Storing silver birch bark

[diviy]

Picked a supply up about six weeks ago stored it in a airtight tub its gone rock hard and a right pain to light any tips for storing it please ?

[Woody]

Not sure if this would work but you can have a go...
Traditionally, craftsmen would expose the bark to hot steam for a few hours .
This is so you can unroll the stored lengths (stored in vertical lengths top to bottom of tree) and use them for your craft project.

Storing birch bark causes it to become stiff and brittle.
The hot steam would make it malleable again ( so you could shape it and work it again) ,
but in this case, not sure if the process would compromise the resinous properties of the bark thus making it useless for tinder?!


Sorry if it sounds like a silly question but have you tried to just scrape the back of the bark with your knife , into little fluffy powdery brown mound ?
That powdery stuff should take a spark nicely, even when dry...

Apologies if this is what you do anyway...

Hope this helps and works for you!
Well done for harvesting , storing and using your initiative.

That's what it's all about.

I'll see if I can find some native info on the harvesting and storage of this wonderful material.

Keep it up !

[diviy]

Cheers woody I will try the steam method it has curled any pressure on it and it shatters i will let you know how I get on also need to find a new way to store it as well

[FishyFolk]

For fire starting I only take the loose outer layer of the birch, and I keep it in a dry-bag. That way I do not have to worry about damaging a live tree. Or wrestle with the dry bark of a dead one.
Here is a vid where I do that. This layer is so thin that it usually will light with one or two strokes of the fire steel. You can also form it into a nest to to take the ember from a charcloth.
The stiffer inner bark (don't take that from a live tree please, kids) I only use as kindling when conditions are wet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ami4xhfvHxg

[diviy]

Thanks FishyFolk when you say a dry-bag I take it the bag is not air tight so what is the shelf life of it? I never take off living trees if I can help it could this be my problem not collecting the loose bark off a living tree.

[FishyFolk]

That bag is quite air tight, at least it is water proof. And that is the whole reason for using one, to keep whatever is inside dry in wet wetaher. I just keep enough in there to start a couple of fires, and refill as I go allong. I am in the Scandinavian coastal birch forest zone, so no need to store larger quantities. But the finer the material you take is, the better it is for fire starting.

I have a molle magaizine drop pouch on my belt as well, that I use to gather whatever I need for camp as I head into the bush as well. It's basically just large pouch that can be closed with a drawstring and in goes whatever I find en-route.

[David_JAFO]

hello Diviy,
I usually only remove the "loose" curly small shavings of bark, this is shedding coming away naturally from the tree. There's normally enough to use as tinder or store for another day. Harvesting in this way causes no damage to the tree.
Regards
David

[David_JAFO]

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