Survival Guide: Make YARDS of natural cordage in MINUTES
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- Cordage making is a core skill that humans have depended on for millenia. In our modern world of manufactured convenience, comparitively very few people still know how to do this ancient craft. Practicing this not only hones a usefull survival skill, but also rewilds us, brings us closer to the land and changes our perspective. Suddenly, you will see useful materials and plants where you have never seen them before. At least, that's been my experience. I hope this video help you! Comment with what you'd like to see next!
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Holy shit. This was a masterclass in plant fibers and natural cordage. Color me impressed
Traditional cordage often utilized the rhetting process, soaking cordage in icy cold winter waters. The process is actually a fermentation of sorts that allows microorganisms to eat away at the woody tissues surrounding the fibres/fibers.
I live in the U.K. and Nettles are abundant. Stems for cordage, leaves for tea and cooking = minimal waste.
I had the same thought, though I'm from America XD
My mom loves elder berries, and our lake has a trail full of them and nettles. My first concern was if you needed older plants, because if so, it'd be great to gather when we get berries. If my mom doesn't want to help, I'm making wine while I work on my cordage.
There is also a plant that grows near the nettles that takes the sting away if you rub up against the wrong way with the nettles do you know what that is called
@@kenthatfield4287 It's called plantains or fleaworts.
You can eat the roots also, and they're supposedly very nutritious
@@mattjohnson9727 Going to make an assumption here and that you're not referring to actual dogbane, but of plantains or fleaworts, yeah?
You can use bast fiber from certain trees. Milkweed makes good cordage, but please don't harvest it until after the monarch butterflies are done with it; they eat it as caterpillars to make themselves poisonous to predators. Around September should do.
herbicides have about eradicated it around here. been working to get it going in my butterfly bee and hummingbird patch.
Milk weed is very strong, would make great line for fishing. Indians made sandals out of Sagebrush cordage.
Okra stalks make EXCELLENT cordage. Cordage is definitely the first thing people should learn. Once you have cordage, you have a bow drill. MUCH easier than a hand drill.
To speed up fibre collection, traditionally in some cultures a spiked brush tool was carried around with a twill. You don’t have to beat the material and even tall grass stalks work with this method since it creates a thin fibre material. The brush can be made from wood so long as you sharpen them and dowel into pockets in the head. The back of the head is used for cracking the fibre out through rubbing it back and forth. When using the brush part you grab your bundle of fibre and wack it and pull towards you repeatedly until it becomes closer to hair, then it should be just about ready to use and you can make the decision whether to make it finer material by using a fine comb version of your previous tool. Some material will get lost refining it further but it will start to look like actual hair at a certain point.
what is this tool called? how could i make it?
@@wolfie1703 Sounds like a primitive version of what was used for refining flax fibres, essentially a comb/brush with sharp iron nails, these search terms should give you an idea; hackle / heckle / hatchel
You certainly have a knack for explaining things.
Well that's the point
Basket weaving is another primal skill that's well worth knowing....
Just incredible knowledge. Thank you for sharing!
Elm bark, hickory, juniper, thistle, ash bark, I've even used oak bark. Wild grapevine, elm roots, pine roots, and honeysuckle don't need processing to work either, there are others as well.
Such clear and effective instruction! Thank you! I love the clearly shot closeups of the finger work and splicing in new fibers.
Some kind of oily substance was always used, while making the cord, for elasticity and durability. An outer layer of wax or tar if available, can make it good for underwater usage as well.
Excellent video on making cordage. Thanks for sharing. I was down in Williamsburg Va at a Native American display and an elder showed me how to do this. He captivated my learning immediately. Then he used a flint and steel and char cloth to light his pipe and these skills increased my interests in the old ways of surviving
As I'm sure you know, when an elder speaks, we must always listen!!! That, too, is the old way of things that are unfortunately disappearing. Natives survived and thrived many moons longer than the white men.
You just answered a question I’ve had for 4 years now! I have some land that I only get to in the fall/winter months, and I always find a stalk that has fine fibers and makes amazing cordage. Never knew what the heck it was until now, it’s Dogbane. Thank you!
Boiling the fibers with ashes will make a long lasting cordage. (Ray Mears tip)
How?
@@liawatson5789 witchcraft.
well im sure at least boiling makes them more pliable for when you twist them by softening and relaxing the fibers meaning there won't be any microtears from twisting and after it dries it shrinks back up so its nice and tight. i can't speak for the ashes but who knows maybe some chemical stuff happens. you are impregnating it with carbon and other chemicals after all. i guess for the ashes the only real way to find out is to run some tests.
@@rays5163 maybe the potash (potassium hydroxide) inside the ash when reacting with water softens the fibers and makes them more maleable.
@@AaronC.
Maybe?
It's Ray Mears dude, there is no maybe involved.
Ray has forgotten more bushcraft than this guy knows.
We are really lucky here in New Zealand we have a few plants that give extremely strong fiber.
Harakeke (Phormium tenax ) was a major export for extremely strong rope and Tī kōuka (Cordyline australis) which while a shorter leaf gives an extremely strong fiber and was the primary line for fishing.
I have fished with it and landed fish of more than 12 pounds.
Tī kōuka is found as an ornamental in the American upper mid west coast known there as Cornish palm.
It was a food resource for my people in areas where other staples would not grow, it can be felled and the pulpy center can be eaten, it was called "millionaire's cabbage" in my childhood because it costs the life of the plant.
dead cabbage tree leaves are also good for starting fires with the ol flint if you scrape it fine with a knife
I live in Indiana and use both dogbane and milkweed but since my wife died and i have been struck with severe spinal stenosis I'm concentrateing more on teaching others than doing as much myself. To me strong cordage is invaluable so i concentrate on the three plants you mentioned. Sometimes willow is the best material available in certain areas but even fibers from cattail leaves works well enough if your stuck in swampy areas. Dont forget mulberry. The young cambium layer is pretty good. Ive even used the tassles from ears of corn. Not great but it works and you dont see many people using it. Got to get it when its at the right point or its too weak. Too late it will just crumble.
I find that sunflower stalks are also very time-sensitive. Too early and the fibers are weak. Too late and they're brittle.
That’s nuts. I would never imagine you could make cordage from corn husk
Wherabouts? I would love to be taught this craft. Main issue for me is really the plant identification
@@hedwardd
The husk, yes. The "silk" tassels, no.
I'm not sure what he meant but that is not accurate. Just try to twist one and you'll see.
Maybe he just meant he likes to twist it up like cordage.
@@mechez774
Listen, if you need to, cardboard and other paper products work surprisingly well.
Even the tape from boxes, strips of plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc
BlackBerry, Willow and yucca are a few that should be really easy to identify and they make great cordage.
There's a variety of yucca, possibly Adam's Needle, that grows in Oregon that I am certain would do very well in southern Idaho. It is hardy to zone 4. If you're looking for plentiful material that grows wild, yucca is probably not the thing in northern areas since even though some varieties are very cold hardy they're mostly limited to curated landscapes. A similar landscaping plant, the New Zealand flax, also produces extremely strong, long fibers that make superior cordage. The flax processes down somewhat thicker than yucca and can be difficult to work with when dry.
On an unrelated note, I have found that the inner bark of cedar makes an extremely soft twine that, once it has been thoroughly worked to remove fine splinters, is very comfortable against the skin. Another excellent skin-contact fiber source is day lily. The dead leaves, when collected early in the morning when they are still damp with dew, are easy to twine and produce, flat out, the most comfortable skin-contact twine I've ever encountered.
On a very unrelated note, i never start with the "halfway" technique of starting my twine at the center of a bundle of fibers. I _always_ start with two bundles so that I can double the loose, starting end back over and splice it in to make an integrated loop at the beginning end of a piece of cordage.
Ima keep rolling with the unrelated. I also make narrow rope using three strands of twine. Keeping the position of each strand relative to the others is critical for making three strand rope by hand. The method is exactly the same as the reverse twist but instead of a pattern of A, B, A, B, A, B the pattern is A, B, C, A, B, C. I've also tried four strand, but the resulting rope is too loosely wound at that point. You can continue doing three strand twining with each finished rope, so three strands of twine become one thin rope, three thin ropes become one thick rope, three thick ropes become one cable, etc. It takes a BOATLOAD of fibers to make any rope of decent length. Three ten foot sections of twine make a three foot section of thin rope and three ten foot sections of thin rope make a three foot section of thick rope, so figure that for every nine hundred feet of twine you'll end up with about ten feet of thick rope. You'd better _really_ need a thick rope to dedicate that much work and materials.
Final unrelated. If you're clever, you can use twining techniques to make a knotless net. It seems hard at first but once you get the hang of it you can crank out a lot of net. Again though, it really uses up a lot of material, so you'd better actually need a net.
ive used this technique to make bowstring before (with standardised length artificial fibres) so its been great to learn how to chain together fibres!
I really enjoy the longer videos rather than the short kind of the reels. I hope that you keep at it, but i anderstand if you don't. Anyway, thanks and good luck!
More longer videos is what I want, but the way CZcams wants the game to be played favors a mix of both
Great tip from Sally Pointer: lay your new fibres across both strands, and twist it in. This results in seamless splices with no knobby bits sticking out.
Excellent post. As an OG, I call these skills "bushcraft" as "survival" has distracting connotations. All such skills teach confidence in nature and, when you least expect, survival.
Nice way of thinking about it.
I’ve wondered where the heck ropes and cordage came from in survival applications for years, thanks so much for this!
This video popped up cause I was googling this yesterday and for once, it did NOT annoy me, lol. He gets right to the point and keeps it engaging with a variety of topics covered on channel, easy sub from me! Thanks:)
It's amazing what you can make cordage out of. Was camping with my friend, he was out on a nature walk and we had been cutting firewood. I picked up some bark and realized the shredded inner bark looked good enough to twine and sure enough, cranked out a couple feet for the hell of it.
Beauty-your videos are quick -to the point and well done!
Great video!
It's nice to see someone in my neighborhood (MT) doing these videos. Most bushcraft/survival vloggers are on the East Coast or overseas. New subscriber.
Amazing. I was just thinking about cordage. When things go south, it will be important to have. Was wondering where people of old got theirs. Thank you so much!
If things ever go south far enough that there's a shortage of cordage, twine, rope, etc, it's going _all the way down._ I'm talking, *_I Am Legend_* level SHTF.
Our family of 7 recently found your channel, and we absolutely love it!!! I homeschool my kids, and we watch your videos together. Can you do some plant identification? We're a very outdoors family, and survival is a common topic as we're a medically retired military family.
Awesome! Thanks for your support! I can definitely do some survival related foraging videos
@sagesmokesurvival awesome thank you!!! Also, look for The Foxfire books. The oldest edition you can find. It's packed full of great information!!!
@@fallenangelwi25
There are digital copies on the Internet Archives site.
@@fallenangelwi25 @sagesmokesurvival Yes, the Foxfire books hold so much useful knowledge!
A method I use to judge a fibers suitability for cordage is to just wrap a small sample tightly around a stick or my finger. If it doesn't flex enough to wrap properly, or snaps under the combination of tension and flexion, it's usually unsuitable. If it survives, the test also gives you a sense at how it acts under the conditions cord is used in
Writing is the greatest invention humankind has ever made. Followed closely by string. Followed then closely by the wheel.
cordage is definitely important and a time consuming and difficult process so having it on hand is important. and being able to replace it is a must thanks for the vid!
Best CZcams video I have seen in a while.
I've used this method with cedar bark - you have to splice more often because the fibers are shorter, but it works well. Interesting note: anything you can make cordage from also makes wonderful tinder. Process in the same way, but instead of wrapping into cordage, just fluff it out into a "bird's nest." This will light well from a spark or bowdrill coal.
Ah was waiting for this one
Could you make a video on how to make a net in nature and a other short with a list of tree that have alot of tanins and plant good for cortage depending on region i would really like it please day 1
Yes please
These instructions are very clear and anyone who has never tried this will have
success following the video. I'm forever making cordage from what ever comes
to hand. I'd like to try plastic from a soda bottle cut as thin as capellini or angel's
hair pasta just to see how it works and horse tail hair cordage to create a viable
fishing line that is less obvious than plant fiber.
Thanks for this! very useful - I'm surprised I've never thought of the value of making rope and lines. This is super for making shelters and clothing repairs out in the field. Great job!
I’ve been using tulip tree inner bark but it’s a bit difficult to get even strands. I recently tried dried daffodil leaves. Produces a pretty cordage. Will be trying dried dandelion stems next. Thanks for the tip on fast twisting! Good video. New sub.
Try using dead day lily leaves picked in the morning when they're still damp with dew. The cordage isn't particularly strong but it's _extremely_ comfortable against your skin, even after it dries out.
I'm glad I found this channel. Good info, well presented.
Ah! Thank you for showing how you peel a little from both directions so you lose less fibers! I was getting so frustrated by how i kept losing fibers.
Would do a video making cordage from sinew?
That would be excellent 👍
Awesome video! Thank you for going into so much Detail in this! You Rock!
Glad to have found your channel.
I love all the quick explanations you do!
Absolutely the Better of survival skills videos!
So happy I found your channel. Great information, very concise and helpful. Thank you!
Thanks for the Education. I will try this, this fall!!
thank you. learnt something valuable today.
Love the detail in the video. Thank you.
Cool skills dude. Appreciated.
Thank You Seth. Best to you
Finally!! Something I can ACTUALLY use!!
Extremely helpful to see the winding technique. Dogbane is abundant in Tennessee. Awesome to see so much bush-indigo towards the end of the video!
Thank You !
amazing video like always thank man I’ve learned a lot from u ❤❤
Excellent! Thankee!
Excellent video!
Awesome video, thank you!
You're a really cool guy Seth
Thanks, I have wondered about that.
My goodness this is the best cordage video ive seen and I've seen alot good job on good information.
Great presentation .. Very valuable skill indeed.
Very useful, thank you
Great video, thanks for sharing your knowledge. have a great day :)
That was interesting. Thanks!
Legend.
Awesome video, brilliant knowledge, perfectly explained, thank you!
Keep these videos coming.✌
This is a very useful abd interesting video.
Good enough for me to subscribe.
That net looked great.
Great video, bet I've ever seen on cordage 🙌. Thank you
good and practical, and based on working experience. Nice work.
Cool content, well done.
Wonderful video. I never learned to do this.
Great instruction
Great video, thanks. Subscribed.
I learned how to roll fiber along my thigh before I actually figured out the technicals of how to roll it with my fingers. Definitely important to know both though. Good video. Thanks!
Great tutorial ❤
Terrific vid, you're a great teacher. Subscribing.
That was easy to watch 🤜🤛 thanks pal
Thank you
Very nice video.
Great 👍
Thanks!
I am restoring an Austin Champ, which is one of the vehicles this engine is fitted to. Great video.
Interesting channel. I will practice in nature or in forest. Hemp is very traditional. Long nettles too. Middle-aged techniques in Europe. Will try to practice. To late for me to live like Amerindian or coureur des bois. Nice look with hat. Look sympathetic. Thanks for posting.
Great tutorial with clear footage. Well done. you have a teachers spirit. Subscribing as a thanks and to see more from ya.
awesome. ty.
Graet show man. Liked and subscribed. Peace ✌️
Great video. Would love to learn about buscraft hooks and traditional native lures.
There are two tests you can do with unknown plants to get a general idea if they're good for this. The bend test to see if fibers splinter off (less splintering is better), and the yank test to see if the fibers break when given a quick jerk. The only thing that's a kind of a real unknown is breakdown, because some materials don't survive weathering or get eaten rather quickly by environmental mold and bacteria after being extracted from whatever plant they came from.
I'd always wondered how it was made. Such a great invention.
It will be much stronger if you make 3 cords from 2 strands each (as shown here), then twist those 3 cords together (twisting the opposite way) into a larger cord or rope. I don't know exactly why this is but it is. If you look at manilla rope, it's usually 3 strands. This info is from The Ashley Book of Knots, the world's foremost authority on knots and secondarily, rope.
wow what a neat world we live in, I wanna make some cordage.
You can also use cordage to plat into a sling with which to hunt small animals
Nice 👍hello from Washington
In the NW ceder bark is the go to😊
buckles
czcams.com/video/3uARCxjbSz8/video.html
collars
czcams.com/video/PmbEhMSASls/video.html
wraps
czcams.com/video/Oq11fLLqgbU/video.html
I *just* learned how to identify the dogbanes (and you're right, it's everywhere) so I think I'll definitely be trying this!
Side questions:
- Does spreading dogbane not work, or is hemp dogbane simply better suited?
- Would picking and drying live plants also work, as an alternative of waiting until autumn?
Could you use rendered animal fat to water proof the cordage and make it more pliable?
i have been thinking about melting tallow and resin together to make a salve, could probably be nice to use on cordage to. pine tar would be nice as well.
Yes you can!
@kringsja9913 pine tar is some awesome stuff. Ask any duckhunter: tarred decoy line was the standard for years.
@@notreallymyname3736 yeah i love tarred bank line, super grippy, and stays fresh
Beeswax as well for waterproofing
Ah finally, the Guide to Plant Fiber Cordage
Artemisia works well too