You can even use wood as the top bearing in a bow drill, as long as you lubricate it slightly. It&#x27;s sufficient to rub it with leaves, or rub your thumb on the side of your nose and then on the bearing. I&#x27;ve gone to primitive survival classes, and gotten fire this way; my first, making all the pieces and learning the technique, took about three days, off and on. My second one with the same rig took five minutes.<p>With practice they&#x27;re fast to make. In one class we divided into groups of half a dozen, and competed to get the first bow drill fire without using any pre-made tools. No knives or axes, just whatever rocks we could find. The winners took less than an hour.<p>Hand drills are a lot more difficult to use, and I&#x27;ve never gotten the hang of it. But I&#x27;ve seen some people get hand drill fires pretty reliably in a couple minutes.