Rope making

**Dark786** · 09-10-2007, 08:46 PM

(No rope no problem.) Hey i just made a rope out of cattials the other day. I was wondering does any one have any good ideas for fiberious plants that i could use to weave rope. The ones i have so far are cattials,jute,dogwood,and yucca. all ideas apperciated.

**owl_girl** · 09-10-2007, 08:51 PM

That’s awesome. I use small roots to tie branches together when I’m making a shelter.

**Nomad** · 09-10-2007, 09:11 PM

I have used a grass that grows around here, dont know what it's called but it works good once i prep it. I wouldn't want to make a long rope though, takes too much time and i wouldn't have the patience.

**Sarge47** · 09-10-2007, 09:12 PM

Originally Posted by Dark786

(No rope no problem.) Hey i just made a rope out of cattials the other day. I was wondering does any one have any good ideas for fiberious plants that i could use to weave rope. The ones i have so far are cattials,jute,dogwood,and yucca. all ideas apperciated.

Hemp seems to work very well

**wareagle69** · 09-11-2007, 08:43 PM

i have tons of small willow shoots out behind my place smaller than my pinkie finger and about 5-10ft tall strip the bark and boil in charcoal and water for about and hour then braid three stands together and good to go.

**Nomad** · 09-12-2007, 01:43 PM

Yes, hemp works well but it always makes me feel funny!

**spiritman** · 09-13-2007, 03:17 AM

Originally Posted by Sarge47

Hemp seems to work very well

lol that must've took a lot of self control

**survivalhike** · 09-13-2007, 02:58 PM

Hemp is a very strong and durable material that in many ways is far supirior to cotton as both a fabric and a rope material. It has a higher strength to weight ratio, and is more cost effective to produce. Plus, if you run out of your stash on a long trip you can always smoke your rope! LOL

**Dark786** · 09-13-2007, 08:32 PM

LOL nice, ill try some of these i have used small shoots befor but not willow ill give that one ago tomorrow i got one growing out back. i found a cool pattern for weaving jute into knife sheaths. i heard some were insestons work for rope i never tried it though i stick to sinew when it comes to rope and animals intestons i save for sausegae.

**RobertRogers** · 09-14-2007, 09:37 AM

milkweed and stinging nettle too

**Dark786** · 09-14-2007, 05:56 PM

stining nettle really that could be interesting

**survivalhike** · 09-15-2007, 12:53 AM

What do you use for the bleeding after weaving a rope out of stinging nettle?

**Dark786** · 09-15-2007, 09:48 AM

I don't no like i said that could get interesting. dried finely crushed peppermint leaves will stop and clot bleeding, works well on razor cuts.

**SemperParatus** · 10-14-2007, 03:38 PM

The inner bark of dogbane (hemp family) twisted and layed into line makes great bowstrings. Its also strong and flexible enough for a small string to be used in making necklaces.

A more crude but faster line can be twisted from the bark off limbs of winged elm. They can easily be pulled off in very long lengths without damaging the tree if you use discretion.

**flandersander** · 11-10-2007, 12:54 PM

Just to add on to wareagle69's willow rope, you need to peel the underbark away from the brown or green overbark. there are several reasons why. one the outer bark adds rigidness to the rope when you want flexibility. i find there is no reason to have the overbark.

**Bladesypher** · 11-16-2007, 08:58 PM

Well.. I use stinging nettle. Its a great material for fishing lines (with hawthorn) and lashing things together, as well as just general string. Here's how to do it:

It's advised you use gloves.. although I do it without them.. it takes more patience but meh.. I dont get stung much

.

After picking the nettles take off all the leaves from the stalk so your left with the stalk itself. The fibres are on the outside. Red nettle stalk is tougher and grows in open-land. Flatten the stalk on a hard flat surface. Next open it up, leaving you with two layers: The pythe and the outer-fibre. Bend it (gently) so the pythe snaps up and a small portion of the fibre is left separated from it. Then place your index finger on one side and thumb on the other of the fibre then pull away, separating the fibre from the pythe. Now take a strand o the fibre and bend it in half, pinching the end with your fingers. Then lay it on your thigh in a crouched position and roll it into a string. If you want a long lasting string then you must dry the strands of fibre, the problem with this is it reduces to a hair's thickness, so you need many many fibres to make a long-term string or rope, you also need patience.

This method provides a very strong string/rope which can help in many situations.

Hope I helped ^^

**owl_girl** · 02-25-2008, 01:40 PM

I made some rope yesterday out of stringy bark and it was really strong, I couldnt break it. I made some thinner ones too that were very strong also

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