wet sap on cotton wool will numb toothache and is anti-septicOriginally Posted by mahikan
wet sap on cotton wool will numb toothache and is anti-septic
Yea, I've seen old Forresters putting soft Pine resin onto cuts and nicks.
My wife processes the inner bark of Pine into an extremely effective painkillre taken internally.
To find sap in a liquid state I find it best to use Fir trees where the sap normally lies in the blisters found on the bark.
Of course having a knowledge of how to identify different conifers is highly improtant as the different conifers offer different bushcraft applications. Many people I know cannot tell a Spruce from Fir or Pine or Tamarak tree.
As has been said before fatwood and Maya sticks are all the same thing. Maya sticks just being more of a trade name for a commercial product.
Fatwood can be found in a number of sources but is most easily found with coniferous trees. The best sources are tree stumps and root systems of fallen cut trees, the resin in the wood makes the wood shiny and although quite dead the wood is very flexible and fractures rather than snaps. Fatwood can also be found in the small broken branches on coniferous trees where the tree has continued to pump sap into the branch stump, it will be most concentrated right where the stump joins the trunk.
The resin on its own will not iginte readily - it is a bit like wax in that respect, it needs a wick of sorts - but when added to a tinder bundle it will not go out.
The wood content of the fatwood acts as a wick for the resin it is holding and so is easier to ignite with a spark, fine shavings light really easily.
A couple of good fatwood feather sticks added to kindling will ensure a fire lights even in really wet weather, then add some larger fatwood to keep it going (it will burn with black smoke though!)
I've also used Fatwood from Birch trees that have fallen in spring where the sap has continued to flow into the stump and produced highly sap concentrated wood.
I haven't tried but I would expect that resin sodden willow would work fairly well too.
Last edited by MikeWilkinson; 10-01-2011 at 09:23 AM. Reason: spelling!!!
[SIZE=4][COLOR=#8b4513]Wake me up when things are over, and I'm Wiser and older.
I tried catching the resin with a spark yesterday but couldn't get it to light at all. Putting some resin on a cotton ball and dropping a spark on the cotton works well though.
Don't sweat the small stuff - and it's ALL small stuff...!
thanx guys
You can light shavings from Fat-pine / Maya sticks from a spark, I'll do a video on it sometime soon when I get a chance. Having said that I would not recommend buying the small tubs of maya-stick shavings; they're just trying to get your money for some shavings - and they don't work! The shavings once made seem to have a shelve-life or sorts (I think), so they work fine when the shavings are made but sit them in a tub on a shelf for 3 months and they might not work.
Just get some maya-stick (fat-pine) and make your own shavings as and when you need fire.
I have harvested a goodly amount from borer infected trees around town. They are not native to my part of Oklahoma so I watch for them when about.
I have used it as an accelorator for my fires, I also have boiled it in a coffee can filled with water for a long time-until the turpentine smell leaves-and then rolled it up on pitch sticks for primitive glue to set stone points on arrows and Atlatl darts. A pitch stick is good to have in your kit-it can be used as a hot glue, a patch on pots or wooden objects, etc...
Pine resin has 2 other unusual used when combines with other resources. If you collect enough resin you can mix it with some very fine ash from a fire and use it as antiseptic or as glue. Also if you find some birch that you able to cut bark from then split the outer bark from inner and cut to shape of size of wound using resin and that to create a plaster.
The uses for conifer sap just go on and on!
No need to mix ash with the sap if you are going to use it as an antiseptic just use it straight up.
For glue mixing in some animal fat will keep it fairly soft this is an experiential skill that you get to grips with as you mix different consistencies of glue. Softer for winter use harder for summer.
Ants eat the sap because it is high in natural anti biotic's plus they will place sap in their nests to stop certain type of fungal growth destroying their home.
First Nation people here will put hot pine sap in between two pieces of moose hide and place the 'sandwich' on the chest of someone who has bronchitis.
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