One of the critical components of the bow & spindle fire-by-friction method is the cordage of the bow. Many materials have be used. Primitive cordage might include leather, sinew, plant fiber, and roots. Modern materials might include rope, paracord, clothing strips, or shoe laces.

I have seen a number of posts on social media where cordage has been made from plastic beverage bottles. By creating a jig from wood that incorporates a knife blade, a plastic bottle can be cut into a thin ribbon that spirals the circumference along the length of the bottle. I wondered if that plastic ribbon could be used as cordage for a bow.

I made a jig, made the plastic “cord”, and found it to be strong but slippery and unweildy. My plan was to make an Egyptian Style Bow with a knot around the middle of the spindle with cordage wound above and below it. This method does not depend on friction to spin the spindle but just unwraps and rewraps with each stroke of the bow.

Because the ribbon was unwieldy, I cut slots at each end of the bow that were perpendicular to the bend, tying one end into a fat knot and wrapped the other end around the handle to allow for adjustable tension.

As I stroked the bow back and forth it performed beautifully and I brought the resulting char to a smoldering ember.

As mentioned above there are many materials used for cordage but now you know of yet another resource should others be scarce or not available.