I recently came across a large amount of Amadou,for those that dont know,Amadou is from a bracket fingus,horses hoof is another name or in posh lingo:Fomes fomentarius.
Preparing it from the raw fungi is a right pain but gets a great feeling of satisfaction to make something so usefull from
Once processed Amadou become like a soft suede/chamois,mostly bushcrafters know it for its ability to take a spark easily and thence make a fire,but it is also good for making stuff,the eastern Europeans have made items like bags and hats out of it for millennia and i guess our ancestors did too in fact Amadou was found in the fire kit carried by a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived around 3,300 BC found in the High Alps in 1991who became known to the world as the Otzi .
With this in mind i thought about making some kit from one of the larger pieces of Amadou,i decided a trad firekit pouch would be nice ,i had made many pouches out of leather before and so the same techniques were applied,mark out,cut and stitch,toggles were made from some elk antler i had in the shed.
Amadou pouch ( Fomes fomentarius) by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Amadou pouch ( Fomes fomentarius) by fishfish_01, on Flickr
I was surprised just how strong the stuff is for just a mushroom! all in all a great project and a pretty snazzy bit of kit to show off around the campfire!
thanks for looking.
Preparing it from the raw fungi is a right pain but gets a great feeling of satisfaction to make something so usefull from
Once processed Amadou become like a soft suede/chamois,mostly bushcrafters know it for its ability to take a spark easily and thence make a fire,but it is also good for making stuff,the eastern Europeans have made items like bags and hats out of it for millennia and i guess our ancestors did too in fact Amadou was found in the fire kit carried by a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived around 3,300 BC found in the High Alps in 1991who became known to the world as the Otzi .
With this in mind i thought about making some kit from one of the larger pieces of Amadou,i decided a trad firekit pouch would be nice ,i had made many pouches out of leather before and so the same techniques were applied,mark out,cut and stitch,toggles were made from some elk antler i had in the shed.
Amadou pouch ( Fomes fomentarius) by fishfish_01, on FlickrAmadou pouch ( Fomes fomentarius) by fishfish_01, on FlickrI was surprised just how strong the stuff is for just a mushroom! all in all a great project and a pretty snazzy bit of kit to show off around the campfire!
thanks for looking.
