The friction fire scene of Bear using the hand drill was faked

From BearWiki

Claim: The scene in which Bear starts a fire using a hand drill doesn't correspond with the reality of starting fires in this manner.

In The Rockies episode[1], Bear claims to start a fire using the hand drill method. The first image shows Bear starting the hand drill. As Bear twists the drill, black char accumulates on the fireboard quickly. However, there is no smoke visible. This is not possible. Also, the fireboard is not constructed correctly. There is no notch cut to collect the hot wood dust. This suggests that the stick he was using as the drill was charred in a fire before he started.

The second image is a close up after just a few minutes of working the drill. Bear’s fireboard is covered with coals and embers. Anyone who has ever attempted this method knows this is simply impossible. The board itself does not turn into a large mass of coals and embers; instead, it creates a small coal which falls through the notch, which you can then transfer to your tinder bundle (see pictures and references: [2][3][4]). In fact, the board is so "undamaged" that the same set can be used many times over. Conclusion: Coals were scooped out of a fire that was already started and placed on Bear’s fireboard to simulate (very poorly) him starting a fire with the hand drill.

[edit] Analysis

SUPPORT: I have started fires like this and find that the coal doesn't even glow until it's in the tinder bundle. UNtil then it's just a pile of dark brown smoking wood dust. Large embers as shown just don't happen.