Makes people appreciate that twine and rope you just go buy in the hardware store.

One thing we don't appreciate in these days of machine-made everything is how much labor went into even the simplest items before industrialization. Imagine having to sit there working for so long just to make what amounts to a piece of twine! No doubt you could buy a ball of spun twine in the towns, but even that took far more labor than we expect.

This guy is a magnificent teacher! What he teaches could save someone's life. I love watching these videos!

Protip when cutting spiral cordage, stab the knife into the stump and hold the sheet with 2 hands.

Next video: How to handle your neighbor when they catch you taking bark from their tree.

i feel like if there was an apocalypse this channel is going to be something that we wished we all watched sooner

The thin roots of coniferous (pine, spruce) trees work well for cordage and basket weaving.

john was just determined to break all the cord haha

Love videos like this! Especially the bark cordage, such a useful skill. With the hide, you don't need to cut it in a circle - you can use the shape the scrap is in, wet the strip and leave it to hang dry. It will naturally straighten out.

Awesome job guys! I am a spinner/weaver so enjoy any fiber arts information!

For those who missed it, yes, he said, "brain tan." You actually smush up the animal's brain into a paste that is used in a tanning process. The brain contains the tannins needed for preserving the hide. Grizzly, I know, but tanning is a dirty job, no matter how you go about it.

When splicing in another section, I usually take the "tail end" of the piece that I'm adding and splice it into the second leg of my cordage. The new strand ties the two old strands together and you don't have a tag end sticking out from your cord.

That is so awesome. I can imagine back in the days they have many things to do for prep. My dad used to do a double by taking a cordarge, apply some saliva and rub/twist it between his lap and palm of his hand.

This is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to see one day when I started following you for the cooking videos. Thanks!

Cordage from trees? Now that's extremely useful and convenient!

Red Hibiscus Tropical plant very very very strong when corded.

"Ya see how it looks almost like a cantaloupe?" ...no.

"What did he use for rope?" "Human hair...from my back"

brilliant. In the desert, you can do the same thing with yucca fiber or cedar bark.

Great job, great miniseries! Thanks Jon!

I Imagine that the first person engineering the mechanization of this process, as trivial as it is by modern standards, must have been incredibly wealthy given how time consuming this seems.

Very well done, Gentleman. At "the Park" in Monterey, we teach the 4th graders the importance of rope, its many uses and how it's made. Being Mexican California (1830) we use Sissal as was typical back then. Unfortunately, we only have 25 minutes for all this; so, so use pre-made, two stand Sissal twine to eventually make a 12 stand rope they get to keep. I am the only volunteer that explains "cordage" to them. At 9 and 10 years of age, they're not going to care; but I believe 30 seconds demonstrating this pays off in their eventual appreciation of their day with us. Until watching this video, I was self taught. Thanks to you both, I wasn't too far off! Another keeper for my video file and personal growth.

I really like the idea behind this, I love Dan's channel! And this channel is awesome as well, great partnership!

Really enjoy these segments. Thank you both.

This is great. If one needed stronger cordage and had time, one could made several lengths of these and plait them together. A 4-strand plait is pretty simple and makes round, thicker and stronger cordage. One could even splice these lines together while plaitting to make a longer rope.

Wow! This makes me so grateful for things like my shoe laces!

I love the idea of the two-ply reverse-wrap technique for making primitive cordage, for a couple of its properties: First, by twisting in one direction and wrapping in the other, the opposing twists/wraps push against each other, holding the cordage together and preventing it from unraveling. Second, if you imagine a given length of bark getting twisted/wrapped into a piece of cordage that ends up being 1/4 the length of the original bark, that means the resulting cordage is 4 times stronger than the bark fiber was initially, because you're packing all that original length into a shorter final length, yet not losing any of the tensile strength of the original, just compacting it. He also was a bit vague in the beginning on the reason for the offset versus twisting in the middle, but it's because you don't want your 'add-on' splices lining up in the same spot, weakening the cordage in that spot. You always want to keep these splices a few inches apart as you add each new piece. And he's right about the muscle memory -- if you have enough raw materials on hand, before you know it, you've twisted up several feet of the stuff. An excellent demo of the skill!

I'm so excited about this series! Thanks Townsends!

I am absolutely loving this new series! When I open a package from Jas Townsend and Son it’s like Christmas all over again.

Two of the best YT channels out there. Another great episode.

That is very interesting and useful. Thanks for sharing such great knowledge.

This is the coolest channel I never knew I wanted! Great job. I've been marathoning your videos and I've written pages of notes

This is one of your best videos yet. Very informative, fun to watch, great job!

I'm really enjoying this series so far. Great stuff!

I am loving this series and learning lots! Great collaboration! 👍✌

I loved this one! Great real life application of information. Thank you so much!

My new favorite video this is a great skill to learn. I remember learning this when i was a young boy. I used the skill for fishing making trot lines and bank lines.

Really enjoying this series so far team, thanks so much!

Really enjoying this new series. Lots of good info packed into very enjoyable settings.

That's very similar to straw work cord. You twist the one on the right twice, swap it under or over the left hand thread which becomes the right hand side ready for the next two twists

These videos are really awesome and interesting, can't wait to see more

Great knowledge video, very well done you two.

Thank You for another valuable set of instructions gentlemen. Sincere regards.

This is hand down the best guest. Very informative, with cool real life skills for surviving and even flourishing in the wild. Not just in dats of old. You can use these modern day

1775.. The First Frontier. 2775.. The Final Frontier.

Many weeds can be used for cordage as well, milk weed and nettle come to mind. You can also use this twist and wrap method in your hair to create 2 strand braids.

Very good information. You can use pine tree roots to make cordage as well, either single strand or twisted, depending on what you need it for and how strong it needs to be. I hope you'll make more of this type of video.

Amazing video! I'm very much looking forward to this series!

Thanks for bringing these old skills to your channel. I will definitely check out Dan's channel. I enjoyed this emesly.

A very useful skill indeed! Thanks so much for posting this video!

Makes you truly appreciate a good spool of Dacron.

I am a huge fan of Dan. Awesome to see these two together.

Great series, hopefully it will produce many more videos!

A technique I know of for leather cord/stripping is a spiral pull. Place a the disk started like he did, against the knife blade pushed tip into a wood base, so that as you tug the leather, it pulls the body of the leather to the wood, and cuts the strip. with practice, you can pull the whole strip fairly quickly and very evenly from the disk to the very center. a second blade or a spaced peg helps a lot to do this fast.

I love these informative videos. Something I can add to my reenactments and survival tactics. Thanks.

There are so many great plants out there, just waiting to be appreciated! This is a great series!

Nice! I have a quarter acre of tulip poplar (and hickory). It's nice to find instructions for making cordage with something easy to find! I love videos like this. Keep up the great work!

ive always loved the skill of making cordage so thanks so much on making a video on it! ~Luke

Thank you Dan! The circle thing is so cool!

Love the video, ☺. Poplar trees make really great walking sticks. 🌲

the west coast tribes used cedar, lasts longer and you can keep bugs out with the water you have to soak it in

COALCRACKER BUSHCRAFT! Love that you guys featured Dan! Can’t believe I’m only just now finding these gems!

This was incredible, thanks so much guys!

Thanks for introducing this man to us! Love your channel nd now his too!!

I am really digging these collaboration videos!

Love this video series from Townsends. Did anyone else have trouble following the instructions with this video? Wish they had picture and picture with a constant view of the cordage making.

Can you recommend a filling porridge for when you forage for cordage?

Great video! More of this, please!

I admire ur talent and information obtained from experience and education....thank u all...

Incredible, truly! One could really be self-sufficient out in the world, just with the right knowledge.

DAMMMMM that little bushcraft knife must be super sharp. It went through that pelt like it was nothing.

So simple, yet so amazing.

Great stuff! Please continue!

this new series is great, really enjoying it

Thanks for another great video

Wow! This is the same process I use to do what is called two strand twisting in my Daughter's hair. I guess some skills transfer over.

Bush Craft is still a major practice used by many Wilderness survivalist and campers the world over. There are still many schools that teach these crafts.

Nice video! This also tells you one thing after you spend some time making cordage. Mainly that when all cordage and rope was made like this that you just didn't cut a rope without thinking like we do now. It was too much work to make the stuff to waste it like we do now.

This is such a great channel

Always like seeing two great content creators coming together to.... create good content.

Damn Mr coalcracker bushcraft himself. Another great video man keep them up. Special guests are awesome

I twist cordage the other direction. Twist away, roll it back. Cedar bark makes really soft cordage. 3 ply is the same technique but each strand has to maintain its position in the orde. An easy way to practice is to use 3 different colors of fiber.

Awesome, thank you Townsends!

Watching the hide-string part of this I kept thinking "Wow, how handy a modern sharp pair of scissors would have been back then. That one tool could almost make a person into a factory on the frontier." But I'm sure with experience sharp speciality knives of the time period for leatherwork did much the same thing.

Wow, very informative. Thank you.

This is exactly the kind of stuff that I love to obsess over. Odds are I'm never going to need to make cordage out of the bark of a tulip poplar, but just the knowledge of how it is/was done is fascinating.

my question is, how do you deal with the ends for optimal security, how do I tie it off and make sure it doesn't come undone?

Really enjoyed this, thanks!

I really love the idea of cutting a circle to make long cordage. It's brilliant!

Wow..trees vie for dominance..I never really thought about it, but even plants are trying to "one-up" each other..

Top notch video, thank you!

great stuff! thanks guys

This is awesome, please more videos like this

Thank you. That was very informative and interesting. Seriously, The modern survivalists talk about things like this, but to actually see it in a more historical context is great.

Dan's knowledge here really shines, it's just overflowing.

Very informative video. Thanks for sharing.

A stronger more durable, uniform cordage can be made by folding the fibers in half. Reverse wrap. As the materials start to thin, take some more fibers, double them and blend in. Repeat. The problem with the 1/3-2/3s method here is the “lump” that forms in the splice. If you try to use it for a bow drill, that’s the first place it breaks. If you keep each length equal, and blend in, than you can control the uniformity of the cordage. Plus the addition of new material is more durable and stronger.

This is a very important skill to learn, as some form of cordage goes into every part of bushcraft. From trapping food, to making clothing, shelter, and tools, there is always a type of binding or tying involved. I once used green tree bark from a branch that had broke in the wind a few hours before to make a 3 or 4 foot long cord. I took an old tin can from a can of corn, and put the bark strips into it, filled it with water and put that on the stove to boil. Once cool, i used the same method of twisting he did, and tied a knot at the end to hold it. Then i wrapped it loosely around my wrist. It dried like that, and everywhere i went, people saw it and were amazed. They asked what it was made of, how i made it, and once they knew how, it blew their mind. They didn't believe how strong the cord was until i had them pull on it. Skills like this not only are fascinating, but could possibly save lives. I'm very glad you have decided to show these skills. Things like this should never be a forgotten skill. Thank you for sharing! :)

I made a lanyard for a folding saw from this stuff as part of a demo and years later its still going strong. Remarkable stuff

So interesting! Thank you for this. Also I love the music. Could you please list what it is and where it might be available?