Cat tail cordage?

C

chewbacca

Joined
Mar 17, 2007
Messages
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Does anyone have some start-to-finish info on making cord from cat tails. I am not even sure if I am supposed to use the leaves or the stalk. I saw a tutorial a while back, but that was with, I think Yucca.

For that matter, does anyone have other uses for cat tails. I thought "Survivorman" said they were edible.

My dad used to soak them in kerosene from fall into winter and use them as torches around a skating pond back in the woods...can you say great childhood!
 
the fluff frominside the cattail heads makes great tinder and takes a ferro spark pretty good the stalk from the cat-tail can be used as hand drill spindle when fir making, and the roots are edible during certain times of the year... I never heard of catail cordage..but if it can be done I'm interested..that sure is a usefull plant.
 
The root of cattails is a tuber -like a sweet potato - it can be washed, boiled and eaten - or roasted in foil over hot coals of a campfire. Good luck..
 
Cattail, bulrush, and the like have a multitude of uses. I have seen them made in to baskets, sandals, mats for sleeping on, hats, fish traps, bundled together and used for thatching on huts, floats, and I have seen boats and rafts made from them. The pollen head can be boiled when green and eaten, or dried and ground in to a flower. tinder from the dried pollen head and the edible roots have been mentioned. My experience is that if the roots don't come from clear moving water there very bitter.
 
FIRST AID USES: - female flower head used as a wound dressing
- leaves used as styptic, anaesthetic, antibiotic, antiseptic (sticky juice
between young leaves)
- pasty starch has soothing effect on Poison Ivy and burns
- pasty starch, mixed with fat - salve for dressing burns
- rootstalk tea - small palmful of rootstalk flour to one cup of hot water
controls diarrhea

TECHNOLOGICAL USES (includes processing technique):
Female flower head - pillow and mattress stuffing
-used as insulation - between clothes layers (could be life
saving)
- stuffed in footwear
- made into sleeping bags
- used as diapers
- used as tinder, slow match, and insect smudge
- used as a torch with oil, pitch, or tallow
Flower Stalk - arrow shaft
- trap part
- hand drill (fire)
Leaves - water indicator
- insulation in the form of sleeping mats
- shelter covering (mats)
- clothing -hats, visors, etc.
- baskets
- cordage
- lining for steam pit cooking
- lining for storage pits
----------------------------

I took this from my notes - easier than retyping everything. :D

The Cattail cordage I've made was made by splitting the leaves and then reverse twisting like any other kind of cordage material. It is not particularly strong. Kochanski has a method that apparently makes stronger cordage but I haven't tried it yet.

If you're going to use it for cordage, wet it down (don't soak), shake off the excess water and store overnight between damp (not wet) towels. In the boonies, you could probably use damp grass in lieu of towels. This is called 'mellowing' and it's how Cattails are prepared for basketmaking.

You can also use old, dead leaves for reverse twisting without 'mellowing', although more leaves will break.

A Cattail hat -
SmallCattailhat1.jpg


Cattail basket -
7e517550.jpg


Another style of Cattail basket (the one on the left) -
588c2914.jpg


Doc
 
I realized that my last post could be somewhat confusing. When I talk about using the leaves for cordage and basket making, the leaves are always dead leaves. Mellowing makes them easier to work, with less breakage.

Doc
 
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