The fire roll is what I consider to be the easiest fire-by-friction method. It uses two flat planks and a rolled up fiber tinder bundle. The process can be viewed on various social media but when attempted it can sometimes be challenging initially for beginners. Here are a few tips that you might find helpful.

Creating the fiber roll

The simplest fiber source are 100% cotton balls that can be unrolled, stretched out, and given a generous sprinkling of ashes on top. Then it’s tightly rolled lengthwise into a cylinder that when complete looks like a cocoon. As experience is built there are other
“Fire Roll Tinder Variations” that can also work.

Prepping the fiber roll

The fiber roll is placed on the bottom board and the top board is placed over the fibre roll and is repeatedly stroked in one direction to compress the roll until it smooths out and takes the shape of a pencil. This process initiates heat in the roll.

Stroking the roll

Now the back and forth stroke action begins. It helps to lean over the board to generate greater friction for increased heat. After many passes at some point you should feel some resistance where the roll kind-of grabs. It’s not uncommon to smell smoke so after a few more rolls it’s time to stop and remove the top board and view the roll for a dark spot and perhaps smoke.

Finding the ember

You should be able to feel a hot spot and I have found it helpful to prop up the roll vertically against the boards that allows the internal heat of the roll to build upward much like you might hold a bird’s nest upward with an ember in the center to maximize the heat. A small black char spot begins to appear and a slight breath on the roll should reveal an ember that you can let build and in turn place in a tinder bundle to work into s flame.