@jmoeswagger many natural materials can be used for TP such as leaves, grass, moss, and snow or water. You will need to be careful not to use any poisonous plant material. Moss seems to work particularly well because of its fullness and soft texture but I have used leaves or grass and they have performed the needed job admirably as well. As I said above, snow works very well as well though more as a wash up
@phreshayr Would you consider donating to me a small mason jar or travel bottle of this oil for testing on my psoriasis if I paid shipping? I would of course give you credit for any findings and let you know if it does in fact improve anything. I ask because I see how you got it and thats about as organic as it gets.
@Prepper7 I have very little of my own. What I have is what you see in the video. There are online sources that claim to have Birch Bark oil for sale. So that might be a source for you.
@WolfsongStorm It is certainly worth a try as a collection reservoir. It may get too hot for the glass though. Now that I think about it I'm guessing a glass jar would probably work fine.
In a large coffee can I fill it about 1/2 to 2/3 with water then try to fill the remaining volume with the bark. It works best if you can roll the bark up or try to have lengths that are close to the depth of your can, cover and boil, make sure you have vent holes in your cover. let cool and skim. I always get some water in my skim - one thing I do not like about the boil method. still no snow down on the Kenai
@brenterwin99611 okay thanks. I have a glass oil separator for use with distilling plant essential oils. never used it yet but it should work good for the boil method.
Great video, I had some one shoe me a way where you boil the bark, it comes out much lighter in color, and you have to skim it off the top of the water, it takes much more time than your way. I will have to give it a try. Just drove up the Al-can last week, looks like the snow is not far away now, last snow we saw was just south of Tok.
@brenterwin99611 I would be interested in trying it your way as well. How much bark do you put in how much water? How long do you boil the water/bark? I assume you then let it cool before trying to separate the oil from the water? It snowed here a couple weeks ago but melted off. We just got another dusting of snow yesterday (10-26-2011) and it looks like this is the first one that will stay for the winter.
@zsxwrsd I don't know anything about it being taken internally good or bad so I wouldn't recommend it internally. Yes the inner bark of Birch is edible. CAUTION.......If Aspirin causes a person problems then that person may not be able to use the inner bark of Birch since it does contain Salicin the natural chemical that aspirin was made from.
@sacura605 Well Joy, since It is the oil that you are after, try dipping a piece of newer bark in water and after shaking it off well, see how easy it is to light with a lighter and how well it burns once lit. Now do the same with older bark and notice the same. if it still burns similar to the newer bark after having been dipped in the water then that shows you it still has plenty of oil in it. I have never used long dead rotting type since I have plenty of fresher stuff.
@sacura605 I would guess that newer is better as it probably has more oil for a given amount of bark but as long as the older stuff still has oil in it it should be fine to use as well.
@cekinxxx After you make the oil you then continue to heat the oil to thicken it and evaporate off the liquid until it gets thick enough. It will continue to thicken as it cools as well. That's all there is to it.
@onthecuttingedge2005 That cough is due to Asthma. I have Asthma and it was bothering me during the filming of this video. My lungs were a bit "tight" then. I do thank you for your concern though. Take care.
@neuroleptika Good for you. It really isn't that difficult of a process either. Good luck with it. If you have the time, leave a note here on how it turned out for you if you do try it.
Hi , we have a tool called a "spud"...it is unique to peel timber...tho I am a Woman; I had my own for when I cut and peeled spruce /poplars/and fir pulp, on the yard. I had my own chainsaw, and pulp hook to load the four foot fresh cut pulp up onto the pulp trucks, no loaders then, all by might ,hand,and knowhow. I wore my earrings, cosmetics, and perfume to "work"..lol and I was stronger than most of the men, much bigger than my 5'10 1/2 height at 120 pounds!!
Is it the birch oil aswell that works as insect repellent? I heared in Lapland the make something out of birch bark that works great as a natural repellent but I'm not sure if it's the same process to make it. thxs
@watertothepeople Yes I have read that the birch oil is good for a mosquito repellent. But I tried it this spring and it does NOT work locally. I smeared it on pretty thick. Thick enough that the coat I was wearing is now permanently stained from the Birch oil I had on my neck. The mosquitos were still buzzing around me and landing on me. I have not heard of any other products from the Birch tree being used for repellent other than The B bark oil.
@TheRebelpit I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with that type since it doesn't grow in this area. It seems to me that if the bark is an excellent fire starter like what we have up here then I would guess that it is also high in oils and should work to some degree. Take a piece of it and shake the water off a bit after submersing in water Then take a lighter and try to light it. If it lights fairly easily then we can assume it is high in oils.
This is an awsome video, Thats amazing. I have birch trees all over at home and up north, and the loggers are logging them all over up north by the tent, I could get a ton of birch bark and never have to cut a tree. I made this a favorite on my channel, and if its ok, later in the season, maybe during deer season or something I would like to try this myself, and then post a vid but in the vid tell everyone who I got the idea from. I really liked this, Zach is going to flip. Thank You.
@JoeandZachSurvival Great. Glad ya liked it. Feel free to record your own video on it. The idea was not mine either. I seen it first on bushcraftbartons youtube channel. You are fortunate to have a great supply. My local supply is somewhat limited. I hope to soon be doing a video on how to use bark from old dead trees just as effectively as fresh flexible live bark.
@gelflingfaysuzanne I've never made Birch Beer and am not familiar with the process but I'm sure it is not made from the Bark Oil. A quick Google search said it is made from the inner bark the cambium layer not the outer bark that I used here in this video. The twigs of the Birch can also make a very nice flavored tea. If you haven't seen it yet and are interested I explain how I do it in my "backwoods tree tea - Spruce and Birch" video. Have a good one
@djbarryiii No I have never heard of that. It is certainly worth a try. I know that after I have cooked in a birch bark bowl using hot rocks, the bark of the bowl appears to be much "drier", less flexable and more brittle. And this is after it has "cured" long enough to have dried out. I don't think though that it would extract as thoroughly as the method above and then there would be the challenge of oil / water separation. I might give this method a try somday and see what happens.
@LUVallova The Birch oil that I made has a very very strong smoky smell. Maybe if the oil was extracted using less heat it might not have as strong an odor. I would guess that essential oils could be added to the birch oil. The way I extracted the oil was very primitive and crude. It probably does not have the power and benefits of a true therapeutic grade distilled essential oil though
You know it's funny, no matter how many times we do things there is always a lesson to be learned, in this case choosing a good can. A top video my friend, not sure if you found the info yet but the oil is great for treating wood after all it came from a tree. Keep up the good work
@sammy1fit No I hadn't seen or heard that but your right . it makes sense and I strongly suspected that that may be the case. Like I told cjtf elsewhere on this video's comments. It preserves and waterproofs the bark very well. Thanks for the comment
Another great video, thank you. I live in birch country here in northern sweden and Im sure to try this. Do you think the oil could be used for wooden skis, the same way as pine tar ? Just an idea..
@cjtf Thanks for the compliment. I really don't know for sure about the skis but I do know that it seems to waterproof and preserve birch bark very well. In the woods often times the bark out lasts the wood and is kind of a half empty shell. If you heat the oil up it will become thicker
@cjtf I'm pretty sure birch oil would be a fine substitute for pine tar.... Just coat the skies with enough oil or tar to seal the wood and keep out moisture! Good luck...
@englishmaninontario Yes it can. If you haven't already seen it you can view my video titled Primitive Birch Bark Oil Lamp. The Birch oil works well for a lamp but smokes quite a bit.
@Ggreenvideos Thanks. Ya I took the first one off because I said something in there that after watching it again i wasn't sure if it was right or not so I did not want to leave it up. I want to be sure that what I say is true to the best of my knowledge. It was one of those things that the mouth goes a little faster than the brain.
Great vid, I was wondering how would this be for a fire starter, seeing as birch bark takes a flame so well, maybe slathering this onto some kindling might work good.
@dbyeayea It would probably work great. The reason I say that Is because I made a primitive type Birch Oil Lamp today that worked great. The oil burned fine except it put off black smoke just like when burning the Birch Bark
Yes sir I have a question, when in the wilderness what do you use for toilet paper if you run out?
jmoeswagger 3 weeks ago
@jmoeswagger many natural materials can be used for TP such as leaves, grass, moss, and snow or water. You will need to be careful not to use any poisonous plant material. Moss seems to work particularly well because of its fullness and soft texture but I have used leaves or grass and they have performed the needed job admirably as well. As I said above, snow works very well as well though more as a wash up
phreshayr 2 weeks ago
Good for psoriasis you say? Where did you learn this?
Prepper7 2 months ago
@Prepper7 Do an online search for ""Birch Bark" Oil psoriasis" and you will find several references.
phreshayr 2 months ago
@phreshayr Would you consider donating to me a small mason jar or travel bottle of this oil for testing on my psoriasis if I paid shipping? I would of course give you credit for any findings and let you know if it does in fact improve anything. I ask because I see how you got it and thats about as organic as it gets.
Prepper7 1 month ago
@Prepper7 I have very little of my own. What I have is what you see in the video. There are online sources that claim to have Birch Bark oil for sale. So that might be a source for you.
phreshayr 1 month ago
what kind of birch is that?
BlackBeard716 2 months ago
@BlackBeard716 It is Paper Birch.
phreshayr 2 months ago
are you in Montana?
diveswan 2 months ago
@diveswan Nope. Not in Montana, but in South Central Alaska
phreshayr 2 months ago
thanks for sharing bro.
allenh60 2 months ago
@allenh60 You are welcome. Thanks for watching.
phreshayr 2 months ago
Have you tried using a glass jar instead of a soup can? Will a glass jar work, or is that going to be a problem?
WolfsongStorm 3 months ago
@WolfsongStorm It is certainly worth a try as a collection reservoir. It may get too hot for the glass though. Now that I think about it I'm guessing a glass jar would probably work fine.
phreshayr 3 months ago
Awesome, I learned something today!
MarcoMontana22 3 months ago
@MarcoMontana22 Thanks. Glad ya liked it.
phreshayr 3 months ago
In a large coffee can I fill it about 1/2 to 2/3 with water then try to fill the remaining volume with the bark. It works best if you can roll the bark up or try to have lengths that are close to the depth of your can, cover and boil, make sure you have vent holes in your cover. let cool and skim. I always get some water in my skim - one thing I do not like about the boil method. still no snow down on the Kenai
brenterwin99611 4 months ago
@brenterwin99611 okay thanks. I have a glass oil separator for use with distilling plant essential oils. never used it yet but it should work good for the boil method.
phreshayr 4 months ago
Now I gotta find me some bark in Maryland. lol. Very cool. Thanks for sharing this video tutorial with us. :)
rawmark 4 months ago
@rawmark You are welcome. Thank you. Hope you can find some.
phreshayr 4 months ago
Great video, I had some one shoe me a way where you boil the bark, it comes out much lighter in color, and you have to skim it off the top of the water, it takes much more time than your way. I will have to give it a try. Just drove up the Al-can last week, looks like the snow is not far away now, last snow we saw was just south of Tok.
brenterwin99611 4 months ago
@brenterwin99611 I would be interested in trying it your way as well. How much bark do you put in how much water? How long do you boil the water/bark? I assume you then let it cool before trying to separate the oil from the water? It snowed here a couple weeks ago but melted off. We just got another dusting of snow yesterday (10-26-2011) and it looks like this is the first one that will stay for the winter.
phreshayr 4 months ago
Thanks for the video. Your method gives a pretty good yield!
yehar 4 months ago
@yehar You are welcome. It is surprising how much oil there is in a given amount of bark.
phreshayr 4 months ago
is this drinkable? ik the sap is, also is the iner bark edaible like it is for pine trees?
zsxwrsd 4 months ago
@zsxwrsd I don't know anything about it being taken internally good or bad so I wouldn't recommend it internally. Yes the inner bark of Birch is edible. CAUTION.......If Aspirin causes a person problems then that person may not be able to use the inner bark of Birch since it does contain Salicin the natural chemical that aspirin was made from.
phreshayr 4 months ago
@phreshayr ok thanks so would the inner bark make headaches and stuff better
zsxwrsd 4 months ago
@zsxwrsd Yes the bark has been used for headaches as has the bark of poplars and willows.
phreshayr 4 months ago
how dead must the tree be? recently? or like rotting dead?
sacura605 4 months ago
@sacura605 Well Joy, since It is the oil that you are after, try dipping a piece of newer bark in water and after shaking it off well, see how easy it is to light with a lighter and how well it burns once lit. Now do the same with older bark and notice the same. if it still burns similar to the newer bark after having been dipped in the water then that shows you it still has plenty of oil in it. I have never used long dead rotting type since I have plenty of fresher stuff.
phreshayr 4 months ago
@sacura605 I would guess that newer is better as it probably has more oil for a given amount of bark but as long as the older stuff still has oil in it it should be fine to use as well.
phreshayr 4 months ago
how do you make birch bark glue?
cekinxxx 5 months ago
@cekinxxx After you make the oil you then continue to heat the oil to thicken it and evaporate off the liquid until it gets thick enough. It will continue to thicken as it cools as well. That's all there is to it.
phreshayr 5 months ago
@phreshayr ok thnx
cekinxxx 5 months ago
that cough is cancerous or at least it is very close to medical diagnostics, sounds like it anyways. have it checked out please.
onthecuttingedge2005 6 months ago
@onthecuttingedge2005 That cough is due to Asthma. I have Asthma and it was bothering me during the filming of this video. My lungs were a bit "tight" then. I do thank you for your concern though. Take care.
phreshayr 5 months ago 2
im gonna try it, just have to fins some dead birch that isnt rotten
neuroleptika 6 months ago
@neuroleptika Good for you. It really isn't that difficult of a process either. Good luck with it. If you have the time, leave a note here on how it turned out for you if you do try it.
phreshayr 6 months ago
@phreshayr Better than that, I will make a video if I can find a good tree
neuroleptika 6 months ago
@neuroleptika great I'll be looking forward to seeing it.
phreshayr 6 months ago
Hi , we have a tool called a "spud"...it is unique to peel timber...tho I am a Woman; I had my own for when I cut and peeled spruce /poplars/and fir pulp, on the yard. I had my own chainsaw, and pulp hook to load the four foot fresh cut pulp up onto the pulp trucks, no loaders then, all by might ,hand,and knowhow. I wore my earrings, cosmetics, and perfume to "work"..lol and I was stronger than most of the men, much bigger than my 5'10 1/2 height at 120 pounds!!
bogwalkers 6 months ago
@bogwalkers I'll bet you've got quite a few stories to tell from back in those days.
phreshayr 6 months ago
Is it the birch oil aswell that works as insect repellent? I heared in Lapland the make something out of birch bark that works great as a natural repellent but I'm not sure if it's the same process to make it. thxs
watertothepeople 6 months ago
@watertothepeople Yes I have read that the birch oil is good for a mosquito repellent. But I tried it this spring and it does NOT work locally. I smeared it on pretty thick. Thick enough that the coat I was wearing is now permanently stained from the Birch oil I had on my neck. The mosquitos were still buzzing around me and landing on me. I have not heard of any other products from the Birch tree being used for repellent other than The B bark oil.
phreshayr 6 months ago
can you do it with a river birch?
TheRebelpit 6 months ago
@TheRebelpit I'm sorry but I'm not familiar with that type since it doesn't grow in this area. It seems to me that if the bark is an excellent fire starter like what we have up here then I would guess that it is also high in oils and should work to some degree. Take a piece of it and shake the water off a bit after submersing in water Then take a lighter and try to light it. If it lights fairly easily then we can assume it is high in oils.
phreshayr 6 months ago
Best tutorial ive seen for this process.
cowboyfromkettins 7 months ago
@cowboyfromkettins Thank you. I TRY to make videos where I give enough info that others can then repeat what is demoed on their own.
phreshayr 7 months ago
@cowboyfromkettins Thank you. Glad you liked it.
phreshayr 6 months ago
This is an awsome video, Thats amazing. I have birch trees all over at home and up north, and the loggers are logging them all over up north by the tent, I could get a ton of birch bark and never have to cut a tree. I made this a favorite on my channel, and if its ok, later in the season, maybe during deer season or something I would like to try this myself, and then post a vid but in the vid tell everyone who I got the idea from. I really liked this, Zach is going to flip. Thank You.
JoeandZachSurvival 7 months ago
@JoeandZachSurvival Great. Glad ya liked it. Feel free to record your own video on it. The idea was not mine either. I seen it first on bushcraftbartons youtube channel. You are fortunate to have a great supply. My local supply is somewhat limited. I hope to soon be doing a video on how to use bark from old dead trees just as effectively as fresh flexible live bark.
phreshayr 7 months ago
is this what you make birch beer from?
or is it the sap?
gelflingfaysuzanne 8 months ago
@gelflingfaysuzanne I've never made Birch Beer and am not familiar with the process but I'm sure it is not made from the Bark Oil. A quick Google search said it is made from the inner bark the cambium layer not the outer bark that I used here in this video. The twigs of the Birch can also make a very nice flavored tea. If you haven't seen it yet and are interested I explain how I do it in my "backwoods tree tea - Spruce and Birch" video. Have a good one
phreshayr 8 months ago
Great video. I wonder if you could just boil the birch bark to separate out the oil...have you ever heard of that?
djbarryiii 9 months ago
@djbarryiii No I have never heard of that. It is certainly worth a try. I know that after I have cooked in a birch bark bowl using hot rocks, the bark of the bowl appears to be much "drier", less flexable and more brittle. And this is after it has "cured" long enough to have dried out. I don't think though that it would extract as thoroughly as the method above and then there would be the challenge of oil / water separation. I might give this method a try somday and see what happens.
phreshayr 9 months ago
Thank You for sharing it, very good bushcraft skills.
lauderdaleflorida 11 months ago
@lauderdaleflorida You are very welcome And thanks for stopping by, viewing, commenting and subbing.
phreshayr 11 months ago
What does the birch oil smell like? Could you add essential oils?
This is amazing! :)
Much Love.
LUVallova 1 year ago
@LUVallova The Birch oil that I made has a very very strong smoky smell. Maybe if the oil was extracted using less heat it might not have as strong an odor. I would guess that essential oils could be added to the birch oil. The way I extracted the oil was very primitive and crude. It probably does not have the power and benefits of a true therapeutic grade distilled essential oil though
phreshayr 1 year ago
Very cool man ! Never heard bout this ! thanks for sharing !
Bigschwang 1 year ago
@Bigschwang You are welcome and thanks for viewing.
phreshayr 1 year ago
love it never so this wil try it thans peace
zurudu 1 year ago
@zurudu Thank you sir
phreshayr 1 year ago
You know it's funny, no matter how many times we do things there is always a lesson to be learned, in this case choosing a good can. A top video my friend, not sure if you found the info yet but the oil is great for treating wood after all it came from a tree. Keep up the good work
sammy1fit 1 year ago
@sammy1fit No I hadn't seen or heard that but your right . it makes sense and I strongly suspected that that may be the case. Like I told cjtf elsewhere on this video's comments. It preserves and waterproofs the bark very well. Thanks for the comment
phreshayr 1 year ago
Another great video, thank you. I live in birch country here in northern sweden and Im sure to try this. Do you think the oil could be used for wooden skis, the same way as pine tar ? Just an idea..
cjtf 1 year ago
@cjtf Thanks for the compliment. I really don't know for sure about the skis but I do know that it seems to waterproof and preserve birch bark very well. In the woods often times the bark out lasts the wood and is kind of a half empty shell. If you heat the oil up it will become thicker
phreshayr 1 year ago
@cjtf I'm pretty sure birch oil would be a fine substitute for pine tar.... Just coat the skies with enough oil or tar to seal the wood and keep out moisture! Good luck...
verisharp 1 year ago
Very informative! Can it be used as a lamp oil?
englishmaninontario 1 year ago
@englishmaninontario Yes it can. If you haven't already seen it you can view my video titled Primitive Birch Bark Oil Lamp. The Birch oil works well for a lamp but smokes quite a bit.
phreshayr 1 year ago
Great video.
BlueDogBushcraft 1 year ago
@BlueDogBushcraft Thank you
phreshayr 1 year ago
Deja view ! Still cool though ;o)
Ggreenvideos 1 year ago
@Ggreenvideos Thanks. Ya I took the first one off because I said something in there that after watching it again i wasn't sure if it was right or not so I did not want to leave it up. I want to be sure that what I say is true to the best of my knowledge. It was one of those things that the mouth goes a little faster than the brain.
phreshayr 1 year ago
I can't wait to try this, Great Video.
ManTheBush 1 year ago
@ManTheBush Thanks. Let me know how it goes for you when you do try it.
phreshayr 1 year ago
Great vid, I was wondering how would this be for a fire starter, seeing as birch bark takes a flame so well, maybe slathering this onto some kindling might work good.
dbyeayea 1 year ago
@dbyeayea It would probably work great. The reason I say that Is because I made a primitive type Birch Oil Lamp today that worked great. The oil burned fine except it put off black smoke just like when burning the Birch Bark
phreshayr 1 year ago
@dbyeayea I was thinking the same thing
romeodelta1178 1 year ago