uses of bark

so i was doing some research yesterday and came across some info about birch bark
if you take a big piece and put it in water until moist then you wrap it around a broken arm or wrist or ankle it is suppposed to make a good cast, will have to experiment with this.
also if you peel it very thin you can still use it when wet to catch a spark and start a fire
i have used bark from my wood pile as i am splitting wood for tool also i get some good sized ones and have used them as plates when cooking primitive, also as a way of collecting berries.
i am also saving a bunch of bark to use as shingles for a shelter

what other uses do you have for bark.

Tanning hides!!!... oak bark is high in Tannin and many people use it to tan hides

Fine roof for a shelter. Dead tree bark, half circle sections makes a roof that works like a tile roof. Same for a quick lean to cover for equipment. Inside slippery elm bark for sore throat. Depends on your area & what's available.

Use the bark from downed trees if possible to avoid damaging live ones. Removing the inner bark from most trees can kill them.

I've only read about this, WE. I've never tried it.

Torches


Using your idea of a cast, why couldn't you use it for an arm guard for bow hunting?

the bark from dead yellow pine strips off in big sheets that are perfect for shingles,black walnut bark is another good shingle bark (it is still used on modern log cabins in north carolina). juniper bark is a good insulation,,rope, and fire starter. the cork oak and the rain tree have spongy bark that is good for floating and sealing bottles.

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Originally Posted by wareagle69

what other uses do you have for bark.

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If you have a strong one, it may keep you from having to bite!:lol::lol::lol:

Willow bark, has compound that aspirin is made of in a natural form.

to complement Nightshade...
my buddy had a live oak cut down that was over his house. the tree was splitting in 2 and was gonna crush his house. He offered me all the firewood I could get, but I rather went skinning bark off for tanning. got about 300 pounds (wet) so that should do a few.
A good way to test if bark is rich enough in tannins is to take a pinch of the inner bark and chew it. If it turns your mouth 'dry' like eating acorns, then it's good to use for leather tanning.

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Originally Posted by hunter63

Willow bark, has compound that aspirin is made of in a natural form.

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Willow is the Salix spp The active ingredient in aspirin (unless I'm wrong) is Salycilic acid. Good one, my friend!

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Originally Posted by your_comforting_company

to complement Nightshade...
my buddy had a live oak cut down that was over his house. the tree was splitting in 2 and was gonna crush his house. He offered me all the firewood I could get, but I rather went skinning bark off for tanning. got about 300 pounds (wet) so that should do a few.
A good way to test if bark is rich enough in tannins is to take a pinch of the inner bark and chew it. If it turns your mouth 'dry' like eating acorns, then it's good to use for leather tanning.

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Tannic acid is also good for burns, one reason they tell you to put a teabag on a burn.

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Originally Posted by Rick

Using your idea of a cast, why couldn't you use it for an arm guard for bow hunting?

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with good thick birch you could easily do so.

some bark is good for cord and remember the natives made birch bark canoes but youd have to be really skilled

it is really hard to find enough good birch bark from down trees to build a shelter. i tried. the forest i was in had a lot of birch too. but it can help if you pare it with other building material or live birch bark.

Tulip poplar is good for a lot too. It can be peeled and folded and sewed up like birch bark( although not as flexible). Bark slates are used to side modern houses. The inner bark also makes decent cordage. red maple bark is made into a red dye and black walnut bark into a brownish black dye. inner pine bark can be a primitive bandage and can be eaten. inner sweetgum bark was made into a gum that was very valuble( i dont really know how to make though. never tried it). inner hickory bark strips are used for baskets and chair bottoms and makes very strong rope. sourwood bark stains your hands black and wont go away for a few days. redbud bark can be peeled for baskets and such but it splits very easily and is very thin. I have heard of maple strips as well for baskets. I have also heard of cherry bark being peeled around the tree instead of with the grain of the tree. willow bark is made into tea for headaches and blackberry root bark is made into tea for diarreah and river birch bark was used for a dysentery cure but i havent used any of those remedies. Hemlock and oak bark is commercially used for tanning hides I guess birch bark has a milion uses too but i dont have any where i live.

I've wove many bull whips from hickory bark when I was young. The inside bark makes a loud popper. Of course there are the whistles and flutes we made too. I think you could weave any heavy bark into whatever you wanted and it would get stiff and hard when dry and soft and limber when wet.

One of my neighbors uses bark to make containers ranging in size from a soup can to a waste basket. She forms the wet bark to shape and stitches the seams together with willow. Some have been sealed with pitch. They are intended more as a rustic decoration but are quite sturdy.

The bark cast sounds interesting think I would coat it with clay and let it harden myself though( my 2 cents) bark is useful for many purposes but I agree on the use the dead stuff unless dire emergency I hate to kill anything though I am a hunter/fishermen there is very little wasted when I take game

Long, 1" wide strips of bark peeled from Yellow Poplar (Tulip Poplar) saplings works well to tie things up. I once used such strips to tie together the poles for a shelter. Worked very, very well.

when i live in san francisco, i found that paperbark was grown all over as a decorative. it makes excellent tinder, padding, etc. i've never tried it as a thermal insulation material, but would bet it could serve well in that capacity.

Saplings are what we used for bark that was easily worked. The bark of trees changes and becomes coarse as they age. I guess you might strip an older smooth barked tree for weaving material and some seem to strip good. Dead bark is harder, it breaks, sometimes rotten, but if you could get it off in one piece and soak it, it might be ok. It would be much harder to do though. Spring of the year, when the sap moves, is when the bark comes off easier. Same for tea...in the spring and a sapling because its easier to pull a sapling than dig to the roots of a large tree. They are easier to pull when the frost is leaving because the ground is wetter. And the bark of the roots peels easier. You can get a big pile fast instead of a little pile after digging half the day.

along the lines of the cast idea, I used a piece of oak bark the other day from my stash as a leg guard for knapping.. I just couldn't seem to stop hitting the already bruised place on my leg lol. thanks for the ideas! you saved me a really sore leg!