Making Cordage from Red Deer Sinew
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Sinew from the leg or back tendons of large animals has been a valuable resource since the stone age. it's often used in bowstrings and making bows, but is also excellent as a strong thread for other purposes.
Today I am processing fresh tendon into a storable form and pounding it to release the strong collagen fibres which are perfect for cordage making.
I now have a 'buy me a coffee' page which helps fund my ongoing research and the making of these free videos. If you'd like to support me, please visit ko-fi.com/sall... Thank you!
"I need to go and find my favorite rock and a nice piece of wood" - lets all find our favorite rock, and a nice piece of wood wouldn't hurt.
Always a joy to see a new video by you.
I will, in all likelihood, never in my life handle deer sinews, but i'm sitting here eyes glued to Screen.
I build things for a living; more than 40 years now. One of my pass times is studying ancient technologies, tools, methods etc.
I am continuously amazed at how textiles are often only marginally spoken of, or not at all, by some academics when discussing ancient peoples and their tools.
It seems to me....the use of fibers for cordage is the first tech after chipping stone.
While most textiles have a shorter shelf life than tools made from bone, stone , wood or copper ; thus making the finding of preserved specimens more difficult, there importance Is unsurpassed.
Thank you so very much Dr. Pointer for all your work ! ! !
And Yes, i jumped ahead a little bit and gave you the Phd.
Yes, cordage goes back a very long time. Pieces of twined plant fibers have even been found trapped in dental calculus of Neandertals
Yet another skill that begs the question "how do you come up with that?". Were they drying sinews as jerky and one just wanted to soften theirs up, and then recognized the fibery part from working with plants?
For northern people, there's also "finding wind- or freeze-dried corpses after a thaw"
Observation and creativity were necessary skills this is less impressive than Aussie Aboriginals eating poisen fruit.
This is why war was necessary, you feed your captured berries and things you dont know the properties of and you observe and adjust and on and on using every process they know how to do on everything they find.
i would think people were wise enough to recognize strong fibres everywhere they found them.
now i just felt like looking into collagen and its structure, as dynamic structure is one of my main interests, as one can see over in my videos where i share a lot of observations regarding tensegrities, knotwork and synergetics or the way of the spheres in general. i was amazed to find out that collagen largely consists of triple helices, in other words, a molecular fractal equivalent to rope or cordage with three strands. so if one makes three strand cordage with it, an enormous level of pattern integrity manifests which likely plays into the remarkable strength of the stuff Sally observed, even if her cordage only had two strands.
it's just a beautiful example of the way our kind has long been well tuned into all our commonalities and relations with kinship Eairth.
So how's the soapmaking with woodash lye turning out?
Still waiting for me to get two free days back to back. Soon!
Fascinating, I always wondered how sinew was processed, now I know. I can see how processing sinew led to cellulose fibers, it's almost the same process. Just like making cordage by hand led to the development of the spindle. So cool! Thanks. :D
I carefully remove the
metatarsal glands before harvesting the sinew. I've never had a sinew smell bad unless it was on the edge of rotting. Still usable, but not nearly as pleasant to handle. And the thread wasn't as long lasting as sinew that was kept fresh and dried carefully before decomposing started setting in.
I treat it like I'm going to eat it. 😊
This was absolutely fine for most of the drying, but then smelt very 'meaty' to mum's nose. It's absolutely fine now, may just have been a fluke of temperature at that stage of drying. There's certainly no evidence of decay, but yes, the ideal would be dry straight away not vacpack and post to me first!
Umm but then some people have hyper sense of smell, I’m one of these people who has a very hyper sense of smell, I found that out when I smelt a gas leak in Sydney 30 years ago but nobody else could, the fire department ended up getting a tool that can smell things better than humans at first it did not pick it up, it took 5 minutes before it found the smell that I could. Turned out during the recent roadworks the pipe weekend and cracked, the guys were more surprised at the fact I could smell it the second I walked past the site and it took them over 5 minutes to find even the smallest traces of it.
Very interesting but not one I’ll be trying unless there is an apocalypse 😁
Apocalypse has been going on for decades. It's a process, not an instantaneous event...
Thanks for the text boxes, cos after seeing the cat go for it, I *was* wondering how it tasted!
wow, what great timing! i have some deer sinew rn and i've been wondering what to do with it. it looks like i threw out more than i needed to then i broke down the leg, but that's good to know for the future!
The pounding seems like something you could make even quite young children do, and making cordage should be doable for maybe 10-12 year olds? Maybe even younger? My son is 5, and seeing what he can and cannot do is super interesting when thinking about division of labour in prehistory.
I wonder if asking at a butcher shop, one that slaughters cattle.
Or if you know someone who has a beef done if they could get it for you.
As an autistic person with ADHD, I can see this activity as being so very calming and engrossing for hours and hours to keep fingers busy (stimming). Especially during the winter months when there is not much to do outdoors, this would be satisfying to work on by firelight.
I think autistic and ADHD people have always been prevalent in human populations, but only recently have our daily activities become so dynamic that we have lost a lot of the former survival skills at which people of my temperament would have excelled. Thus we are considered disabled by modern standards because we cannot adjust so quickly to the changes of society around us, while simultaneously losing those bits of work that would have made us so valuable producing needed outputs which more neurotypical people might consider too boring to work on for very long. Basically, a lot of our special strengths have been replaced by machinery and automation.
Gosh. I guess that means that in some ways perhaps people like me were sort of like the machines of the pre-machine age. But of course, we have feelings and are fully human. Which is somehow funny, when you compare how sympathetic people can get over "pet" machines in their lives, such as their car or their Roomba.
THIS, so much this.
this is so true it hurts. The hobbies never fill the hole properly, because they are not "vital", they feel trivial. 😢
This is the core of neurodiversity-human populations have typically benefitted *a lot* from having a diversity of neurotypes, just as they’ve benefitted from having genetic diversity. Every neurotype has traits that are important strengths in some circumstances. For example, autistic people’s delayed emotional response allows us to remain calm in emergencies.
I agree, to a point. My mother probably had ADHD and my brother definitely does (his second wife asked him to seek out a diagnosis prior to their decision to have a child together). She decided he was fit enough to be a father anyway--he's tenured at Harvard, having learned from our mama how to harness and use his ADHD to his benefit rather than letting it rule his life. Again, back when he was a child, ADHD was a very rare diagnosis--he was just regarded as a very intelligent little boy who talked a lot and had a lot of energy. His strength as a researcher is his ability to hyperfocus on a question and just drill down and drill down relentlessly on answering that question.
So I think it is far more difficult than it should be to find occupations for neurodiverse people (I was diagnosed with autism at 64, to no one's surprise except my own) but it is still possible for a fortunate handful of neurodiverse people to find satisfying, fulfilling jobs. The needs are there but the way many jobs are structured, they include tasks that make them difficult for the neurodiverse to tolerate. I wish businesses would look at the way tasks are grouped for jobs and see if there is some way to group them differently to accommodate people who have different needs rather than just doing things a certain way because they've always been done that way.
Thank you so much for this comment! I have an adult step-child who is "high functioning" autistic. Your comment gives me a different insight to his behaviors.
The back strap sinew is longer
Is that what butchers call "silver skin"?
It's wonderful to work with when I can get it!
It's related. "Silver-skin" is the tendon sheath that surrounds muscle fibers and keeps it together in a coherent bundle.
@@andrewburns3823 Oh got it!
The fascia. It's so funny that I know the anatomy in Latin but the everyday words are lost on me. That's what vet school will get you.
I kind of wish I knew more about things like butcher terminology. It would make conversing with clients so much easier. And maybe I'd be a better shopper at the supermarket!😅
I was going to ask about the smell as they were drying, because our stove has a dehydrator setting; by the sounds of it though, that might not be a popular choice!😂😂
It was fine for most of it, just as they got nearly done they smelt very strongly meaty. I'll put the dehydrator outside straight away next time 😁
Your videos are always so absorbing! (And yes, I did wonder how it tasted.)
Gorgeous! This is a process that wasn't intuitive to me and I always wondered how it was done. Thanks for sharing!
I use deer leg sinew to wrap my primitive deer bone spears, once they have been hafted using pine pitch. I always lightly chew the sinew for a couple of minutes, so the collagen in my saliva and the sinew collagen combine making a very pliable and strong lace. After a couple of days the sinew tightens so much that it squeezes the hard pine pitch from in-between the wrappings making little raised ridges.
I love that bit about the cat. My cat's a chewer and he will shove his mouth in anything. He'll even chew open a loaf of bread and take ONE BITE and leave the rest to go stale and attract flies!!!!
Actually sinew cordage is stronger than nylon!
We tend to forget that prehistoric peoples didn’t hunt just for the meat and marrow. The sinew, horns and bones were equally important, not least to make your hunting tools! Sinew was also used to fasten stone axes to handles
Awesome content, I absolutely love your videos :)
Looks like floss! Love your vids
Do cows have similar tendons? I might have access to a butcher shop that processes farm animals but idk if they would have so many deer to process.
Yes, cows have analogous tendons. So do horses and sheep.
Well now I’ve something new to add to my list of things to try doing 😂
Would you sew the next pair of medieval shoes with sinew instead of cord or leather? I heard that sinew is good to sew moccasins together because it stays strong when wet and doesn’t stretch?
Your videos are always interesting, thank you. When pork ribs are prepared by the butcher, they often strip off a bit called the silver skin which seems sinew-like. This is located on the inside (concave) portion of the rib cage. Would this as well? The beauty is that the material is considerably longer.
Do try it and let me know!
Just a curious question: would pounding the sinew on a grooved wood surface process it faster? would you be able to roll a cylindrical stone over it instead of pounding?
Good ideas, I may try that
I'm going to try this after the next hunting season!
Definitely! Don't forget the back strap sinew too, that's really useful if you can get it off in a nice long piece
Collagen is amazing stuff.
I would like to see a follow up to the lye ash video. Please try and make time for that video.
I love your videos. Except I always want to try everything myself!
Our indigenous do the same thing with kangaroo tail sinew. good video. Though they just use they're mouths to pull it all out string by string, the length of the tail, chew it all together to make it malleable, then they wrap it tightly around a stick to dry
This doesn't really have anything to do with this particular video, but I just took a trip to Ireland recently. While there, I visited the Brú na Bóinne site and I saw you in the video in the visitor's center. I got so excited when I saw you, too.
Hope you had a fantastic time in Ireland 🇮🇪.
We had such fun filming for the exhibition there 😁
You make the most interesting things!!!!
Sinew is magic stuff! If you really soak or chew it, you can wrap up things like arrow shafts, it will stick to itself and even tighten while drying. It is a very quick and firm mean of binding stuff.
Thank you for the good info.
Great video, thanks.
For those of us without any gamekeepers at hand I wonder if a trip to the pet shop snack bar might be an option?
Thank you for all your wonderful work!
I was thinking the same. They sell dry tendons for dogs, I don't know if it will works the same way. When you have a dog, it is possible to try it. If it doesn't work, the dog will love it.
@@marjanwolfs6273 That's what I thought ... I will try 😊
Pet stores also have deer antlers, and cleaned beef bones. I used a small piece of beef bone from the pet store to carve a Hawaiian fish hook. Bone is really very beautiful when carved, sanded smooth, and polished.
Not sure if its a 1 to 1. But years ago I and several others did use the ones from pet stores for Bow making (the back of the bow). And we processed them just like show here. So if I am to guess, then prob. yes
I was thinking about asking at a Butcher, one that slaughters the cattle.
Always look forward to your videos.
So happy to see your videos. I'm an avid hiker and going through an old burn area in the NW there was a large amount of disintegrating western red cedar bark on the ground that looked quite fibrous. based on you videos I thought I would see if it would make cordage. It did but was too splintery to do much of it. But I was delighted. Thank you for your videos.
I think UA-cam may be eating my reply for having links, so I'll try again...Cedar has a long history in NW North America! Spinoff magazine recently featured a Handwoven magazine article from 2020 interviewing Tlinglit weaver Lily Hope, who is skilled at Chilkat weaving and uses cedar in her work. Traditionally it was done with cedar and mountain goat hair, though now sheep's wool is used more often due to its relative abundance.
Once it's been soaked and redried it's pretty workable. Also good for firelighting and the outer bark makes great containers.
Brilliant thanks
Beautiful, lovely cordage.
Would pounding them before dehydrating be faster or would it mess up the fiber?
Doesn't work, you just get a mushy mess
I came to ask the same question. I wonder about other processing before drying. It looks like there are 3 or 4 "chunks" within the tendon. Perhaps they can be separated out to speed drying?
Regardless, nice video, as always, Sally.
Fascinating as always! Thank you
I do find it a bit interesting that when working Nettles you've used stone floor and wood beat-stick, but for the Sinew it was a wood slab and a hammer-stone.
Just a matter of what wat to hand, it works both ways round
@@SallyPointer Ah yeah that's fair
Amazing, thank you.
Thank you Sally. Very interesting to see that process, and the wonderful material that comes from nature.
Can this usage be expanded to make twine or even thin rope? How strong would this be?
It can, and incredibly strong. I recall one researcher testing sinew for, I think it was Roman ballistas, with good effect
@@SallyPointer Gah! Silly me. I've completely forgotten about Roman ballistas. I now remember the mention of sinew being used for Medieval crossbows also. I suppose they used them for bowstrings as well. Thanks for this information; it's fascinating to learn about how people did things in the past, and great to learn people are continuing such skills. 😊 Subscribed.
Thank you!
Interesting is the least I can say. I will be looking for any sinew I can get across, just to experience it myself. Thanks.
Thank you so much for showing this! I don't have a dehydrator, but I've always had good luck with drying sinew by leaving it uncovered in the fridge for a day or two.
Thanks Sally, you've inspired me to give it a try. I have processed deer tallow we remove when butchering, but will include the sinew next time. Artificial sinew is available, basically it's several fine threads together, coated in beeswax. I've used it on small pine needle baskets. Always fun to experiment, Thanks so much for the video!
Loved this, thank you.
The 'buy me a coffee' is for paying in pounds. This is a problem for all those not from the UK.
For every international payment, I have to pay 35 euro to the bank!
It goes through PayPal which should instantly convert for you, is it not doing that at your end?
Hi Sally,
The payment went fine. Thanks for guiding me
Your bank is ripping you off... I'm from the Netherlands (and from your name I guess you are too, or Belgian) and I'm NOT paying that much. And neither is your bank, it should be the interbank exchange rate + a tiny markup
Thank you Sally, another interesting and educational video. The question that I always have after watching is “How did they come to discover this process in the first place?”. Throughly enjoy your content and watching you create. Happy spring everyone..
Probably to see if it tastes better dried, but then discovered that it could be used like plant material
This is very cool. Where did you get your sinew from?
A very kind gamekeeper friend
@@SallyPointer a good friend to have
Good job, Sally!
If you had lived with a North American Indian tribe, you would have learned how to do this as a teenager.Then your warrior husband would use the fibers to make a bowstring for his bow. As mentioned above, using the fibers from the backstrap was much preferred; deer or elk was the best; and of course buffalo was the number one choice.
I do have a lovely piece of elk back strap sinew but I can't get more so it's something I save for the very best sewing.
Awesome
😄👍
Wow! That was really interesting!! Thanks for the video!
Bow strings!
Bow strings, as far as I know, have always and are still, made of horse hair.
@@mariannewortel9631 the description of this video states this sinew cordage was historically used as bowstrings, and you can see why.
@@mariannewortel9631I've never heard of horse hair being used for archery bow strings, but Native Americans used sinew, and plant fibers. Europeans used linen fibers. I just now realized you were probably talking about violin bows.
Ah yes, now I realise this will indeed be super for arrow and BOW. 😅
@@mariannewortel9631 We have so many words in English that sound or are spelled the same. It can be confusing!