How to make bark cordage

My daughter and I shot this video up on the mountain where I do part of my survival course. I had been there the week before with two guys and we sat out a storm under a rock overhang. While waiting I had used the time to teach them how to make cordage.

My daughter wanted to go up there so I found myself back in the same spot a week later with all the fixin's to make cord so we shot a short how-to. My cordage technique is a little different but it works well with the materials we have on hand.

In this vid I'm using Imbira bark. Imbira is a great survival resource as the saplings are long and straight and the bark is good for lashings or cordage. It is the perfect shelter tree.


Making Bark Cordage

Mac

That's the first time I have ever seen anything like that. Thanks. :)

Great video. Thank you!

very interesting,

Excellent! Thank you for the video.

Good stuff. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Pict

My daughter and I shot this video up on the mountain where I do part of my survival course. I had been there the week before with two guys and we sat out a storm under a rock overhang. While waiting I had used the time to teach them how to make cordage.

My daughter wanted to go up there so I found myself back in the same spot a week later with all the fixin's to make cord so we shot a short how-to. My cordage technique is a little different but it works well with the materials we have on hand.

In this vid I'm using Imbira bark. Imbira is a great survival resource as the saplings are long and straight and the bark is good for lashings or cordage. It is the perfect shelter tree.


Making Bark Cordage

Mac

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what knife are you using in the vid?

He tells you what it is in the video,it is a knife made in Brazil.

Warman,

Its a large Zebu folder made here in Brazil. They are a great knife, sort of the Brazilian Buck 110. Mac

I watched your coconut video too. It was also very good and informative. It's nice to see your children are learning and helping you.

I'll have to make a pipe knife.

is there anything like the Zebu folder made in the usa? or can you give me the name of the brazilian maker?
this knife is very hard to find is it a custom?

Thanks for the encouragement. I really enjoy making the videos but I have alot to learn about making them well. It is weird, but when I started making the videos I realized I've never explained this stuff (verbally) in english. I only get to teach bushcraft in Portuguese. Mac

Nicely done.

I saw a video once where the indians in Peru make a bridge out of grass by making rather large cordage out of the grass. They then demonstrated the strength of the bridge by taking their llamas across the bridge.

Top notch Pict!
Thanks for the info and demo.

Mac - I really enjoy your videos - thanks. With the bark cordage that you have made, have you ever made a heavier/sturdier rope by braiding?

Braiding takes alot of time. The largest rope I've made is a little under 1/4 inch. The quickest way to make light rope by hand is to make 2-ply cordage and then reverse twist it back on itself starting in the middle and working back to the two ends if that makes sense. Just reverse the direction of the twist and double the rope onto itself for a four ply rope half as long as you started.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8632/img3682vk2.jpg

The largest coil is the rope I'm referring to. I suppose you could braid three of them together and make a pretty decent rope. That one in the photo represents several hours of work to hand twist ten meters of light rope that size (20 meters of 2-ply then doubled up). That was also using an easy material, Buriti Palm.

For large ropes there's just too much work involved to have the hand strength to twist it. I'd like to learn how to set up a rope walk but haven't gotten that far yet. Mac

Thanks - the reason I asked - I remember, oh I don't know, about 40 years ago in the Boy Scouts making rope. I just don't remember the technique we used, but when done, we made a monkey bridge with it. Gives me something to look for.

You can make rope real fast if you set up a system of spinners and a crank at the end. That can be done with several people working together feeding in cordage and cranking it together to form a three ply rope. Rope making really lends itself to simple machines, probably why nobody does it by hand anymore. If you are going to make large ropes that is the way to go.

Here's a link to Richard Graves book Bushcraft. He deals extensively with ropemaking in this chapter. Mac

I do believe that we used something like what you described.