Rendering Birch Oil

[@levisweet979]

YOU ROCK!!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED RIGHT NOW!!!

[@threeriversforge1997]

Birch oil, aka Russian Oil, used to be pretty standard as a leather preservative and waterproofer. It's several thousand years old and well worth the cost of making your own. One tip -- it doesn't take a big fire. The greater the heat, the greater the risk of burning your bark or the end product. Try for a small fire that warms the bark up and allows the oil to flow out of it before the bark combusts and turns into that charcoal. A little does go a long way, but I highly recommend anyone making it try to make as large a batch as possible simply so you don't run out any time soon. Also, check out Mikko Snellman's video on making Stockholm Tar and Russian Oil for more ideas.

[@matthewgoetzka8855]

Thank you

[@pro2a89]

does it contain gasoline or dissel

[@threeriversforge1997]

@@pro2a89 Neither. It's just the sap from the tree.

[@pro2a89]

@@threeriversforge1997 oh alright

[@TheYoungandaspiringmales]

@@pro2a89gasoline and diesel is refined into its not natural

[@hiker2742]

Excellent video! We use birch oil for cracks in dry skin and for rashes. Again, excellent video.

[@hiker2742]

@Becca Yes it also works well for us for any skin itching or rash.

[@jeffclarkofclarklesparkle3103]

Really huh? I should add some to my spruce resin ointment i make (spruce or pine resin + beeswax + lanolin if not allergic + coconut oil again watch allergy + eucalyptus oil)

[@jeffclarkofclarklesparkle3103]

@Becca you too huh? Lol

[@jasonw.perkins3490]

Nice that you can use that oil for everything. Thanks for sharing.

[@toha1057]

One of the things I most enjoy about your videos is that they are short. I love to learn but you keep it concise and pertinent. Thank you for taking the time it takes to put out good content!

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

Its good stuff! I even use is as bug dope in the spring. And the smell is just out of this world.

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

@Becca Said I with tongue planted in cheek. I do find it special, though and not as offensive as many do. It smells of the woods in a way.

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

@Becca Me too. All the seasons bring on new smells even winter. Fresh air!

[@ophirdude4342]

Just curious: what does "And the smell is just out of this world" mean? Does it smell pleasant or not so pleasant? I am assuming pleasant ...

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

@@ophirdude4342 It is hard to describe, I have had people just repelled by it and others find it just fine. It has a tar kind of smell but not like a petroleum type of tar. Its earthy for sure. Well so is fossil fuel but different.

[@downeastprimitiveskills7688]

@Becca I use some birch oil on a birch axe handle series I did, its in a play list. glad you found my content worth it. its good feed back.

[@chrisblack5795]

Left over charcoal can be used in the garden...fabulous video!

[@Caintuckee64]

Birch oil for leather?New to me THANKS Dan!

[@mrMacGoover]

I like that a lot of you videos are short, sweet and to the point, great for people with short attention span issues, thank you!

[@FelixImmler]

Thanks a lot for this interesting Video. Greetings from Switzerland Felix

[@robertfleming387]

👋😀

[@1noryb]

The bush gasifier! Great hack, and so simple. Next camping trip Ill have to try that. if campfire restrictions are lifted. Last time I bought some pine oil for treating leather a) cost a small fortune, b) it was 'watered down' with mineral spirits and stuff so I had to use a lot of it to treat my boots.

[@adaptablesurvival]

I'm going to have to try this. I've been looking for an oil to use on my Mora Garberg Carbon that was natural and non-toxic. Great video Dan!

[@robertstratton7117]

I have the same knife and was thinking this while I watched it. Genius!

[@jstevens69n1]

I will have to remember and try this! Always nice to learn something new like this that has multiple uses!

[@magicdaveable]

I use an old worn out stainless steel pressure cooker. I drilled and tapped a hole in the bottom I screwed in a 1/4" pipe to collect the oil. Packed really tightly the pot yields almost a pint. I have a giant size set up for harvesting pine tar in a similar fashion. My large "distiller" is made from a 55 gallon drum with a 30 gallon drum plumbed inside.

[@paulevans-u2o]

great video dan id love to come on one of your bushcraft courses but id never come back .to the uk

[@stevenkeil7869]

I'm giving this a try this weekend, while camping in the woods. wish me luck and thanks for making a short sweet how to video!!!

[@douglasmaccullagh7865]

Dan, I just checked with an expert on local trees. The variety of birch in our area is River Birch. I know we have tulip poplar on our land, so once I learn to identify River Birch, I should have access to some pretty useful trees. (Most of what we have is loblolly pine and water oak, with invasive Chinese Tallow.)

[@cnone3785]

I use deer fat for the exact same things. Only bad thing is critters love deer fat so that is not good. Can use as bait in traps but if left in camp u may return & find a big mess.

[@lauraweiss7875]

Ha!! Talk about a timely video! I’m headed to a white birch forest on Sunday. Definitely going to be trying this one out.

[@cmargheimable]

Excellent, thanks Dan

[@demonshiro]

Recently found your channel and it really motivated me to set up my own camp etc, thanks dude! Love the way you deliver your knowledge, one can tell you teach classes and such! Keep it up!

[@coinoath]

Very good idea about the catch container. I've always just cooked it down and separated the two. Thank you.

[@higheststandards3344]

I'm glad you decided to remake this video. Good job

[@elijahboesche6663]

Made some yesterday and its made my axe and knife handles look great. Plus it smells amazing

[@Hotdog_pimpin]

Thank you for not giving up on the channel. It’s great

[@tomm2812]

Very good to know. Well demonstrated. Best

[@Jason-vn5xj]

Gonna try this when I go out in January; tons of birch in that area. Thanks for the video. I have so many uses for it and no birch oil! This will be great. I'm going to try using a steel mason jar and coupling the lid to an inverted smaller lid for a small glass jar. Then it will (hopefully) distill from the steel jar right into the glass jar. When it's done, I can just unscrew them and screw a storage lid on the glass jar and boom -- no need to pour anything and very low risk of dirt contamination. I'll let you know how it works.

[@danielmart7940]

Thank you. Great stuff to know

[@douglasmaccullagh7865]

Thanks, Dan!

[@LGSkywalker82]

Seems much easier and cheaper than making fixin wax. Sucks I don’t have much birch here in Oklahoma... dagnabit!

[@BigHat83]

Check down by the river for river birch. Also, you'll sometimes see it as an ornamental tree in parking lots...

[@LGSkywalker82]

BigHat thanks!

[@GG-fz7st]

I've wanted to make some birch oil for a long time, but you know.. it's one of those things in a to-do-list. It's good to see that it can be done this easily. I read from somewhere that some guy used birch oil and ashes as the only glue in his hand-made knife and that's what I'd like to try. This stuff is of course legendary in waterproofing leather, but it has also been used traditionally in mending broken pottery, so I'm rather interested in trying it myself.

[@quinntheeskimooutdoors6234]

I have to make me some of that. I have a lot of axes to use it on. Thanks and take care.

[@BerserkerGang2019]

Really cool. I use this oil and Burch tar allot at my viking camp.

[@ThueyOutdoors]

This is pretty badass! I'm going to have to try it!

[@robertfleming387]

Awesome...gonna try this as soon as it stops raining....ty

[@froggyman9588]

Very cool!

[@askewedchimp]

I live in Colorado. We don't have birch. It appears to be the most popular bushcraft tree, though.

[@robertalexander9931]

I will have to try this. Thanks for the video.

[@T4nkcommander]

I'm assuming this technique can be extended to render oil from other woods and plants as well? As always, love your concise but insightful videos.

[@Immevds9372]

No

[@escapetherace1943]

ignore the no, this is the exact technique you use to get pine tar too.

[@monojitchatterjee3185]

​@@Immevds9372kya hai be

[@lydiahilles31]

@@escapetherace1943tar does not make an oil!…that being said the process is the same…

[@cnone3785]

I wondering about something like ceeder or layland cypress or what ever the name is. How that sap/oil would work for different things. Think I'll try it out later & find out

[@davidbarnhart6228]

I gotta try That!

[@joeorta3713]

Wow! Great stuff!! Keep them coming!

[@lorensmarkiz5176]

thank you!

[@christopherbusch1933]

Mix that left over carbon into that oil to make birch glue. It's super strong. Apparently ancient Neanderthals used to to glue their weapons together.

[@quinntheeskimooutdoors6234]

Very good clear instruction. Thanks and take care.

[@matthewgoetzka8855]

Thanks for explaining. When I try this out I am considering making ink or paint from the leftover bark char

[@colinyoung3685]

Interesting, what are you planning on using as a binder?

[@happygardener28]

the carbon would be good added to a compost pile. the start of some terra preta.

[@genewentz9906]

Good information and video

[@PenntuckytheCrag]

awesome Dan thx

[@KC1VT]

Thank you for teaching me how to redender birch oil. I would think the ash could be used to make a carpenters' chalk line, like ground charcoal is often used. is would just save another step and resource.

[@jeffbriggs3449]

Nice, thank you

[@vikmoj2426]

Cool video, thanks! Is it please sticky when dry? Does it melt on Sun? Is it possible to use a sandpaper to polish it, make it shiny?

[@SouthernPatriot1]

I gotta learn to spot it out...mostly see are oak & maple...plenty of pine and cedar...is that just as good to use?

[@edithemerson7278]

You can make a muscle relaxers oils massage as well.

[@kevinbowen8192]

I love rendering birch oil and tar. We have to use mostly paper birch around here though. I've done some hawk handles heavily stained with this and they look great. Bit of a smokey smell for a bit though. It is reported to have great medicinal properties as well but II have not tried it yet. Great video!!!

[@PaulSchortemeyer]

I see a lot of these videos are making a very dark "tar-like" substance. Do you know how to purify it to just the oil? Have any experience with that?

[@kevinbowen8192]

Having less time in the fire seems to be the trick to have it less "runny".

[@WELSBYROOTS]

Make some bug dope as well, Great video brother!

[@jamesedwards1588]

Excellent

[@woodspirit98]

I have alot of sweet birch. I wonder if that works as well.

[@johnruckman2320]

I'll have to look to see if there are birch tree in northern California. There is of course linseed oil. I'll have to look up linseed to see what it is. I heard that linseed oil can go rancid. Where does Tung Oil come from?

[@markwray8614]

I live in Florida, the only places where I been have cedar, I wonder, can the same process be used and for the same idea?

[@colinyoung3685]

With regard to the ash, could it be used to boil amadou from hoof fungus?

[@jeffnotti9932]

wow what a great product... the pine tar process with birch... very very cool.. have you ever tired filtering it???

[@davemoulton8051]

Just learned something new

[@kithid]

What makes the oil dark? Soot particles? If so can it be filtered out if you want a clearer oil?

[@thetribesman8658]

That's awesome... I assume you could use that for an oil lamp as well?

[@ophirdude4342]

Excellent question, and I have another along those lines: how does it work as an accelerant on tinder to start a fire?

[@3nertia]

Go find out! Let us know! ;)

[@jdlflagstone6980]

Yes and yes. (Oil lamp and tinder accelerant It's also good for skin issues like psoriasis, it can be boiled down into a tar that can be made into good glue, it can be used to preserve wood and metal, beard oil, antiseptic on scraps or cuts, and a looong list of other uses. ✌️

[@kennethweldon5153]

Dan...love your videos. Thanks. Have you or would you do a video on making pine tar?

[@johnruckman2320]

OK, that's the down and dirty in the woods method. How would you do it the clean at home method?

[@cnone3785]

Does maple work the same ?? Mean guess ya can get any oil from bark of any tree just prob not as good & the birch is nontoxic but different trees could be. Im guessing.

[@JayMorrisonOutdoors]

Can you use the birch oil on carved spoons and kuksa as well?

[@zulu5oscar765]

Very cool info!

[@Chels_Efraen]

Can u use saw dust? And other types of woods?

[@kpw1010]

What other types of trees can this be done with?

[@T4nkcommander]

And plants for that matter

[@theeditorofyt5282]

WHAT THE F*CK IS A KILOMETER!!🦅🦅🦅🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

[@davidclark7584]

Actually that left over bark would probably act like activated charcoal. Could use it for water filtration.

[@zchuss1]

I used to buy this year's ago... it was not bloody cheap either.... think I will be making my own.... what is the best time of year to do this.

[@linklesstennessee2078]

Good stuff

[@drblmt]

Have you ever done an experiment to compare live bark to dead dark for yield of oil? Do you think Birch oil would work better then boiled linseed oil with bees wax?

[@jonathonhumes449]

I heard boiling the bark can extract the oil because the oil will float to the top and you can just scoop it up Idk if it’s true or not because I haven’t seen it personally but I’m going to try this next summer

[@charnwood_outlander]

great video. Can this be applied directly to the skin as mosquito repellent or is it irritant?

[@eamoncrawford]

I understand the whole purpose is "do it yourself", self reliance, bushcraft, etc. Is this product produced and retailed in any hardware, building/home improvement store or online through a website or retailer? Thanks for any information anyone can offer. (I ask because I have seen the NESMUK BUGDOPE, Pine pitch, fixin wax, etc. available retailed online.)

[@celtgunn9775]

I'm so glad you made this video over again. The quality of video is much better Dan. 😉 I'm very sad that we don't have much for Birch here where I live. Prairie living doesn't really provide much variation in the way of trees. If I want Birch, I'd have to drive 200+ miles to the Black Hills forest of SD. Do you plan to redo any of the other videos Dan? 🤔

[@auldashy]

Can you use the birch oil to make birch beer?

[@macdermesser]

Does there bark need to be "green" or can dry bark from dead wood be used?

[@CoyoteRidge]

Nice video , subbed

[@dennisryckman5210]

Can you use Birch oil as a flame source. In a small canister instead of an alcohol burner?

[@whengrapespop5728]

Good question, I’m curious as well. Did you try it out?

[@elusive7815]

So how would that do on a canvas tarp?

[@thebaron_8033]

Could this be done with river birch?

[@tango_oscar]

Can you use this to fuel an oil lamp?

[@JapanScott1]

What are the medicinal uses for birch oil?

[@jeffclarkofclarklesparkle3103]

Do you think white birch would work also?

[@centralwashingtonmodernbus9456]

Does the birch bark need to be green, or can it be from any bark, even dry for a year or so? Thnx in advance.

[@samstewart4444]

I do not have birch trees where I live so I am going to try using fat wood shavings. I am looking for some hydrocarbons I can burn in a lamp, use as an accelerant for fire starting, a preservative for wood, and possibly as a mosquito repellent.

[@samstewart4444]

@Becca yes, it has different properties, it is more like turpentine, which should work as a wood perservative. As far as fueling a dish style lamp (with a wick) it may be too viscous, unless it is heated up. For use as an insect repellent, it is my understanding that it provides some protection to the tree from insects, unfortunately with some notable exceptions. Of course, it's stickiness will make it an excellent adhesive. My main question is whether something useful can be extracted using the same kind of setup. I am sure there is a volatile component for two reasons, fat wood has a distinctive odor and when I burn it, it flares up.

[@TheGiveittomeall]

Whaaaaa?? Now that's cool!!!

[@LeeWolfLittle]

Can you use other tree bark, or just burch?

[@jeffg4686]

Do you happen to know, for purposes of medicine (whether internal or topical), the differences between doing this type of extraction versus an oil infusion (like sesame oil)? Are there different compounds getting extracted?

[@fugithegreat]

Is this method useful with other trees? Would the oils have different properties?

[@Dnelms11]

Can this be used as fuel in a makeshift lantern or torch? If so what would be ideal for a wick and control fuel flow?

[@phukyerpheefees]

A possible addition to this method would be using a container with a wire handle. You could use the handle to secure your catch container.

[@phukyerpheefees]

@Becca I specified it as a POSSIBLE addition. Before dismissing the idea as laughable, maybe try it first. Don't be a dick about suggested potential improvements.

[@phukyerpheefees]

@Becca Or, as I had originally thought, use a capture container that fits snugly and requires a light stretching of the wire handle in order for it to fit.

[@phukyerpheefees]

@Becca Also, heat softens metal, not cooling. Things would loosen up while it was in the fire, but with his method it's buried and stable, negating that loosening.

[@phukyerpheefees]

@Becca My apologies for the snippy response earlier. Your first reply came across as unconstructive and dismissive.

[@undertrakeryayayay2012]

3:43 asmr

[@acowthatiz]

Can this same process be applied to fat wood? For like a pine oil?

[@decolonizeEverywhere]

That is so simple. Great info. I wonder if that oil can be used for food surfaces like cutting boards and wood counters or cooking utensils?

[@AppalachianChaplin]

Yes it can!!!