Winter Tinder - Tulip Tree Bark

Description

Krik of Black Owl Outdoors discusses the some of the uses of the Tulip Tree and how to easily identify it during winter months.

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Tags: black owl outdoors,nature,camping,hiking,backpacking,survival,bushcraft,wilderness,forest,backcountry,tulip tree,tulip poplar,tinder,winter,fire craft

Video Transcription

hey what's up turtles as creek here with black outdoors and today I wanted to do a video highlighting a resource of the forest which has multiple uses and specifically what I'm referencing is the bark of the tulip tree I want to say genus is maybe liriodendron the characteristics of this bark are pretty great for actually starting fires using for tinder making cordage and just has that fibrous sort of characteristic that then you can you know use your imagination of what that would be good for so I'm going to show some examples of it show how it's found in the state you know you want to be looking for it if you want to use as a tinder bundle and show kind of a characteristic of the tree in the winter months that makes it easy to spot and sort of you can use it as a directional point to go look for tender and or if you wanted to make some cordage I have an example of a dead branch in front of me right now and the characteristics i was talking about in referencing of the fibrous nature the shreddy type style bark is very apparent right here in this example and this is a branch that is probably maybe was hanging dead on the tree and then since fallen through forces unknown and you can see this as i pull with this you can see the fibers just running the length of the bark and now this is the outer bark is taken off of this such as probably just falling off through time and this is right underneath you can picking this up right here would be the outer bark that's gray which would be covering all these fibers and you see you push that back and the fibers are exposed so basically instantly when you see a resource like this that has this fibrous characteristics that are running you know that are continuous and running the length of of the plant in any way it's noticeable to you a few things go off in the head is one it's probably going to be pretty good you know whether it's really great or not can be used to make cordage and then the strength is obviously dependent on the plant but you can see as I pull this apart and I'm cuz I'm being rough with it right now but if I really wanted to use this for 40 I'd be a lot gentler with it I'd break this off and really make sure I'm getting all these strands and a bunch that are connected to make it really easy and then right there you see how I have all of this if I want to make this a tender button which I have some dried in my pocket just completely pull this apart spend the time pull this apart get a really nice and fluffy get out all this outer bark out from it the thicker pieces don't need it this is the outer bark i'm referring to pull this apart continue doing this I can feel this moisture in here right now so I wouldn't even try to put a spark to it right now until I broke this up and put in my pocket one that won a pocket that's as close to my actual skin as possible try to get this and just continue this until I have small little bundle like this keep working at it and if you break it up you know put an X to your face not picking up any moisture on it break this up I can see it's dustin and put a spark to it now I can make a whole tinder bundle like this if I was doing a friction fire i can actually you know get a nice big couple handfuls of this and actually make it my bird's nest if I just wanted to get a fire the Ferro rod and yellow piece like this thro spark on and get the flame then add some bigger pieces or even adds more some more of this bark but unless it's a great resource and for fire imma throw a spark on let's see what happens doesn't want to go what i could do is just take a little bit of this and really spend some time last reading it to take it in my hands get it really together try and do this turn it on itself have that and you're open that back up now let's give it another whirlybird and there we go I didn't want to go first play around with it you know work it work until it goes the bark from the tulip tree sheath my knife so why I chose to show this resource resource right now in the wintertime you can tell it's winter there's some snow around me is because there's not a lot of organic plant material that makes it may be easier in the spring summer months to find really dry tinder so there's barks present year round and yes it'll pick up moisture but it's still here year-round regardless of the season if it's wet it'll just take a little bit longer time to dry so i just want to point out for that particular reason and a characteristic of this tree is pretty noticeable in this eastern woodlands and the hardwood mixed conifer forest i try to show you example silhouette it against the sky if you look up at this tree canopy first of all a couple characteristics of the tulip tree is they grow really really straight if you see the top the crown of these trees right here there is little you can put on the cameras probably picking it up but it just looks like maybe you know imagine my fist being closed with some contrast on it looks like little buds on the bottom of the trees or the top of the trees excuse me maybe they look like leaves hanging on but they're not leaves all the other deciduous trees have lost their leaves but what's present our this part of the flower and fruit body of the tree and their persist throughout the winter so it's a very easy characteristic to identify this tree in the winter I can see it from a distance in the canopy so if I'm looking for tender it's a wet day I can spot this off in the distance go underneath these trees look for falling dead branches pick up some bark put in my pocket keep moving and I know I'm going to have a dry source of tinder if I need to get a fire going later if you have any experience with this resource let me know if you if you've used it for anything any other great resources and tinder options for the winter let me know I always like to know the specifics of different areas not just in the eastern north eastern US where we are now but all over the world for people in the country finding the specific resources used for what because that's part of just being in the forest and knowing where you are you know I I know the few options of tinder I have which is not an easy resource to find but it is present so when I'm in this Eastern woodlands I know I can look for tulip trees i know the barks good and I sort of have that comfort when I come out to understand that there is that resource there and it is present and I know the characteristics to look for it so share some of the great resources you like please let me know the tender options in your area that you like that maybe persist throughout the winter hope the video is helpful informative open and talk too much remember check us out on black outdoors com or Instagram or Facebook this is correct signing out with black outdoors later turtles