between my father-in-law, brother-in-law, Handy Man and I.
I was the only gal in the cabin willing to challenge the boys!
The rules were simple. We each would be given an identical piece of string and the rest was up to us to scour the cabin's property for suitable materials to make a bow drill and try to create fire. There was a lot of pressure on this challenge. We had four kids wanting to roast marshmallows that evening by the campfire.
First step... find some string.
This was the only level playing ground in the competition. However, it was not easy to locate a source for string at the cabin. Handy Man and Grandpa ended up cutting the pull string off an old sled in the storage closet. With a slight scowl on her face, (one I am sure they are all too familiar with) they were told we had to bring a replacement string on our next visit to the cabin by old Grandma...
Okay so we had four equal pieces of string and the game was on!
Grown adults began bounding around the cabin property in search of sticks and such. It was quite a sight.
I found a stick that I believed would make a perfectly shaped bow. I fashioned my sled string on the stick and went in search of another sick to serve as my spindle and a flatter piece of wood for the fireboard.
The competition was on my heals.
Note: Obviously, were were NOT naked for this event.
I whittled my spindle and got right to work. The sun was setting and I began to energetically try to make fire.
Making fire is hard work!
Not to mention, my darn string was way too fat to adequately move smoothly back and forth around the spindle. I decided to thin my string and separate the threads. This allowed the bow and spindle to move more freely. However, with increased friction, the threads began to fray and break.
I wasn't the only one having that problem.
It was getting darker and darker. Still no success.
The natives were getting restless for marshmallows.
So for the record... Grandpa was the first to throw in the towel and used the Bic to get the fire going. The big guy is a total softy when it comes to those kids asking for anything.
Discouraged by his bow skills, my brother-in-law decided to try using the fire plough method. The idea being that the friction created will push out dusty particles of the fireboard, which will ignite as the temperature increases.
My body ached just watching him. Hunched over like that and vigorously trying to create a fire.
After about 40 minutes playing cave woman, I caved and I tapped out.
I retired to photo journalist and assisted the kids in roasting marshmallows while replenishing my own depleted calories from trying to play this silly game.
But the two strong-headed daddies carried on.
After a while, it was getting pretty darn dark. The guys eventually transitioned from competing with one another to trying to prove a point that they could start a fire this way and survive and decided to team up in their efforts.
Back and forth, back and forth. Switch. Back and forth, back and forth with that darn stick.
Unfortunately, no one was successful at starting a fire.
Not my handy man husband.
Not the guy who has been in the military for years.
We know this chick couldn't.
Oh wait...
This guy did start the fire that night. Just Grandpa and his trusty Bic.
And the grandchildren thanked him, with laughter and smiles!
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