Outstanding video! I myself am in the process of making a poplar bark basket. This instructional video helped me finish mine up. Many thanks from Georgia!
Some species of trees, you can take most of the bark and not kill the tree. Birch and Cedar are the two best trees for this. So long as you leave at least 1/3rd of the bark intact between upper and lower pieces, with a minimum width of 6 inches (if the circumference is 12 inches, leave half the bark intact; if the circumference is 60 inches, leave 20 inches intact), most trees can recover...but it helps to seal the cut edges with something, such as pine sap or pitch, to help prevent infection. (White spruce sap is naturally antibiotic/antifungal.) Err on the side of leaving more bark intact than not, if you're unsure. If you have to take all the bark around a live tree, try to pick one that isn't thriving well, one that is being crowded out by taller trees around it...basically the same as how you would select/thin out saplings when cutting them for a shelter. If you want to learn more about cutting trees but still keeping them alive, look up some of the UA-cam videos on how to make English Hedgerows, fences made from living trees and bushes. Hedgerow makers literally chop into saplingd and small until they're hanging on by a few benches, bend them over, and weave the branches into the fenceline. So long as the cuts are covered and protected from the rain, the trees eventually recover, and form an impenetrable fenceline that will last 50-ish years pretty much maintenance-free, and keep livestock firmly inside the pasture. It's really fascinating, what you can do to make a living hedge fence. On the bright side, dead standing is one of the best ways to dry wood for later use. A lot of woodworking done in centuries past relied upon managed forestry, wherein the woodsmen would gird trees (remove the bark all the way around) when they were of the right size and still healthy, but leave the trees standing for 2-3 years to allow them to fully dry. This way they're off the ground, the rainwater doesn't linger on the underside of a horizontally laid trunk, they won't rot easily, and they won't warp nearly as much because they're not cut. They might scale (climb) the tree and remove most of the bark all over too, to ensure rainwater cannot get trapped under it, though it depended upon the species and how quickly they wanted the trunk to dry. (The quicker it dries, the more & larger cracks will develop.) Meanwhile, fresh seedlings would be planted or transplanted nearby, to allow young new trees to grow up in a spot where it wouldn't have as much competition from the canopy overhead. If it's a tree more like hazel or willow, it can be copsed, whch means to cut down to a stump a few inches above the ground, with the cuts sharply angled to shed rain; fresh shoots will sprout up in the spring, and the wood can be regrown over a year or two, to be used for withies for wattle fences, posts, etc. Copsed wood tends to be harvested every handful of years, so it's almost always slender, but you can harvest an initial tree trunk that's fairly thick. Another thing not mentioned in this video is that you can make a spud, which is like a blunt-tipped, somewhat rounded wedge out of a spare branch, which can help get underneath the bark and help peel it away. With a particularly long piece like this, you might even want to make several spud-wedges, so you can just set them in as you work your way down the tree, keeping the bark peeled up from the trunk while you're working to free the whole thing. Then you can take one of the spuds and poke it between bark and trunk to help peel away the bark. This is particularly useful for areas with tiny twig-width knots, since it helps pop the bark off the little peaks a bit easier.
that's not necessarily true. If the tree is in an area with a lot of beetles or other boring insects, it does not matter how little you chop off the tree.
from all bushcraft expert, I watch your video I enjoy so much with all due respect to the other bushcraft expert you teach bushcraft. from you heart thank you so much you are the best of all tthe best may god bless you
God gave us His bounty, to use. He did not want us to abuse His bounty. As long as we teach others as in this video, and the rest of the tree was used, this is what God wanted us to do. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
What’s with all the tree hugging? Thank you Dan for showing us another skill. And not chopping down a forest...LoL I have noticed in my area a lot of seedling birches that are growing on top of one another so I don’t see a reason that it would be wrong to thin out these areas to allow room for better growth.
When you cut into the bark with your saw you can tell the difference of cutting the bark and cutting the tree. That is a way of making sure you can peel off the bark without going back to cutting the bark again.
Quite a good video. Do you find the larger diameter trees easier to work with? I've been having trouble with spitting on some bark I got from a 4 inch dia, tree.
The Native Americans did pretty much the same thing. So did early Europeans. Pretty much anyone that had a tree to harvest. I imagine you have sat in a chair that did not come from an already dead tree.
That looked like the healthiest tree in the immediate area, that is not thinning or forest management, thats killing a healthy tree to make an unnecessary basket. Appreciate the passing on of knowledge and technique, but this should be a last resort survival technique unless you have a truly suitable donor tree to cull.
taking an old ass book with no known author full of missleading soul supressing brainwash and using that as your eyes ears and heart to navigate this world is loony, try sitting by a tree some time, beacuse there was a guy that did that one time, his name and many other things about him are known and well recorded, more so many who have followed his path have even transended our mortal bonds, and he did much good for the silly people of the world :)
Outstanding video! I myself am in the process of making a poplar bark basket. This instructional video helped me finish mine up. Many thanks from Georgia!
You have completely girdled that Tree. Nice Basket.
nice project Dan...thanks for teaching and sharing. All the worry about if the tree dies or not, no one noticed your shirts on inside out!! LMBO!
LOL!
Some species of trees, you can take most of the bark and not kill the tree. Birch and Cedar are the two best trees for this. So long as you leave at least 1/3rd of the bark intact between upper and lower pieces, with a minimum width of 6 inches (if the circumference is 12 inches, leave half the bark intact; if the circumference is 60 inches, leave 20 inches intact), most trees can recover...but it helps to seal the cut edges with something, such as pine sap or pitch, to help prevent infection. (White spruce sap is naturally antibiotic/antifungal.) Err on the side of leaving more bark intact than not, if you're unsure. If you have to take all the bark around a live tree, try to pick one that isn't thriving well, one that is being crowded out by taller trees around it...basically the same as how you would select/thin out saplings when cutting them for a shelter.
If you want to learn more about cutting trees but still keeping them alive, look up some of the UA-cam videos on how to make English Hedgerows, fences made from living trees and bushes. Hedgerow makers literally chop into saplingd and small until they're hanging on by a few benches, bend them over, and weave the branches into the fenceline. So long as the cuts are covered and protected from the rain, the trees eventually recover, and form an impenetrable fenceline that will last 50-ish years pretty much maintenance-free, and keep livestock firmly inside the pasture. It's really fascinating, what you can do to make a living hedge fence.
On the bright side, dead standing is one of the best ways to dry wood for later use. A lot of woodworking done in centuries past relied upon managed forestry, wherein the woodsmen would gird trees (remove the bark all the way around) when they were of the right size and still healthy, but leave the trees standing for 2-3 years to allow them to fully dry. This way they're off the ground, the rainwater doesn't linger on the underside of a horizontally laid trunk, they won't rot easily, and they won't warp nearly as much because they're not cut. They might scale (climb) the tree and remove most of the bark all over too, to ensure rainwater cannot get trapped under it, though it depended upon the species and how quickly they wanted the trunk to dry. (The quicker it dries, the more & larger cracks will develop.) Meanwhile, fresh seedlings would be planted or transplanted nearby, to allow young new trees to grow up in a spot where it wouldn't have as much competition from the canopy overhead.
If it's a tree more like hazel or willow, it can be copsed, whch means to cut down to a stump a few inches above the ground, with the cuts sharply angled to shed rain; fresh shoots will sprout up in the spring, and the wood can be regrown over a year or two, to be used for withies for wattle fences, posts, etc. Copsed wood tends to be harvested every handful of years, so it's almost always slender, but you can harvest an initial tree trunk that's fairly thick.
Another thing not mentioned in this video is that you can make a spud, which is like a blunt-tipped, somewhat rounded wedge out of a spare branch, which can help get underneath the bark and help peel it away. With a particularly long piece like this, you might even want to make several spud-wedges, so you can just set them in as you work your way down the tree, keeping the bark peeled up from the trunk while you're working to free the whole thing. Then you can take one of the spuds and poke it between bark and trunk to help peel away the bark. This is particularly useful for areas with tiny twig-width knots, since it helps pop the bark off the little peaks a bit easier.
that's not necessarily true. If the tree is in an area with a lot of beetles or other boring insects, it does not matter how little you chop off the tree.
from all bushcraft expert, I watch your video I enjoy so much with all due respect to the other bushcraft expert you teach bushcraft. from you heart thank you so much you are the best of all tthe best may god bless you
God gave us His bounty, to use. He did not want us to abuse His bounty. As long as we teach others as in this video, and the rest of the tree was used, this is what God wanted us to do. Great video. Thanks for sharing.
What’s with all the tree hugging?
Thank you Dan for showing us another skill. And not chopping down a forest...LoL
I have noticed in my area a lot of seedling birches that are growing on top of one another so I don’t see a reason that it would be wrong to thin out these areas to allow room for better growth.
i guess it's kinda off topic but does anybody know of a good site to watch newly released movies online?
@Adrien Kameron I use flixzone. You can find it on google =)
@Baker Rodney Definitely, been watching on flixzone for months myself =)
@Baker Rodney thanks, signed up and it seems like a nice service :D I appreciate it!
@Adrien Kameron no problem :D
Using a baton makes it easier to cut through the bark. I use a wooden stick cut into a fat wedge to get the bark off. It's stronger than my fingers.
This is great!
Tree becomes firewood
When you cut into the bark with your saw you can tell the difference of cutting the bark and cutting the tree. That is a way of making sure you can peel off the bark without going back to cutting the bark again.
Quite a good video. Do you find the larger diameter trees easier to work with? I've been having trouble with spitting on some bark I got from a 4 inch dia, tree.
how would it work as a fish trap? are would it fall apart?
Absolutely!
You can also use a flat football to make your score line.
That is one dead tree. Thank you for acknolaging that this tree is future firewood.
taking inner bark kills the tree. supposed to strip the spruce roots and split it down the middle for sewing and use an awl.
Killed that tree!!
Could you have done a similar thing to a recently dead tree?
Jon,
You need a live tree because you need the bark to be flexible, yes you do have to kill a tree to accomplish this.
The Native Americans did pretty much the same thing. So did early Europeans. Pretty much anyone that had a tree to harvest. I imagine you have sat in a chair that did not come from an already dead tree.
tree murderer killed that living tree and did not eat it HaHa fire wood
That looked like the healthiest tree in the immediate area, that is not thinning or forest management, thats killing a healthy tree to make an unnecessary basket. Appreciate the passing on of knowledge and technique, but this should be a last resort survival technique unless you have a truly suitable donor tree to cull.
🙄
No kill the tree not I don't take live things my ways are of nature I take dead things to use every thing has a spirit
taking an old ass book with no known author full of missleading soul supressing brainwash and using that as your eyes ears and heart to navigate this world is loony, try sitting by a tree some time, beacuse there was a guy that did that one time, his name and many other things about him are known and well recorded, more so many who have followed his path have even transended our mortal bonds, and he did much good for the silly people of the world :)
I want some of whatever your smoking.
If you are that concerned, there are natural compounds to seal up.
yes, it's called a basket case spirit!!
You need a live tree to take the bark off.
Use a small curved chisel after scoring the line. Don't cut too deep.