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Thread: Tap a pine tree

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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    Default Tap a pine tree

    I use pine sap extensively in my wilderness work some times i have to get more than i can get from seepage so i thought that i would share the method of tapping pines that i trust
    http://www.wikihow.com/Tap-a-Pine-Tree
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    Resident Numpty mountain mama's Avatar
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    erunkiswldnssurvival, could you also please share some of the uses you have for the pine sap?

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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mountain mama View Post
    erunkiswldnssurvival, could you also please share some of the uses you have for the pine sap?
    my pleasure mam,1 it makes an exelent water proof sealant for boats, buckets,tarps ect..

    2 i use it to make fish hooks,"glueing" lashings on arrow heads,water proofing rope

    3 i use it as a stove fuel to cook, heat ,and light my campsites

    4 i use it to make chewing gum

    5 i use it to make varnish and "Brewers Resin"
    so that makes pine sap a pretty important survival tool
    Turpentine can also be distilled from sap if you have the knowledge.
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-26-2009 at 09:08 PM.
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    Resident Numpty mountain mama's Avatar
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    wow, I did a search on it and found this: http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...read.php?t=716

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    Resident Numpty mountain mama's Avatar
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    Medicinally, Pine pitch is used alone or in combination with other ingredients as an anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial agent, internally and externally.
    This is what I had heard about using pine sap for.

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    Senior Member RBB's Avatar
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    I don't know about other parts of the country, but here you can often collect pine gum in chunks from the base of some evergreens, most often spruce - sometimes red pine. You won't get a lot of gum this way, but the only thing I've ever used it for was making pitch for seams on a birchbark canoe, and it was enough for that purpose.

    The gum appears in chunks, between 1/2 inch to a couple of inches. To prepare pitch for seams, you heat and mix the gum with tallow and campfire soot. This does not work particularly well as a sealant for canoes, and needs looking after almost every time you use the canoe. Roofing asphalt and other commercial preparations work so much better, that I did not use gum pitch after my first bark canoe.
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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    I build birch bark canoes, the tempered pitch i use between the sheets of bark, i use

    raw uncooked pitch with chopped grass or rope mixed into it for a water seal in large areas that bend or twist, the soft pitch doesnt crack Great posts! thanks
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-26-2009 at 08:18 AM.
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    I had a cousin that had a perpetually leaking John boat he dubbed the "Leakin' Leana". He always had a small coffee can of roof asphalt with a splash of gas to make it more pliable. If the boat sprung a leak, and it always sprung a leak..often several, when we were out he'd just work up some asphalt and shove in the hole. Come to think of it, that boat was more asphalt than boat I think. Ah, to be young and dumb again....now, I'm just dumb I guess.
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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    i discovered using the soft pitch and rope to seal things one day one of my birch bark buckets sprung a leak and i just shoved raw pitch and grass into the water and pressed it into the split in the bucket and the flexable material held. so i discovered a good way by accedent
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-26-2009 at 09:09 PM.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    If you call right now, I'll throw in not one, but two packs of spruce gum.

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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    the spruce is an oil producing tree, spruce oil is even used in perfume; seeds from the cones are pressed and the oil is collected
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-26-2009 at 09:28 AM.
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    Senior Member snakeman's Avatar
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    Thank you so much for the thread. I needed another way to collect sap rather than scavenging off of tree wounds. The sap is also used in colonial soapmaking for its anti bacterial properties. They used to seal gunshot wounds with it. That stuff is so useful. I like to keep a pitch stick handy because it dries hard and faster than super glue and is easy to apply. I have heard that crushed egshells and lard in it make it stronger. I also made a torch by getting a blob of sap covered in juniper bark. It burned good but is not good to breath. Cooking over pine sap is very efficient.
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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    I am going to try and tap a tree this week. i intent to take a few pics of the whole affair so i'll keep everybody posted on the results.the sand pine is what i am using this time, the bark is thicker than the ponderosa pines that i like the most.but in the north i use the spruce tree it produces mounds of sap that drip off of the tree and form "pillows" on ground.
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-26-2009 at 09:19 PM.
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    Senior Member vthompson's Avatar
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    Thanks for the post, that was some good information to know about.
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    Quote Originally Posted by mountain mama View Post
    erunkiswldnssurvival, could you also please share some of the uses you have for the pine sap?
    I have used it for extracting a sliver without having tweezers. Heated it up (carefully to not catch it on fire). Removed from the heat source (to avoid an accident) and when it was cooled just enough to not burn I put my finger with the sliver in it. Held my finger there until the pitch was fully cooled and then pulled it off, sliver and all. Neat as could be.

    I'm still not tossing out my tweezers that are in my first aid kit.

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  16. #16

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    oh, I forgot to mention, I've been told that mixing it with hardwood ash makes a pretty solid epoxy-like glue. I haven't had a chance to try it myself yet though. I'd be interested to see how much of a difference the addition of the hardwood ash makes.

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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    some mixes can make it as hard as concrete, ash, and sand make good additives. i have experimented extensivly with pine sap strengthening mixtures, bone dust and sand make the hardest that i know. you mix the three parts togather then compress it down tight while its soft and pliable, and you get concrete.
    Adding lard or bees wax makes the resin soft like caramel, so if you want hard pitch dont add lard or waxes.they also take away the stickyness so it wont be adhesive.
    hard tempered pine sap is this...

    boil and strain pine resin.
    boil a second time. sap will foam up indicating proper temperature.
    cool sap imediately, sap will crystalize and become hard as candy,and the sap is tempered.
    sap can be melted again and mixed with chopped rope and ground charcoal and used as a watersealant.
    or use bone and sand for concrete, use bees wax and sap for chewing gum.

    And dont forget to use pine sap for your cooking stoves a small chunk of clearified sap makes a good sized blaze.
    pine sap when burned is a powerful fuel. use with care.
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-26-2009 at 11:20 PM.
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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    I tapped two trees today. they were old lodge pole pines(sand pine).The Resin started running within moments of scoreing the sap wood layer.I mounted the buckets with poly coated deck skrews(easy to remove, and dont rust). in one week i will go back there and check to see how the sap is flows.(i usualy go in 3 days but cant this time). I need about one gallon of sap.these two trees should give about 3 pints.
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-27-2009 at 10:53 AM.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Cool deal. Hope you took (and take) some pictures.
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    Senior Member erunkiswldrnssurvival's Avatar
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    yes I did, and i worked out a cool project to demonstrate the benefit of having enough pine,sap.I may add in some mixtures and thier uses. that may be informative.
    Last edited by erunkiswldrnssurvival; 04-27-2009 at 12:53 PM.
    God lives in the Mountain, Serve the Master, The Mountain also serves the Master. Serve the Mountain,
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