How to make a plaster from birch polypore

[spamel]

Didn't check to see if this has been done before, but hey, you all like pictures, right?

So, you've gone and forgot your First Aid Kit and cut your finger whilst out in the woods. What do you do? First of all, it's very naughty not to take a FAK if you are gonna be using sharps, so get down and do twenty press ups as a punishment! Don't get any dirt in the cut though!

The best thing to do with a cut is to let it bleed a bit first. That blood coming out is flushing any debris out, so let it do its' stuff. Obviously, if you've got a spraying effect going on from your cut, things are a bit more serious and you may want to consider writing your last will and testament, dip a stick in the blood for the perfect bushcraft writing implement!

Don't stick your finger in your mouth and suck the blood off. You have some nasty germs in your mouth, leave the blood to ooze a bit. After a minute or so, push the cut together and let the blood clot. Once it has clotted, you can make a plaster and apply it to the wound to keep it bound, clean and stop it catching and re-opening.

A word of warning: applying this to a wound that is bleeding still will ensure that the blood soaks into the pores and bonds to your skin. If you want to remove it after getting home, you'll have to soak it in hot water to try and loosen it up from the wound. This won't work, and when you remove the plaster, you'll re-open the wound and it will be painful. I know this, as it happened to a friend. This is for when all hope is lost due to you forgetting your FAK. Never forget your FAK or you will be p[unished by cutting yourself, it's called fate!

Find a decent sized birch polypore growing on a birch tree.

Get it down, if it is out of reach use a stick to poke it! It should be a brownish copperish sort of colour on top, maybe green from moss/lichen if it is old. The underside should look fresh though, if not find another.

Cut slices into the underside to create the plaster of the size required. Try not to cut yourself whilst doing this!

This should then be peeled back, the piece coming off will be quite thin, a bit stretchy and like micropore tape.

A piece the size of a standard SAK will be enough for a finger wound.

Wrap the plaster around the finger, if you stretch it slightly as you apply it, it binds on itself reasonably well.

You can bind the plaster in place with a simple bit of string, maybe a few strands of lime or nettle fibres wrapped around and tied on. This will let the wound breathe and keep any dirt off of the wounded area. Remember, this is a last ditch remedy. Your FAK should always be with you when you are using sharps, even if it is a simple cuts pack in your shirt pocket.

 

[scanker]

Very good Spam. That plaster looks so neat it could have come from Elastoplast.

 

[JohnC]

Does it dry out over time? or is it ok for a couple of days>?

 

[spamel]

It will dry, but the pores keep air flowing to the wound. It's just to bind the wound and keep the crud off it. Should last a day or two, although I've not tested one for any length of time to see just how long it lasts. It would be interesting to find out.

 

[JohnC]

Thanks, I'll look out for them, given the amount of nicks and cuts I get.

 

[Sniper]

That's a great tip Spam thanks for that, I have started carrying the spray on plaster stuff from the chemist which I find works well, but this is 100% natural I like it. Spagnum moss I know makes a really good dressing and has slight antiseptic properties for larger wounds which can be held onto the wound and tied on with a bit of string or paracord even a belt or bungee as a make shift dressing, the moss absorbs the blood like a sponge, just make sure there are no creepy crawlies in it before applying to the wound.

 

[addo]

Heres me pretending to hurt my finger, with razor strops everywhere and 2 first aid kits within 2 feet of the set up, and today I split my head open on a road sign under an oak, no fungi and a dissy walk back to the landy. Im glad they put a small casualty unit under the seat otherwise i'd of been a bit stuck!
Still stings a bit. I did let it bleed a bit tho spam, although I didn't have much choice!

 

[spamel]

Blimey, hope you're feeling OK. I was surprised how late it was when I got back in the car yesterday and fired it up. I thought it was 2 or 3 o'clock! Hope you didn't get in bother with the missus!

 

[addo]

She was fine which was suprising, mind she went to see the Levellers in Brum last night, so I babysat so got browny points.

 

[spamel]

I had no idea they were still going!

 

[JonathanD]

A couple of nights ago a cut myself whilst whittling and watching badgers when I slipped and cut my thumb quite deeply. Usually if not always, I have my FAK on me, but in this case (isn't it always so), I only had one Compeed pad on me. The Compeed stuck the flap OK but bending the thumb would rip it open immediately, so I applied a Birch polypore plaster. I secured it for half an hour with nettle cordage I had on me. I usually hold the plaster closed for 20 minutes or so, as it dries and conforms to shape easily, giving it a semi rigid and firm plaster, in which most tasks can be carried out as normal. Plasters you buy never offer the perfect conformation, non-restriction, hardiness and comfort that these simple natural remedies offer. They fall off naturally within a couple of days and the wound is all healed. If only Elastoplast could mimic the properties of this natural item, it would surely be a winner.

The bottom two pictures show it 24 hours after. The top picture doesn't do the cut justice, the flap was from the top of the nail down to the base, and about 8mm wide at the base with initially alot of free flowing red stuff. The picture was taken after 20 minutes of pressure and Compeed application. The Birch polypore is a hard wearing little beast and feels like thin leather that hat been formed to the thumb. It feels great and unlike plasters, you don't notice it is there as much and lets you carry on pretty much as normal with less restriction and better holding all the way around. Modern alternatives do not come close.

 

[Ex Member - Sidney Bounty]

OK question are they that numerous that they are always around when ya need one?
can you save them off the tree if so how long before this does not work with them?
what alternatives are their if none are to be found and before you bleed out...

 

[rik_uk3]

OK question are they that numerous that they are always around when ya need one?
can you save them off the tree if so how long before this does not work with them?
what alternatives are their if none are to be found and before you bleed out...

Agree with you Bill, why not make sure you carry some plasters with you, and there is no way I would readily expose an open wound to something that could have had a good soaking with infected animal urine etc.

 

[spamel]

If you're in birch woodland, odds are on you'll find birch polypore. Watch out for the six foot high dog that's peeing on them though!

The part you need is from the underside of the funghi which can grow at considerable height above the ground. If you forgot your plasters, then you'd know how to improvise one. It's a skill set, so now you've added another skill to your armoury. Add to that that this is also the fungus used to strop your knife to sharp again, smolders incredibly hot and long for fire lighting and can be used for other medicinal purposes, then this is a fungus worth knowing about. And when I go walking through the woods, I tend to log where I saw things so that I can go back to it if I need it. Doesn't always work as Addo will tell you as I couldn't find a good sit spot I've been to before this last weekend!

 

[Lush]

...if you find Birch Polypore (which often come in groups) you can try making a strop for deburring your sharps. Ray Mears shows it in one of his series. A strip of Birch Polypore can be glued to a flat piece of wood when wet and left to dry before use. Nice little thing to craft.

Interesting stuff that Birch Polypore. Also given the fact that it's clean, even almost sterile.

I wonder if you could wrap food in it and steam it like is done with leaves?

 

[spamel]

Mot sure about that. I believe that Oetzi carried some, when boiled it produces some sort of tonic for sore throats. I'm assuming it is gargled and spat back out but I wouldn't know for sure. If anybody knows for sure, it would be interesting information to add to my skill set!

 

[Toddy]

I was taught that it can be chewed to stave off hunger pangs........tastes like a sort of tcp'd polystyrene to be honest

Every birch tree I know has them, common as muck really since Birch is a pioneer species.
If you cut them up into slices and dry them, they make excellent coal catchers and will glow away quite happily for ages.....like a really good ember to heat start the tinder bundle If they're on the sheltered side of the tree they often don't even need drying.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[spamel]

I have one made into a strop, was gonna glue it to some wood but I've found it isn't necessary. Good thing with it is that small shavings can be cut off for firelighting, as you suggest. Downside is that those small shavings wreak havoc on your knife!

 

[rik_uk3]

If you're in birch woodland, odds are on you'll find birch polypore. Watch out for the six foot high dog that's peeing on them though!

The part you need is from the underside of the funghi which can grow at considerable height above the ground. If you forgot your plasters, then you'd know how to improvise one. It's a skill set, so now you've added another skill to your armoury. Add to that that this is also the fungus used to strop your knife to sharp again, smolders incredibly hot and long for fire lighting and can be used for other medicinal purposes, then this is a fungus worth knowing about. And when I go walking through the woods, I tend to log where I saw things so that I can go back to it if I need it. Doesn't always work as Addo will tell you as I couldn't find a good sit spot I've been to before this last weekend!

Its not just dogs that pee in the woods Spamel?

 

[spamel]

The only way pee is gonna get on it is if something climbs up a tree, crawls underneath the birch polypore and pees upwards onto the under side, which is what you are using here. It seems that the negativity on the old skills posted by myself and others proves that people here would be more content with the kit only threads. I had a PM off of a member the other day who is sick of the organised meets because it's all kit and no skills. Why try and derail this thread with negativity? It's a simple thing I thought may be interesting for some people. You don't find it interesting, fair enough, no need to come on here and be negative about it though.

Sorry if you find my rant in bad taste but I'm fast losing my patience with the negative comments coming from a large number of people. I come here because I value the membership, just about everybody has a vast knowledge in some area and an answer is never far away to any question you can think of. Unfortunately, lately it is becoming kit orientated. I'vre played my part in that arena too, so I thought I'd post something a little more traditional. I was thinking of other things that I could do too, but why bother?

From now on, everybody is to use the same tent, a petrol stove and a lighter to light said stove. Any new kit should be brought to the attention of the Kit Police and nobody is allowed to do anything other than cook on their petrol stoves and sit in their sterile tents. Anybody caught using primitive methods such as friction firelighting, flint and steel or god help us matches, will be publicly shunned and ridiculed. You have been warned!