Cordage

[jatherton]

Hi everyone,

Apart from the more common ways, nettle, willow, etc, I wondered if anybody had had any luck with cordage made out of other materials? :?:

Cheers,

Joel :biggthump

 

[Kev P]

There are loads of different plants to try. I particularly like clematis bark which naturally peels off in strips in winter and can be gathered in large quantities. You can make everything from fine twine to something resembling a tow rope with it.
Sweet chesnut bark is also very good, use it as you would willow.
Willowherb (normal and rosebay) can be collected in the same way as nettles.
Sedge apparently has high tensile strength and can be used to make rope strong enough to to a truck with.
Many none natives are good;- yucca, agave etc. Mother Inlaw's Tongue sansiveria yeilds fibres which are fine than hair and make great pure white cordage, the San Bushman use a similar species to make snares.
The list is endless.
Hope this helps.

 

[jatherton]

Cheers mate,

I missed out coniferous roots and withies. Also I have found that Elm Bark works quite well. Though, I'm always a bit hesitant to use it due to the dwindling numbers now that most have got Dutch Elm Disease.

Cheers,

Joel

 

[Bear Stone]

There are loads of different plants to try. I particularly like clematis bark which naturally peels off in strips in winter and can be gathered in large quantities. You can make everything from fine twine to something resembling a tow rope with it.

Kev P,
I didn't know about Clematis bark for cordage. I had a look on the web and found several varieties; all of which seem to be garden plants. Do they grow in the wild too and do they all work as well as each other?

Bear

 

[Kev P]

Hi Bear
The wild native form of clematis clematis vitalba, also known as Old Man's Beard and Travellers Joy, is very common particularly in the South. You can see the hedgrows alongside the roads throughout the winter, covered in a mass of the white downy seed heads. You'll find the plant climbing all over and through the hedges. The bark will shed away easily coming off in handlefuls of coarse fibres. You can even use the stems as they are for immediate cordage.
Some cultivated varieties shed there bark in the same way, it all depends as some types die back to the roots each winter.

 

[Bear Stone]

Thanks Kev,
It sounds like good stuff. I think I would have noticed the variety that has four long white petals if it was here around Brum - kinda reminds me of a 'plane propellar. Is this the kind that grows in the hedgrows in the south? Any special preperation like soaking or anything?

Bear

 

[Kev P]

Yeah the flowers are propellor shaped but because its a climber the foilage of the shrubs etc that it's growing on would mask the flowers to a certain extent, the downy seed heads are more prominent because they form in Autumn by which time the leaves are beginning to fall from the host plants.
There should be some somewhere near you. It does seem to like chalky soil, but does grow anywhere.
The bark doesn't need and preperation really.
Kev

 

[Bear Stone]

Thanks again Kev,
There's a big park near me (2,400 acres). If I'm going to find it anywhere it will prpbably be in there. I'm looking forward to checking this plant out.

Bear

 

[Borneo Wildman]

Just reading your thread and learned that Clematis is also called Old Man's Beard (that I knew) and Traveller's Joy. I wonder if it was named that because travellers were bushcrafters and were delighted to find a ready source of tinder from the seed heads and cordage fron the bark?

I am interested to research these alternative names and perhaps uncover a little more of our past when we were more directly connected to the earth / plans / seasons. Any pointers or book recommendations from anyone?

I wonder if we should make our own names for plants according to our found use. Greater Reedmace aka Catstail aka bull rush aka Traveller's Over The Moon!