Wilderness alternatives to essential gear--cordage

[EdD270]

Lots of thistle and nettle around here for fine twined cordage that's quite strong. For coarser cordage there's aspen, spruce and fir roots. There's also shaggy-bark juniper that can be twined into a nice but somewhat weak cordage.
I prefer to just be sure I carry lots of paracord.

FOTH, not to butt-in, but wouldn't you like to start this as a new thread?

[FOTH]

This week's challenge--cordage. What in your area would you use to replace the paracord, string, rope, etc, you normally carry, should you lose it?

Oct 14, 2011 15:39:46 GMT -6 EdD270 said:

FOTH, not to butt-in, but wouldn't you like to start this as a new thread?

Yes, I think that's a very good idea, and here it is.
Though through my lack of knowledge of how to use this board...the posts are now slightly out of order.

[sniper69]

Well for cordage, there are nettles in the area (if they are in season when needed). I'm sure there are other plants that could be used, but (and it isn't an excuse) I still need to learn more about this area.

[thefishinmagician]

There are several sources of natural cordage in my area, but a popular one I like to use the most is from the Sabal Palm (Cabbage Palm).

The hair-like fibers grow on the outer tips of the palm fronds, and they can be gathered pretty quickly and in mass quantity. I've always heard them called "Gossamer Threads", but I don't know if that's their technical name or not...I kind of doubt it. The single fibers on their own aren't too strong, but when a bunch of them are twisted together they are surprisingly strong.

Rather than post pics and describe the process in detail, I found a youtube video that does it all for me. The video is not mine...just one I found on a quick search.



We also use the fibers stripped from some of the members of the Yucca family. Mainly from plant like Spanish Bayonet, Beargrass and the Sisal plant. I'll have to see if I can get some pics posted here of some of these plants, since I don't imagine they're too common in other parts of the country.

[meadsjn]

Awesome video; makes it look pretty simple, and extensible.

[FOTH]

Thefishinmagician, thanks for posting that video. Shows just how easy it is to harvest the fibers from some of the palm species you have there in your area!

Here in my area I have a number of options for cordage--dogbane, milkweed and nettle are some strong and readily available options, with spruce roots being available for lashing things, and aspen/cottonwood inner bark providing a weak but useful cord.

I'm up too high for juniper and yucca, but have used both. The yucca makes a great, strong cord once left to soak in water and scraped to remove the rotting plant material.

Here's some of my yucca cordage:




Aspen:




Milkweed:




And dogbane fibers, prepared for cording:

[sniper69]

FOTH - those are some nice pics. Thanks for sharing them. Is there "the best season" for plants for using them for cordage? Or can it be done in any season?

[EdD270]

Sniper, my humble understanding is that they can be used to make cordage any time of year. However they are much easier to work with in the summer when green. After they dry in the fall and winter they need to be soaked for some time to restore their flexibility before twining them into cordage.
I'm hoping FOTH will jump in here and correct any of my foolish errors, so don't take my word here as gosple.

[mmunds]

My favorite cordage is sinew, I have been known to scavage from dead corpses I find on the mountains for the precious fibers. I have learned not to do it with the wife around though, city girls just don't get it.

[FOTH]

Mmunds! Hi--good to see you here!

Yes, sinew is a good one when you can get ahold of it, and I've salvaged it from abandoned carcasses too, especially the leg tendons because the legs just get left behind so many times.

Maybe your wife wouldn't mind so much if she saw the finished results of what you make with it?

[grizz]

Thistle is abundant here, so is quack grass (crouch grass) i wonder if the rizomes could be corded, the seem pretty strong