# Cordage



## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

Anyone here in Michigan tried making their own cordage ?
Which plants did you find most useful for the project ?


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## NoWake (Feb 7, 2006)

Every time I try to grow hemp for cordage, the cops show up and make me destroy all the plants. :rant: 


LOL sorry, couldn't resist


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## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

Building shelter is a lot easier with a large amount of
material for tying items to one another.

I haven't seen much word of people using items from
the woods and plantlife to supplement their kits.

A couple rolls of dental floss broken out of their plastic cases
takes up very little space and gets you out of a jam.


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## Mitchell Ulrich (Sep 10, 2007)

You can make rope out of just about anything, even dead grass. The trick is knowing how to twist the lengths together while adding new material. After a little practice you can keep both lengths about the same thickness.
Real sinew is a good thing to practice with so are stinging nettles. Another good option is inner bark on dead trees.

To begin, 

Pinch two lengths between your thumb an finger of your left hand. 
Now grab the top strand and twist up with right thumb and finger.
Use your middle finger to grab the bottom untwisted strand.
Now rotate the bottom stand up by turning your wrist of you right hand. (as if you were looking at your watch)
Move up your pinch with your left thumb and finger.
Now twist again. This locks the two fibers together.
Repeat over and over.
Keep doing this until you need to add more fiber/grass/bark (splicing)until the cord is to the desired length.
Tie off with a simple knot or lash the ends.

A little practice and you'll get good enough to at least know HOW to do it.

Mitch


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## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

The catch is finding stuff that holds together a
lean-to or other shelter during a typical thunderstorm
when the temps are quite low like 50 degrees F
which is typical in spring and fall in Michigan.

Practice helps a lot - frustrating when fiber doesn't hold


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## 7iron (Feb 28, 2005)

For my day pack I added a package of zip ties from harbor Freightthey had them on sale for $1.99 for 100 about 16inches long. they form fit right in the bottom of the pack, you don't even know they are there. I thought they would work great for building a shelter if needed.


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Personally, I cheat and use zip ties :lol:.
I have made and used basswood cordage and that is incredibly strong stuff! It's a lot of work and prety time consuming but, if you are looking to go all natural you cant beat it (in my oppinion). If you google it you can find loads of info and you will get much more out of that than if I try to describe it :lol:.


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## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

In my opinion it's not cheating if it's in your kit.
Zip ties, dental floss, leather boot laces, paracord are
all great - IF people remember to keep them in the kit.

The catch - taking the kit every time you go out.
Leaving it in the car doesn't do you or the crew any good.


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

I was just joking about the zip ties being cheating. Hope I didnt offend anyone. I use em too.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

Willi_H2O said:


> In my opinion it's not cheating if it's in your kit.
> Zip ties, dental floss, leather boot laces, paracord are
> all great - IF people remember to keep them in the kit.
> 
> ...


 good points.It also pays huge to take your kit and use it-see if the items you have are worthwhile or just taking up space. Afterall,what good is a essentials kit if you dont familiarize yourself with whats inside.


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## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

It's all about running experiments and building proto-types.

Reading is great - doing is 200% better - practice wins


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## NoWake (Feb 7, 2006)

Here are some options most of you probably already know about, but maybe useful info for someone. Most bracelets you can figure on one foot of cord per inch. 


[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AO4MXE/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0036BCJXQ&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0TZ5NY00X6QYBJDG4CF8"]Amazon.com: Para-Cord Survival Bracelet "Black" 9 Inch: Sports & [email protected]@[email protected]@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/[email protected]@[email protected]@614770jIZ6L[/ame]


Here's a sling or bag strap also:

http://www.sunflowerammo.com/Paracord-Rifle-Sling-SS-RifleSling.htm


There's also some watch paracord watch bands available.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

NoWake said:


> Here are some options most of you probably already know about, but maybe useful info for someone. Most bracelets you can figure on one foot of cord per inch.
> 
> 
> Amazon.com: Para-Cord Survival Bracelet "Black" 9 Inch: Sports & Outdoors
> ...


 Thanks for the info nowake.I read some of the comments of the fellas that purchased these,couple of them were more concerned of how it looked on them than what its intended for:lol:


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

Sinew, stinging nettles, and giant ragweed and many others work well. Good technique and other advise from otheres on here. 
I have the same problem NoWake!


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## boonedock (Apr 19, 2011)

Having some rope is great to have but knowing how to make your own is very simple and just takes a little time to learn. If you can find some dog bain weed its a deep red color and grows along the highways and the corners of farm fields this makes the best cordage. But be careful the outer skin or shinny finish that will need to be taken off of the fibers is said to be slightly poisonous so don't rub your eyes. You can also use the fibers under the bark of cedar trees.


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## boonedock (Apr 19, 2011)

Then lets not forget about some of the fastest cordage, ready made by nature, spruce root. Cattails can make allot for the fast and furious. Just another thought I had after thinking about going out to get some dog bain.


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## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

Great reminder and often overlooked as it it underground.

Basic video :
http://youtu.be/a53z_UgTpX8


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## boonedock (Apr 19, 2011)

I think those two guys made a great bunch of videos and I give them two thumbs and two big toes up. Love to see the young people getting out and doing these skills on there own, one good thing about the internet. They can go and find allot on these skills and to see them going out and doing it and then on top of that making a video about it to encourage other young kids to follow.


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## Roosevelt (Sep 21, 2007)

Dogbane is my favorite plant cordage. The stuff is really strong. I learned the technique below of leg rolling cordage from a video by Dino Labiste. It sure saves on the sore fingers and cramped hands I get using other methods like the reverse twist. And, it's about a thousand times faster and produces a much tighter more even cordage.

http://youtu.be/2OEdfiqfGsE

Common milkweed is almost as good, but not as rot resistant. For shelters and stuff that might not need as fine a cordage I'll sometimes use vines or willow branches.


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## trout (Jan 17, 2000)

Dogbane is a great one.
I have spots in Michigan where it grows almost 42" tall .
Swamp Milk weed is very strong too alittle tough on the hands though.
Nettles are wonderful as well.
I made a bowstring once out of swamp milkweed and used it on a hunt with Jim Miller.


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## nitetime (May 11, 2006)

I like the zip tie idea but zip will dry out and become brittle with age replace yearly. Imo


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

Another good cordage material can easily be braided using poplar/aspen bark from a mature tree.


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)




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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

*
Native Americans have always possessed a vast knowledge of cordage. The basic methods of this ancient technology have remained relatively unchanged. Cordage is made from two or more strips of fibers that are twisted or plied together. In the Eastern Forests of North America, Native Americans left the impressions of cord wrapped paddles and netting marks on their pottery 3000 years ago. The dry desert cave environments of the western coast of North America still preserve sandals and other textiles of cordage hand-twisted thousands of years ago. 
In New England during the 1600's, the cordage made by Native Americans for their fishing lines and nets was superior to that of Europeans' by their own accounts. "ince the Englih came they be furnihed with Englih hookes and lines, before they made them of their owne hempe more curiously wrought, of tronger materials than ours, hooked with bone hookes...; they make likewie very trong Sturgeon nets with which they catch Sturgeons of 12. 14, and 16. some 18. foote long in the day time" (Wood 1865). 
Not only was this hand-made rope and string perfectly made, the tensile strength of many indigenous plant fibers was great enough to catch the largest sturgeon and salmon, and even for harpoon lines to retrieve whales and other sea mammals. The fiber cordage made from plants growing in New England was praised by Europeans for its fine quality, durability and superiority to English hemp: "Their cordage is o even, oft, and mooth, that it lookes more like ilke than hempe; their Sturgeon netts be not deepe, not above 30. or 40. foote long." (Wood 1865). 
'Indian Hemp' or dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum, also called armyroot and black Indian hemp) was probably the most prevalent kind of fiber used for cordage. Native Americans made cord and thread from the fibers of many plants, trees (including evergreen roots), and other materials such as animal sinew and rawhide. [Cord from soaked sinew or rawhide strips needs to be dried in a tightly stretched position or the twists will loosen.] Other types of plant fibers used for making cord include Velvet Leaf (Abutilon abutilon also called Indian Mallow), the inner rind of the wormseed plant (which grows near the water),swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and the hairy milkweed (A. pulchra, also called white Indian hemp), and toad flax (Linaria linaria). 
Many woody field plants such as dogbane, nettle, and velvet leaf are best gathered for their fiber after the first frost when the stalks are brittle. After the frost, the fibers strip away more easily than when the plants are 'green'. Pounding the stalk can help loosen the 'chaff' and ease the removal of the desired inner fibers. Simply crack back the top piece of the stalk, and peal the stringy fibers back away from the woody part of the stalk. Look for colonies of the red brown 4 ft. stalks of dogbane in moist, shady field edges. Some plants such as milkweed, cattails and sweetflag should be gathered in late summer before the frost, which breaks down and disintegrates the fibers in these plants. 
The inner barks of trees like basswood and cedar are more time consuming to harvest. Speck (1976) describes the process wherein the Penobscot of northern New England prepared inner basswood bark. First the outer bark is cut through with an ax, loosened at the cut and pulled off upwards in long ribbons. Next, the exposed inner bark is separated with a knife, grasped, and pealed off in long strips. The ribbons of inner bark are coiled up for storage. When the bark is needed it first must be boiled for a day and a half in water with wood ashes. The lye from the ashes relaxes the bark fiber and removes the sap which would make the bark brittle and stiff. The boiled strips of bark are shaved down with a knife to their desired width. Without great care harvesting inner bark will threaten the life of the tree. Fallen branches can be a good source for basswood inner bark. Fairly suitable cedar bark can be gathered from fallen trunks. 
Once fibers and plant materials were finally prepared, Native Americans in southern New England used the threads and cords to make ropes and lines, nets, mats, baskets and bags, belts and straps, shoes and many other items. 
Methods for making rope or heavy cord from fibers involve anchoring two lengths of fibers to a post or to your toes, and tightly twisting each length in turn to the right. Then the right-most twisted length is passed over the left length (ie you switch the lengths between your two hands). The process is repeated, twisting the individual lengths, and then crossing the lengths over each other, splicing in new lengths of fiber to get the desired length. Look at Hilary Stewart's (1984) book Cedar for an excellent description of traditional rope making by Native American women of the Northwest coast. 
'Thigh-rolling' is the fastest way to make fine cordage or string for sewing. If you look closely at most hand made cord, the plies are twined around in a 'Z' twist (the twisted strands lie diagonally from top right to bottom left). The individual strands in 'Z' twist cordage will be twisted in the opposite direction in an 'S' twist, the strands lie diagonally from top left to bottom right). Many plants that are inflexible or brittle when they are dry become pliable when they are soaked or dampened. Shredding and pounding the fibers can also improve the flexibility of many fibers. Even the shorter fibers of cornstalks and short grasses can be used if new pieces are continually spliced in. 
Use two small bunches of fibers that are of different length. Hold the ends of two strands of fibers in your left hand. Drape their other ends over your right thigh. Roll the strands down your thigh using the palm and thumb of your right hand so that the strands 'S' twist up. At the end of this roll, release the hold of your left hand on the fibers and allow the strands to 'Z' twist in the opposite direction. Sometimes a quick reverse roll of the left hand on the twisted cord will help to tighten the ply. I find that this back roll tends to tangle the loose lengths of fibers. 
If you have a Windows or Netscape AVI Video Player,here's a short animated video on cordageThe key to making even cordage is to continually splice in a new strand of fiber every couple of inches, well before the existing strands start to run short. Splice in a length of fiber by laying the new piece along the shorter of the two original strands. Twist the new and original fiber together as one strand and continue rolling the cordage. Do not attempt to splice the butt end of added fiber with the butt end of an original strand. Even Even if you can manage to ply two butt ends together this makes a very weak area in the cord. Each time a new piece is spliced in, leave an inch or so of the new fiber projecting from the plied cord, these can be trimmed off when the cord is finished. 
*


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

Deer sinew is another thing that works well and is super strong.


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## Swampdonkeykiller (Aug 29, 2012)

itchn2fish said:


> Deer sinew is another thing that works well and is super strong.


X2 on the bass wood. I have also used the inner part of wild grape vines and it works but have found that it's not as strong as others.


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Basswood here too.


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## YPSIFLY (Feb 13, 2001)

I have a paracord bracelet that I wear when going into the woods or on the river. I am also familiar with natural options should the 8' or so on my wrist not be enough.

There are websites with instructions on how to build a paracord belt that yields 50' of usable material. Knowing how to use natural materials is something we should still know.


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

Willi_H2O said:


> Great reminder and often overlooked as it it underground. Basic video :
> http://youtu.be/a53z_UgTpX8


Man, that video brought back memories of harvesting spruce-roots with my Uncle Dan in N Marquette County years ago. Very cool vid.


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## Bushbow (Nov 12, 2005)

Dogbane is probably the best and most accessible here in Michigan - stuff grows like... well.. weeds - all over the place. Don't forget good ole hair - horsetail hair works great and I have a 20+ foot rope that is still growing I made from sitting on the deck with my dog. He has a lot of hair!


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Here's some milkweed cordage I made yesterday.


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## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Here's a close up... This might look pretty thin, but you wouldn't believe how strong it is.


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