Pitch

[wilderness medic]

I was lucky enough to find an old tree with many pounds of pitch on my last hike. Besides glue, and burning the amazing smell on some coals is there anything else it may be used for?

[Rick]

You can use it for waterproofing. Here's some tankards that were waterproofed with it. These were done at one of our state parks.

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You can also insert a wick and use it for illumination.

[crashdive123]

You have mentioned the big two for it. Making turpentine may not be very practical (haven't done it) but I suppose it can be done by catching the steam as it cooks down. As a sealant it can be used to make repairs, waterproof and preserve things.

[wilderness medic]

That's cool Rick.

Crash I never knew is that where turpentine comes from? It seemed like I was forgetting something, but if that's about it i'll probably keep it and burn small pieces to remember the trail.

I was thinking I would find fat wood, but all the wood seemed way too far gone and rotten while the sap had pushed out completely.

[hunter63]

That pitch is like fatwood with out the wood.....so fire starter.
Yeah, smells wonderful.

[MrFixIt]

That pitch is like fatwood with out the wood.....so fire starter.
Yeah, smells wonderful.

I've actually scraped the DRY pitch onto a leaf, scraped some magnesium onto it, then lit it with a striker.
Flamed right up!

[wilderness medic]

I tried lighting it all different ways. Seems to hinder lighting things to me Just melts like wax. Maybe I just need to use very little pitch to tinder. BUT I don't want to waste it for that. Genuine Lost Coast pitch LOL. Going to try to buy something to help burn it to fill my house with that amazing smell.

[crashdive123]

Caution

Don't use too much of it in your wood stove. A small amount is OK to start a fire, but a larger amount may cause a chimney fire. It burns very, very hot.

[wilderness medic]

Thanks for the heads up!

[johnpages]

Put some dry pine pencil diameter sticks in it while it 'boils' in a metal can in low heat. In a fire, dont have it catch fire, just bubble... After a good soaking carefully remove the sticks and once dry, they can be shaved and act as fat wood. Will start with spark from firesteel.

[randyt]

Don't know if this applies pine pitch but balsam pitch can be used for burns and scrapes.

here's a link

http://survivaltopics.com/balsam-fir-pitch/

[Roel]

Take one part pitch and one part bee wax. Warm it up, mix it thoroughly, smear it on a stick and burn it. The smell is...mmmm...

[randyt]

when I was a lad spending time up north, I would take a bit of spruce pitch and beeswax and make a chewing gum. Sometimes just straight spruce pitch. After chewing a bit the turpentine taste lessens and it quits sticking to the teeth.

[crashdive123]

when I was a lad spending time up north, I would take a bit of spruce pitch and beeswax and make a chewing gum. Sometimes just straight spruce pitch. After chewing a bit the turpentine taste lessens and it quits sticking to the teeth.

As a child I spent my summers in Nova Scotia. Spruce sap chewing gum was standard fare while roaming the woods.

[wilderness medic]

Couldn't use it in the stove it would just suck all the scent up and out the chimney. Put some in a candle…melted and bubbled but didn't do much for smell. Finally just bought a coal incense burner on Amazon.

[wilderness medic]

There we go… Bought a cheap coal censer on Amazon an a couple pounds of Frankincense in case it didn't work. Messy, but wow…one little pea sized piece of either the pine pitch or Frankincense is enough to smoke out the house with amazingness. Feel like I buried my head in the worlds largest stack of 2X4's.


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[Rick]

I knew a guy that liked to burn pine pitch when he was camping. He came in from the woods smelling like pine but had to stop by his office before he went home. He stepped on the elevator, the door closed and he had a sudden urge to pass gas. Right on que the elevator stopped on the next floor and a little old lady stepped on. The doors closed, she sniffed a couple of times then asked,

"What's that smell?"
"What's it smell like?" my friend nervously asked.
"Smells like someone crapped a Christmas tree."



Okay....that was a joke.

[hunter63]

I knew a guy that liked to burn pine pitch when he was camping. He came in from the woods smelling like pine but had to stop by his office before he went home. He stepped on the elevator, the door closed and he had a sudden urge to pass gas. Right on que the elevator stopped on the next floor and a little old lady stepped on. The doors closed, she sniffed a couple of times then asked,

"What's that smell?"
"What's it smell like?" my friend nervously asked.
"Smells like someone crapped a Christmas tree."



Okay....that was a joke.

Bhohahahaha...can relate.

Used to have to go to a Monday morning production/sale meeting ....after a week long rendezvous.
Some ones said......."Smells like something burning in here?"

"That would be me"........LOL

[phreshayr]

Spruce OR PIne pitch is an amazing antiseptic. I used some fresh pitch a couple times this last summer when in need. Some saw teeth did a bit of heavy abrasion on my thumb and it was starting to hurt pretty strong and was bleeding quite a bit. I looked around and found some yarrow which quickly and effectively stopped the bleeding and then I found some fresh soft pitch and smeared that over the abrasions. In just a couple minutes the pain was 80% gone. I sliced my knee open about a quarter inch deep and 1 inch long. I pulled open the cut and placed some pitch in there and in 24 hours when I changed the bandage the wound was sealed back up on it's own.
As others have said above, spruce pitch especially makes a fine gum. I did a video on one way to purify the pitch and make the gum if interested.

[Rick]

That's pretty cool and a good vid. Thanks.