View Full Version : Rosebay Willowherb cordage
Cyclingrelf
12-05-2006, 10:51
Has anyone here made cordage out of Rosebay Willowherb? Is it similar to making nettle cordage? How do I go about it?
jdlenton
12-05-2006, 11:01
not made any myself but i believe its is exctly the same as making nettle
James
I found this on google but its american so different plant names I wonder if we can't somehow determine which if any are willow herb? http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1983_January_February/Making_Natural_Cordage
Dave.
Isn't nettle cordage made with the inner core, whereas rosebay cordage uses the outer skin?
I've never tried nettle, but I have tried willowherb. Not overly successful - I could never get more than a few inches of the skin before it ripped. I did manage to make a little lanyard for my Mini Maglite which, although not 100% pretty, was rather satisfying.
gregorach
12-05-2006, 13:45
Yeah, I've had the exact same problem every time I've tried willowherb. I figure there must be some cunning technique to it...
jdlenton
12-05-2006, 14:07
nettle is done using the outer covering of the stem it takes a little practice but i can usually get the hole thing of in one piece I'll try some willow herb the next time i come across some
Let the willowherb wilt, run your hand backwards from tip to root to remove the leaves, then gently crush the stems and pull the skin off. I don't find it as good as nettle. If it's left to weather in early autumn you can rub the fibrous stuff of the outer skin into a string too. I keep hearing how good this stuff is but I'm not impressed. I reckon I'm doing something wrong.
Funny how no-one actually shows me how to make the 'brilliant' cordage from it :confused: Lots of talking about it though.
Cheers,
Toddy
BobFromHolland
12-05-2006, 20:47
never used willowherb.
Used nettle for cordage, which worked nicely.
Also poplar inner bark which worked wonderfully too. Got it off some sucker shoots (which there are plenty of).
Bob
Cyclingrelf
15-05-2006, 11:37
Not sounding very hopeful. I'll have an experiment with it later -there is loads growing in my garden. Good excuse not to pull the weeds up!
:lmao:
It's a pretty plant too :) It just always seems so disappointing not to get anything really useful from it.
Let us know how you get on?
Cheerts,
Toddy
It's a pretty plant too :) It just always seems so disappointing not to get anything really useful from it.
Thats not true. it can be used for food.
The strings rubbish though
when I tried I got about four inches at most :o :(
Willow herb is pretty good for cordage and makes reasonably strong material not a strong as nettle though.
I have a few metres floating around somewhere, I will find it and test its breaking strain.
Neanderthal
18-05-2006, 17:37
Had a go but with little success. I found it difficult to work with and the stuff kept breaking. Glad it's not just me.
Stu
Thats not true. it can be used for food.
The strings rubbish though
when I tried I got about four inches at most :o :(
The stuff just hits all the wrong buttons food wise. :( How do *you* make it edible?
I get a couple of metre of cordage from it, but it's not good stuff. I think of cordage as good stuff if I can think of a use for it; but willowherb I can only use to temporarily tie up bundles of loose stuff :confused:
Cheers,
Toddy
Abbe Osram
18-05-2006, 17:59
The stuff just hits all the wrong buttons food wise. :( How do *you* make it edible?
I get a couple of metre of cordage from it, but it's not good stuff. I think of cordage as good stuff if I can think of a use for it; but willowherb I can only use to temporarily tie up bundles of loose stuff :confused:
Cheers,
Toddy
are you guys talking about "Rosebay Willowherb" ? If so tell me and I can give you a list of all the stuff food wise. Or is it another willowherb you are talking about?
cheers
Abbe
Hi Abbe,
Uhuh, Roesebay willowherb. I'm told that it's dug up, boiled or roasted and eaten quite happily :confused: The old 'rules' were the front of the mouth chew; don't swallow, taste, does it bite bitter, does it inflame, does it linger...well the ones I've tried all hit the wrong, this isn't good, buttons.
How do you make it truly edible?
atb,
Mary
Abbe Osram
18-05-2006, 19:30
Hi Abbe,
Uhuh, Roesebay willowherb. I'm told that it's dug up, boiled or roasted and eaten quite happily :confused: The old 'rules' were the front of the mouth chew; don't swallow, taste, does it bite bitter, does it inflame, does it linger...well the ones I've tried all hit the wrong, this isn't good, buttons.
How do you make it truly edible?
atb,
Mary
Collect the new root babies ( lol sorry dont know the english name) the ones which are the new grown stuff. These you can even boil and eat. They are quite mild.
The root itself (Papa or Mama root LOL ....sorry again) you will have to prepare as they are quite bitter. You can reduce the bitter taste by preparing the root.
First remove the red looking stuff in the root. The white stuff you can use to make a thickener for soups. Then you air dry the root.
After that you heat up the root and roast it with 175 degrees celsius for 30 min in your oven.
Or you dump the root in a solution which sucks out the bitter taste.
The root will have to lay 2 hours in the solution you will have to exchange the water/alkali solution 3 times.
The solution you fix yourself by:
2 parts water 1 part ashes (birch is good) let the solution simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours.
Sieve away the ashes and keep the water. That is your solution you take for the root.
The green leaves you can eat as a salat but harvest only the very young onces before they flower.
100 g root has 413.5 carbonhydrates the baby roots have 343.7 carbonhydrates
my english is quite poor to use the right cooking and botanic words, I hope you can use my babble. ;-))
cheers
Abbe
Abbe, thank you. Now it makes sense; it isn't a goodie until it's leached. That's why it hit all the *Do Not Eat* indicators :rolleyes:
How dry do you need to make it for air dry? Still rubbery or completely brittle?
Cheers,
Toddy
Abbe Osram
18-05-2006, 20:47
Abbe, thank you. Now it makes sense; it isn't a goodie until it's leached. That's why it hit all the *Do Not Eat* indicators :rolleyes:
How dry do you need to make it for air dry? Still rubbery or completely brittle?
Cheers,
Toddy
Hi Toddy,
I only had a salat from the leaves last summer. So I cant give you an hands on rapport on the root business yet. As we still have some snow left on the ground I bet you will be faster than me and tell me what works best. Will you?
I would try it rubbery otherwise you might get it bone dry which would not be so cool, on the other hand maybee one could get a pulver out of it and experiement with bannock type of things.
all the best to you
Abbe
Cyclingrelf
19-05-2006, 17:42
You can also eat the pith in the centre of the stems. But it's laborious getting it out - best way is probably to split the stem and use a stick to scrape it out. Nice and sweet, though. :)
gregorach
31-07-2006, 13:38
Digging up this thread again.... ;)
I had a shot at making rosebay cordage yesterday, and had fairly reasonable success. Rather than using a wilted stem as Toddy suggests, I used a fresh flowering green one. I removed the leaves, bashed the stem to break up the woody insides a bit, split it lengthwise using my thumbnail (didn't do a great job of this stage, but I reckon with practice it would be easy), then flattened the stem and removed the pith (thumbnail again). The woody inner then separates from the outer skin quite easily, just by bending it backwards over the edge of something. I managed to get maybe 18-24 inches of continuous length, and it would've been more if I'd made a better job of splitting the stem in the first place. Twisted it green - it's quite sticky, which makes it twist nicely. The dried cordage seems fairly strong, apart from my bad splicing. ;)
I reckon it's got potential with a bit of practice. Maybe using it young and green is the trick...
Cyclingrelf
31-07-2006, 14:19
Digging up this thread again.... ;)
I had a shot at making rosebay cordage yesterday, and had fairly reasonable success. Rather than using a wilted stem as Toddy suggests, I used a fresh flowering green one. I removed the leaves, bashed the stem to break up the woody insides a bit, split it lengthwise using my thumbnail (didn't do a great job of this stage, but I reckon with practice it would be easy), then flattened the stem and removed the pith (thumbnail again). The woody inner then separates from the outer skin quite easily, just by bending it backwards over the edge of something. I managed to get maybe 18-24 inches of continuous length, and it would've been more if I'd made a better job of splitting the stem in the first place. Twisted it green - it's quite sticky, which makes it twist nicely. The dried cordage seems fairly strong, apart from my bad splicing. ;)
I reckon it's got potential with a bit of practice. Maybe using it young and green is the trick...
Hey - thanks for digging this up again. I did the same as you pretty much - keep meaning to put photos up...I made nettle string at the same time for comparison. Nettle still seems to have the edge for strength, but the Rosebay Willowherb is certainly very serviceable. I made about 4 metres of it, I think. I'll put up those photos this evening!
Nicely done folks :) Did it ply up again to make good rope? Some not so good strings, like daffodil, make excellent handling ropes.
Cheers,
Toddy
gregorach
31-07-2006, 16:42
I didn't try it, but it seems quite promising. What I've got at the moment is more like a heavy sewing thread - about 1mm diameter, maybe less. Quite springy though.
Cyclingrelf
31-07-2006, 20:55
Hi Toddy - I haven't tried to make rope, but here's some photos of what I did:
Picked some Rosebay Willowherb:
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/001%20Rosebay%20Willowherb.jpg
Stripped the leaves off (tried not to pull too much of the outer skin off the stem whilst doing this!)
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/002%20Stripped%20the%20leaves% 20off.jpg
Very lightly crushed the stems (they don't need much)
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/003%20Crush%20the%20stems%20sl ightly.jpg
Split the stem using a thumbnail (makes it easier to remove the outer skin)
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/004%20Split%20the%20stem%20usi ng%20a%20thumbnail.jpg
Peel the outer skin off the stem
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/005%20Remove%20the%20outer%20l ayer.jpg
Hang the skins up to dry
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/006%20Hang%20them%20up%20to%20 dry.jpg
Dry and ready to go!
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/007%20Dry%20strands.jpg
Completed string
http://www.susannahrelf.co.uk/Bushcraft/string/008%20Completed%20string.jpg
Moonraker
31-07-2006, 21:05
Great illustrated guide Cyclingrelf.
Wish we had more guides informed by personal experience and supplemented by good photos like this.
On usability I read this earlier:
Thin willowherb cordage if made from the right part (dead looking brown fibers) will hold over 8lb of static weight.......cool for stream fishing!source: Tracker Trail forums
Excellent post Cyclingrelf, :You_Rock_
How dry did you let it get before you twined it? Did yours shink much as it dried out fully?
Cheers,
Toddy
Abbe Osram
31-07-2006, 22:02
Great work, great pictures. Thanks a lot!
cheers
Abbe
Cyclingrelf
02-08-2006, 13:57
How dry did you let it get before you twined it? Did yours shink much as it dried out fully?
Hi Toddy,
I think I left it overnight, and it was pretty sunny...so couldn't have been much drier. I did forget to say that I split the outer skin into about 4 strands each after removing from the plant, before drying. This tends to give strands with tapered ends and variety of thickness, so you can work them in to the string more easily and mix and match them to get an even thickness of string.
I should have taken photos of the string making as well, shouldn't I? Oh well...I wet my fingers when I'm rolling the strands on my leg (so they're a little bit 'stickier' and easier to roll). This means the Willowherb is dampened again slightly as I work. But it's only slightly damp as I work it, so the string didn't noticeably shrink at all once complete.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments! :)
gregorach
02-08-2006, 14:08
I twisted mine totally green, and didn't notice any appreciable shrinkage.
Any idea of breaking strain? My ~1mm string seems to have a breaking strain of about 3-4 lbs.
thanks cyclingrelf that was a great tutorial well done, it seems that it is nearly identical as nettle cordage in the way that it is made
leon
jdlenton
02-08-2006, 15:47
thats right leon same technique different plant fibers :)
well i can make nettle cordage succesfully, so i might give this a try, i will have to research the plant a bit as i dont know how to identify it or where it lives
leon