Giveaway! -What can I do with all this?

Oak (Both Red and White)- acorns are good for flour and eating after the acids are leeched out. It's said that the white oak has a compound in its inner bark that is similar to either Tylenol or Aspirin (I can't remember which).

Hickory- excellent firewood. good for handles of implements. hickory nuts are good to eat.

Beech- beechnuts are edible.

Sycamore- good source of fresh drinking water. sap can be boiled to make a type of syrup, but it takes a lot of the sap and the results are mediocre. Makes good bows (or so I've read). The fruit of the tree is edible, however more a medicinal use.

Tulip Poplar-excellent for cordage.

Box Elder- cottonwood family. great bow drill material.

Dogwood- it's pretty. but I don't know of any use for it.

Northern White Pine-needles are good for tea. nuts are edible. boughs make great shelter material. another decent firebow material.

Sumac- as long as it's the red (staghorn or smooth) it's good for a lemonade type drink.

Rhododendron- it's pretty.

Mountain Laurel- don't know of a use for this one either.
 
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KEmSAT-Survival said:
Oak (Both Red and White)- acorns are good for flour and eating after the acids are leeched out. It's said that the white oak has a compound in its inner bark that is similar to either Tylenol or Aspirin (I can't remember which).

I was aware of the analgesic effects of willow bark, but I didn't know oak had similar properties. Cool!

Hickory- excellent firewood. good for handles of implements. hickory nuts are good to eat.

I used to gather hickory nuts for my pet chipmunks. I didn't often dip into their supply, but I oven-roasted them when I did.

Beech- beechnuts are edible.

If you can beat the other critters to them when they are ripe. ;)

Sycamore- good source of fresh drinking water. sap can be boiled to make a type of syrup, but it takes a lot of the sap and the results are mediocre. Makes good bows (or so I've read). The fruit of the tree is edible, however more a medicinal use.

How do you prepare and eat those little fuzzballs? :eek:

Tulip Poplar-excellent for cordage.

What part?

Box Elder- cottonwood family. great bow drill material.

Dogwood- it's pretty. but I don't know of any use for it.

The natural, symmetrical forking with upswept tines make these my favorite source for fire-roasting sticks. :)

Northern White Pine-needles are good for tea. nuts are edible. boughs make great shelter material. another decent firebow material.

Sumac- as long as it's the red (staghorn or smooth) it's good for a lemonade type drink.

Love the stuff! I usually throw in some green sassafrass twigs and call it "Sassumac Tea". :D

Rhododendron- it's pretty.

Mountain Laurel- don't know of a use for this one either.
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Thanks guys! Keep 'em coming! :thumbup:
 
machete, dont put me in the drawing for the winner, i just won a different giveaway, so id like to give others a better chance (not that my post was the most informative anyway). but definatly a very generous contest.
 
Woohoo! Just hit 2000!

Thought I'd bump this up. It seems about half of the entrants do not want the prize? :confused:

Ya'll are hurting my feelings. :(

Is my contest really that lame? :o

OK, in addition to bushcrafty tips, I will expand the contest to include suggestions for "How to have a successful giveaway contest." :eek: :foot: ;)

Still on until April 7th!
 
MacHete said:
OK, in addition to bushcrafty tips, I will expand the contest to include suggestions for "How to have a successful giveaway contest." :eek: :foot: ;)

Still on until April 7th!
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I thought it was quite a generous giveaway, so thats not the problem. I wanted to enter, but didn't know what to advise. I figure lack of prize accepting is because all the forest macguyvers that can help you already have all the cold fusion reactors they need. all natural cold fusion reactors non the less.

So here's my entry for How to make a successful giveaway. In additon to the obvious "Give away a busse, or KMG", Everybody just posts pictures of cute things. and if we make you "awww" it counts as an entry.

47ce75504c3d807_animal.jpg

Just look at his little tongue! awwww!
 
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Gifts are great, Mac.

I just want the dry bag and knife.

If it is more convenient for you, send them now. :)


Kis
 
MacHete said:
Woohoo! Just hit 2000!

Thought I'd bump this up. It seems about half of the entrants do not want the prize? :confused:

Ya'll are hurting my feelings. :(

Is my contest really that lame? :o
Click to expand...

Can't speak for anybody else, but I think your contest idea is a good one - above average in the sense that we can all learn from it.

It's an excellent prize, but, I don't run contests, so I don't enter them.

Doc
 
Machete>>

On the Sycamore:
Apparently I was thinking two things and typing something else. Ignore the edible part. The rest is true.
The edible one is an Egyptian variant that has to be split open so a wasp can lay eggs inside the fig.
Sorry.


Tulip Poplar Cordage>>

A trick I learned from a book by the McPhereson's:

Take your knife, axe, machete, whatever... cut a circle deep enough to get through the outer bark around the bottom of the tree about a foot from the ground, then up as high as you want (usually about 4-6 ft). Then cut a line from one circle to the other vertically. Peel that row of bark off the tree, weight it down in a stream or some other source of water and in about a week or two you'll have some kick ass cordage material from the loosened fibers in the inner side of the bark.
 
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the only thing I have to add is that EVERYBODY should learn how to make a whistle in the woods. With 2 broken legs I made this on my first try in about 5 minutes.
Whistlewhole.jpg

Whistleside.jpg

Whistlebreakdown.jpg


Cut around where you want it to slip off of, beat it gently with a stick to loosen the fibers. Cut out a wedge for the whistle part, pull the ends apart, make the internal cutout, trim the tip flat for the mouthpiece, reattach and good to go.

making a whistle this way is just as important as fire IMO, as most small branches/saplings can be grabbed quite easily. I thought about this while lying in the field after breaking my legs, as I had no signal device other than smoke (farmer would not have liked me burning down his field methinks), and you can loose your voice quite easily, but this takes minimal energy to make and use, and is as easy as breathing to have a regular, loud signal.

I'm not familiar with most of your trees, but I have made the whistles with 4 or 5 different woods and they all work out OK.


P.S. Great idea for a giveaway!! I just did not think that what I had to say was that suitable for the contest, but since you asked!
 
look for oak knobs and you can make some great cups and bowls from these, and it doesnt harm the tree
 
Congrat's Mac on the 2000th post...last time I looked you were on 1,999 and I was going to make note of your 2,000th in the HI Cantina. :thumbup:
 
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MacHete said:
Woohoo! Just hit 2000!

Thought I'd bump this up. It seems about half of the entrants do not want the prize? :confused:

Ya'll are hurting my feelings. :(

Is my contest really that lame? :o

OK, in addition to bushcrafty tips, I will expand the contest to include suggestions for "How to have a successful giveaway contest." :eek: :foot: ;)

Still on until April 7th!
Click to expand...


Hi Machete, I know what you mean! My One Thousand Posts "Shelter" contest is a resounding flop! :foot: :rolleyes: I thought I'd provoke all kinds of creative entries, but so far only Bryan Breeden has submitted an entry! (Thanks Bryan! :cool:)

So I guess I'll choose "How to have a sucessful giveaway contest" fo a Thousand, Alex. My answer would be to just give stuff away without requiring too much of people. :rolleyes: I wish I had a clue what to suggest you should do with the resources you mentioned, but the well is dry.

Congrats on 2000!

-- FLIX
 
Ok, so I did some research so i could enter this draw. Though the turtle should count. It's sooo cute!

Hickory is apparently quite suitable for making a bow, and often used as a backing. Sycamore also works, but I think its mostly for a quick made survival bow, as it drys quickly over a fire.

A link for you http://www.murraygaskins.com/abw.html#

lots of how to type things on youtube too. Though most are with planned store bought woods.
 
FLIX said:
Hi Machete, I know what you mean! My One Thousand Posts "Shelter" contest is a resounding flop! :foot: :rolleyes: I thought I'd provoke all kinds of creative entries, but so far only Bryan Breeden has submitted an entry! (Thanks Bryan! :cool:)

So I guess I'll choose "How to have a sucessful giveaway contest" fo a Thousand, Alex. My answer would be to just give stuff away without requiring too much of people. :rolleyes: I wish I had a clue what to suggest you should do with the resources you mentioned, but the well is dry.

Congrats on 2000!

-- FLIX
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A lot of mitigating circumstances here guys. When it is -30 Celcius outside not many people are going to try a duct tape heat sheet shelter:eek:, nor can everybody know what to do with plants that are not native to their area. If you make the contest very specific only those with the specific knowledge/supplies/ climate will be able to enter. Plus once one person posts everything that I know, why should I post?

That being said I enjoy outside the box contests- just hard for many to complete the tasks.

Still hope my whistle is a valid entry!
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
A lot of mitigating circumstances here guys. When it is -30 Celcius outside not many people are going to try a duct tape heat sheet shelter:eek:
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Good point. I also realize that I was asking people to spend some money on the materials for my contest. Nonetheless, if someone came up with a creative shelter design, even if they had to build it in their living room and posted pictures, that would be a valid entry. ;)

Sorry for the hijack, MacHete!
 
FLIX said:
Good point. I also realize that I was asking people to spend some money on the materials for my contest. Nonetheless, if someone came up with a creative shelter design, even if they had to build it in their living room and posted pictures, that would be a valid entry. ;)

Sorry for the hijack, MacHete!
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really?! Man is the contest still running? I've made some awesome pillow forts in my day!
 
FLIX said:
Sorry for the hijack, MacHete!
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No problem- I welcome the traffic! :D

Hmm. Are my criteria really that narrow? I thought most of the trees I listed were ubiquitous enough that most folks here would have some experience with at least a few of them. :confused: And, my project ideas were just kind of a "get the ball rolling" thing.

CLAKris-Yes, I like the whistle idea, and I mean to try it out/practice it soon.

Munky- I do have a soft spot for turkles- my Dad used to keep a bunch while I was growing up. At least one of my brothers still does. I can't tell from the pic if that one is something exotic, or just a freindly neighborhood Box Tortoise. BTW- what is it eating? It looks like a giant corn muffin or some lumpy mashed potatoes! :eek::confused:
 
You can also make a whistle out of an acorn if it's whistles your after.

http://www.sciencetoymaker.org/acorn/assembl.html Found a nice little tutorial.

I have no idea about the turtle, it came from the internets. Always makes me smile when I see it. looks like mashed potatoes to me too though.

my friend has a turtle. He used to feed it little feeder fish, but one of them was very fast and crafty and it survived. Now its too big for the turtle to eat
and just swims around in the tank stealing the turtles food. I swear, that fish intentionally harasses that turtle just for kicks.
 
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