How to turn stinging nettles into cordage (the right way)

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Күн бұрын

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@SteveB357 9 жыл бұрын

Try picking the nettles with a split stick, the break it down by drawing it through the split stick. Making a spindle to spin the string is pretty easy. Much European linen is actually nettles.

@Californiasurvivaltraining 6 жыл бұрын

green nettles are not used in european linens, those used for cloth are much closer to the stage demonstrated here. green fibers are not only more difficult to process but are much weaker. If you look up processing ballast fibers you will see this is the way every ballast fiber has been processed for thousands of years. the problem is when people tinker on youtube and give out poor info motion, like to use the green fibers.

@fourboysandalady 3 жыл бұрын

Just in case anyone is reading this, please do not think that most European linen is nettle. Commercial machinery does not process nettle well.

@AnimeShinigami13 Жыл бұрын

I've been trying to find nettles in my area that aren't on private property. I got permission to harvest once, but they weren't very big. Got a couple of feet of yarn out of it and that's it. I ordered seeds to grow them with. I mostly work with dead milkweed stems for bast fiber. I've also made rope out of dead daylilly leaves but I'm still testing it. Going to make a trellis out of it in the community garden. Squash and cucumber trellises should be a pretty good weight test.

@joeasher2876 4 жыл бұрын

That looks a lot easier for sure but while this is probably the right way for california or somewhere else that the nettles get to a point where they are that dry where I am they will never get there before more rain comes and either feeds or rots them, depending on age. The only current way I know to do it when wet is to strip it, crush it and peel the skin. If you want to refine it further then you can lightly scrape away the non fiberous material with a super blunt knife (like a butter knife) or a split stick to access the same fibres you are accessing so easily here. I wonder if I can just spend a few days drying either the full stalk or the skins and get it to the point where it will just flake away from the fibres like that.

@Californiasurvivaltraining Жыл бұрын

In your case, you would harvest it and let it dry, then process.

@onegreenev Жыл бұрын

Fiber is in the bark of the plant. I'd strip it then save that and dry it then dampen and process with the knife to get rid of the outer most thin skin away from the actual fiber. Then card or comb the fibers into long thin strips and spin on a spinning wheel or drop spindle or just make cordage from the fibers. Cordage can be made after you dry the peeled stalks then dampen. and make your cordage. Twist it tight so when it dries it won't be loose. But drying is a must before you make your cordage then dampen prior to making your cordage. I grow and process flax and is similar.

@mikerelford1298 2 жыл бұрын

Audio is jacked !

@benjamindejonge3624 3 жыл бұрын

They made as frabric textile great German uniforms

@Californiasurvivaltraining Жыл бұрын

Yes they did! After being cutoff from cotton imports, they harvested tons and tons of it wild and processed the fibers.

@TJackSurvival 10 жыл бұрын

Great video. I like to just strip the leaves with a pair of gloves or some animal skins and then just use the green nettle. It seems to me to roll easier.

@Californiasurvivaltraining 6 жыл бұрын

green nettles are not only more difficult to process but are much weaker. If you look up processing ballast fibers you will see this is the way every ballast fiber has been processed for thousands of years. the problem is when people tinker on youtube and give out poor info motion, like to use the green fibers.

@lettersquash 4 жыл бұрын

@@Californiasurvivaltraining I searched for some time before I discovered what you mean is "bast fiber" not "ballast fiber". (And you mean "information" not "info motion".) This looks a great way to make some decent rope fairly quickly, but I wonder if doing the twisting thing with smaller strands from single stems would be better for making thin cords. I agree it might be better dry, because it'll shrink a lot from wet, but it can still be picked wet and the pith stripped out, then the outer fibres dried as much as needed. But perhaps you can make thinner stuff with your method, just pulling the sausage out more first. A glaring lack here though is how you would make it any longer than the few inches you made! You never mention splicing it with more - or would you mix it all up first for the amount you need?

@c-ronreloaded7057 8 жыл бұрын

Was the audio a bit messed up?

@BrianLiles 11 жыл бұрын

Good stuff Thomas. I've used it for a tinder bundle before, but never for cordage. I'll have to give it a try next time I come across some.

@AnimeShinigami13 Жыл бұрын

There's a good channel called "Sally Pointer" that got me interested in foraged fibercrafts. She's based out of herefordshire in england. She wove a whole outfit out of nettle! And a decorative net for her hair! She's what's called an experimental archeologist. It means she tries to reconstruct how people made things in the past. She's got some FANTASTIC recipes with foraged food as well as weaving and dying tutorials. She made horse chestnuts into detergent for cleaning her fibers! This will be the second year I try to grow nettles in the garden (my first attempt failed). This one is going to be over at the community garden to try and create a barrier to keep Woodchuck Norris from getting in and chewing on our beans and lettuce! I also came across a look alike here in new england, "Nettle Leaved Vervain". No bast fibers from it, I checked. No stings either.

@onegreenev 3 жыл бұрын

So where did you randomly find nettle in California? I have found some long ago near the rivers edge in Sacramento but I have gone back and no more nettle to be found. Have not found nettle for years. Not actually the best then for survival if you can't find it or can't find enough. Suggest another plant for cordage that is easier to find and easy to process green or dry.

@robinchwan 2 жыл бұрын

stinging nettle usually is near fertile soil and it's also good for the soil when it breaks it down. of course you don't need to find it there but it's an easy way to find them ( at the very least it's how we find them in scandinavia)

@Californiasurvivaltraining Жыл бұрын

It is everywhere in Southern California creeks actually. Tons of it! Also, this method is good for any plant with a bast fiber.

@celem1000 Жыл бұрын

As a little tip. Stinging nettle has an extremely high air pollution tolerance. So they often can be found growing along busy roads where nothing is competing. Nettles harvested from such patches should not be consumed as they retain exhaust heavy metals, still make great cord. Stuff is everywhere in Europe

@Californiasurvivaltraining 11 жыл бұрын

yes! excellent observation/question! we make char rope out of it all the time in the field.

@Californiasurvivaltraining 11 жыл бұрын

sorry bud. Our new HD vids won't play on mobile for some reason. Seems as though the sound only works on a home computer/laptop, and is a jumble on phones. Still trying to figure out the glitch. Thanks for trying to view.

@suzlynn4063 8 жыл бұрын

Can you pls repost this..the audio is messed up

@mikerelford1298 2 жыл бұрын

Low audio volume, cant hear

@bluenebula2121 8 жыл бұрын

what happend to the audio

@Californiasurvivaltraining 8 жыл бұрын

thanks!

@savannahnight7872 7 жыл бұрын

Surviving in California? Woowww ... must be hell ...

@Californiasurvivaltraining 7 жыл бұрын

I know right! The hottest temperature ever recorded on earth, the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states, the most steep/rugged coastline in the nation, areas of wilderness larger than most states where you can hike a week away from any roads, mountains that get so much snow we have ski resorts all the way down to San Bernadino County, over 10,000 miles of backcountry trails through a major mountain range w/many trails meandering over 10,000' in elevation, bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, plague, international drug cartels running secret grows in the mountains... pfff...California.

@asmith7876 3 жыл бұрын

So 4 years later I'm seeing this video but feel compelled to comment regardless. Surviving in California? Try 29 Palms or Ft. Irwin in summer. Wearing a full NBC suit.