Horse Hoof Fungus (picture heavy)

[nodd]

Just got back from a trip from the North West Scotland my wife and I were out for a drive on the one really wet day we had when I spotted these.

So i collected a couple of samples from different trees to have my first go at making some Amadou when i got home.

Having just cut one in half ready to start taking the outer skin off and then removing the woody pores leaving the trammel layer.

I still have the other one and a half to get to this stage before the long proses of boiling
and help and advise on this stage would be appreciated I have seen some different ideas on times and such general rule seem to be boil for hours ?

 

[Toddy]

No shortage of Fomes is there ? Nice photies and a timely thread too

You're really in the ideal situation to have a play with several methods and let us know which one you think is most effective.

I boil the stuff up for dye, nothing added but water, and then bash it flat while it's hot and soggy, and leave it to dry out.

I know of others who advise that it needs an alkali addition, so it gets boiled up with hardwood ashes.
I've also heard about boiling in a mixture containing stale urine (ammonia) or birch bark or saltpetre. (the saltpetre one I did was very good )

Bound to be others along offering suggestions best of luck with it, and if you want some saltpetre drop me a pm.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Forest fella]

Hi,Anybody got any prepared Amadou they want to part with.it's hard enough to get any in these parts, let alone get it prepared,I've tried and failed afew times.

 

[Peter_t]

nice find!
iv never found any in sussex just loads of birch polypor

pete

 

[Ogri the trog]

The easiest method of preparing amadou was explained to me on a recent course.
merely slice the trama layer into pieces and sit around the fire one evening massaging in a wet slurry of wood ash and gently stretching it till it thins and grows, it needs to be gentle to avoid tearing it but even then it is useable. Once dried it is as good as any I have ever used and no boiling or bashing involved.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[rednek]

nice find!
iv never found any in sussex just loads of birch polypor

pete

birch polypor the size of plate's, it must be a Sussex thing?

what part of Sussex do you hail from?

 

[Still Waters]

Can i ask what course that was ogri?

On a mob type note do you know if i could use my resseltement grant to go on a bushcraft course?

 

[Ogri the trog]

Can i ask what course that was ogri?

On a mob type note do you know if i could use my resseltement grant to go on a bushcraft course?

I wouldn't want to divulge their secrets, so I won't name them here - sorry.
As to resettlement, thats a great idea but I think you'll have to do all the leg work to set it up. When I left it was all brick laying, lorry driving and scaffolding courses. You might have to find a school that would train to instructor level and attend the beginners courses to qualify for the higher level stuff. Certainly worth looking into but you'd need to get things in place right from the start so the boffins coould have no reason to back out.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Peter_t]

birch polypor the size of plate's, it must be a Sussex thing?

what part of Sussex do you hail from?

i live neer hailsham

 

[hog]

See from your news papers they are already forcing christmas onto every one.

 

[spiritofold]

What do you use this fungus for?

 

[Ogri the trog]

What do you use this fungus for?

Properly prepared amadou will take even a very small spark and nurture it into an ember.
Its the stuff that RM uses in his Wildfood episode where he uses naturally occuring iron nodules and flint to kindle a fire near a beach.

HTH

Ogri the trog

 

[spiritofold]

Ahhh, cheers for the explanation.
I'll keep an eye out for some, im sure i've seen it somewhere near where i live.

Andy >>>>>--------------------------------<>

 

[dwardo]

Nice find and thats a hell of a trauma layer, when i have found them in the past the trauma layer has allways been tiny

 

[nodd]

Just thought I would do a bit of an update I have had the trauma layer on the boil with saltpeter at this very moment

after 5 hours boiling and having been pounded flat and ready to dry out.

 

[HawkesNest]

Googled "Amadou fungus" got these links that seem to be helpful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou
http://wildwoodsurvival.com/survival/fire/tinder/tinderfungus/amadou.html
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/dec2001.html
http://fenlaners.blogspot.com/2008/08/false-tinder-fungus-amadou.html
http://www.ragweedforge.com/amadou.html
http://www.capnfishy.co.uk/resources/Articles/amadou.htm

 

[spiritofold]

Just found this thread again

Where can you buy salt petre? I always thought it was a component of gunpowder, so might be dodgy to buy considering the current climate? I'd like to try adding some to the mix, just to see the difference from the untreated.

 

[nodd]

Just found this thread again

Where can you buy salt petre? I always thought it was a component of gunpowder, so might be dodgy to buy considering the current climate? I'd like to try adding some to the mix, just to see the difference from the untreated.

P.M sent

 

[chris7273]

Just found this thread again

Where can you buy salt petre? I always thought it was a component of gunpowder, so might be dodgy to buy considering the current climate? I'd like to try adding some to the mix, just to see the difference from the untreated.

If you are lucky, you will have some salpetre on the walls of your cave. This is just KNO3, a nitrate salt. You are right, it was an ingredient for the gun powder.
In Belgium, you can buy small quantities in a pharmacy (drugstore), enough for the preparation. I don't know if it's the case in UK.

 

[Tadpole]

If you are lucky, you will have some salpetre on the walls of your cave. This is just KNO3, a nitrate salt. You are right, it was an ingredient for the gun powder.
In Belgium, you can buy small quantities in a pharmacy (drugstore), enough for the preparation. I don't know if it's the case in UK.

saltpetre is Potassium nitrate and used in preserving meat. you can get it on ebay for about £5 for 400grams