Your introduction explaining the why you won't present ideas that have not gone through the scientific method as fact was brilliant. The content on this channel is always brimming with integrity. Now I'm going to be checking our European Silver Birch for fungus and to see if the bark lights just as well.

“Facts have to be derived from the scientific method “ this kind of statement is why I love your channel! Thank you!

“Facts have to be derived from the scientific method.” Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Having just seen a thread in a FB group (to which you also belong) in which most of the comments were just wild suggestions with no merit or literature to support them, my faith is restored. Your videos are quickly becoming some of my favorite.

Came here for chaga tinder, left with a biology lesson, I’d have to say it’s a good day!

We do have birch in abundance here in Sweden. Have to find me a chaga this summer. Have a great day!

Good to see that not everybody are slavishly following the hype without evidence!

Excellent. Have seen these in the woods all over where I live, in the NC mountains and didn’t know these facts. Thanks for the info. And also the plug to “not take all of it from the tree”. Need more teaching Ike that out there. Good stuff. 👍Thanks. Keep up the good works. Also like the military style presentation in teaching. Been there done that, and it works well. Again, Thanks 🙂

I have never seen chaga on any other species here in Alaska but birch. That was interesting to see it on a different tree species. I have heard that it grows on other species but have personally never seen it. Thanks for sharing.

Thnx Joshua Watched this video awhile ago & have been lookin for chaga on a hop hornbeam ever since. Found some a few days ago here in eastern Ontario.

The first minute of this video is exactly why I love getting information from you. What you share with us is proven and valuable and you have a genuine interest in making sure something is proven to you through the scientific method before putting information out into a public format. Thank you for that kind of integrity. Keep up the great work!

I dub thee The Professor; Now get us off this island!

Ah! Finally someone with actual knowledge, thank you!

Thank you for your professional approach to the medicinal benefits of Chaga.

I enjoy the expressions of your philosophy as much as your skills instruction. Thank you

Interesting! Thanks!!! 👍👍

Loads of great information

Thanks for the primer on chaga Josh. I enjoy the tea and only take a bit at a time. Nate

Hi Josh, I live in Australia and am a fairly new subscriber to your channel. Absolutely like and appreciate the knowledge that you impart. Very informative and easy to apply in this country as well. I'd like to add, as a fairly new person to outdoor/ survival skilling, your videos have been a pleasure to watch and learn from. Cheers mate, keep up the fantastic channel. Arthur.

Outstanding video sir 🙏

Josh as always 👍 👍, on the video. I've seen and used the horse hoof in the woods of East Tennessee, but if the Chaga is East Tenn., I'm probably have over looked it for years. I'll give a closer look, on my next walk ah bout, probably in the mornin'. Thanks for the fungi walk threw, your knowledge shares are always appreciated. Safe journeys my brother,,,,, God Speed, and God Bless,,, Semper Fi,,,

Solid video. Great content for the community. Valuable period of instruction and topic of discussion

I've found chaga on a hop hornbeam in western Vermont. It's in the same family as birch, betulaceae.

Very descriptive and educational sir. From a distance it looks just like the tree. Like a good deer hunter.

We also have a cool fungi( white punk/laetiporus portentosus) its very similar to chaga, just dry it out. But once fully dried out you can flint and steel it.

Horn Beam is related too the whiteBirch tree. And the Chaga fungi grows on other spicies too,but the most potent Chaga growes on white Birch. Thanks for the video,thumbs upp.

I have been drinking chaga tea also.I started drinking it cause of anti inflammatory benifits. Which I have seen evidence of (for me). You inlighten me on the harvest and where I got mind which was purchased .I Thank you for that. Thank you for all your fantastic info. Pam >

It is great to see Chaga growing. your perspective is excellent. Never be afraid to state your opinion conservation and good stewardship of resources shows appreciation. Chaga has been elusive to me here near the Esopus/Ashokan basin (my favorite fishing hole) . I keep looking for it and have not found it yet.. but the Horse shoe fungus is almost easier to find. I have a couple of them.. i slice them and light it with a magnifying glass and it smolders for a long time.. Flint and steel are a little harder to use to light the slices with so i stick to more deliberate igniters. Eventually i will stumble on the Chaga.. I collect birch bark on every hike. Your demonstration of the Adirondack fire bundle or nest (i forgot what you called it) was outstanding. That demonstration reinforced the use and best practices of birch bark. If there is a birch tree around i will have fire. I just love the stuff. I gather all the pine resin i can too.. i like to mix the pine resin with the birch bark, melt it all together into a gooey solid mass in a altoids tin. scoop out a wad of that and hit it with a ferro rod. and oh man... Resin and birch bark are just great.. the Fat wood from the white pine in my area is weak but works.. Just love the video man... really makes me think about what is available. makes me work on my eye to look out for resources.. thanks again J

Found a cunck of chaga on a hop hornbeam here in eastern Ontario. 👍 thnx GBGB

Great video GBGB! Very interesting and informative. To all the no sayers. 👍🍻

I found several chunks of chaga in my cousins yard. Unfortunately, the trees had been down 2 years so it's horse hoof, but I still grabbed 2 of them anyway. Also a bunch of fatwood shavings and put them in a ziploc for my bug out bag.

Awe....are we stepping on toes today....???? Great video...!!

Thanks for your forthrightness and ongoing integrity in distinguishing truth from myth and/or wives tales! Best wishes..... Ax

Loved the Troll stopper intro! Another great video, thanks Josh

Josh I was driving down a street in Indiana and noticed what looked like horse hoof fungus growing on a live maple tree. I parked the truck and sure enough it was, so I harvested a small piece and use it in my fire kit. Great video as usual!!

Have to agree. Chaga grows on anything it can. Live in Alaska, and have found it growing on cottonwood trees, or at least the young ones. Great videos. Keep up the good work

Josh, I've really enjoyed the knowledge you're sharing! Thanks for helping me learn these skills so that I can share them with my family and be better prepared.

Wow that is so cool I've never seen it grow on anything other than Paper Birch( yellow or white). Thank you another tree to keep an eye out for Chaga!

Per your email newsletter, commenting on your request for an AAR on content. Congrats on your channel’s one year anniversary! I love the content. Seeing the old school bushcraft skills used has been awesome. While I haven’t had the chance to see all your videos, some more stuff on hunting/tracking/trapping would be interesting. And thanks for doing your time in green.

Very good, Thank you very much

Good info. We have lots of birch in our woods, with chaga. I enjoy your videos.

Good find.

Enjoyed the presentation. I did not know that Chaga grew on another tree some good info. Thanks safe journeys.

Have found the horse hoof all over up here in North Idaho, still looking for the Chaga. Got a brother in the Seattle area who has found it, so I know it's around

Good information, thanks. I’d really like to see you do a video about techniques for starting fires in wet and windy conditions - for those times when it really counts. Keep up the good work!

I clearly didn't pay enough attention in biology because I had no idea there were fungi that could be that hard. I thought they were all like pizza mushrooms :-D

Thanks for sharing

What did the mushroom say to the flower on their first date? I'm a real fun guy (fungi).

That was very good Far I know for medicinal value it have to be harvested February and early mars on a live tree maximum medicinal value …here on the 55 latitude and -127 longitude I never see it growing on any other tree then birch and I am in the paradise of it Try to harvest it in February for medicinal and it is more dried…I got some tee for about 4 years freeze get warm on the sun never spoil and still smell good Thank you for your nice work

exellent as always living in southern ontario have never seen a hophornbeam tree like that! al seem to be very straight up and down this area makes me want to get out and exlore!! Thanks

I received some chaga in a subscription box some time ago. It was said to be a good fire starter. I appreciate the information because I am pretty ignorant to it’s uses.

Love birch, 1st discovered it for myself, when I was 13 hiking on the Appalachian trail through the Maryland run during a week long rain event, really saved my butt

I think it has to do with. Access if it is. Up hi or if the tree is coming down take it all but if I'm out on state land. I take what I need and leave the rest doing tree work I have the opportunity to get a lot of it

Great informational video! Thank you. Love your work!

Great info looking forward to the different preparations for the fungi.

Looking forward to a video on making the tea. I’ve had it at the gathering, but always hesitate to make it for myself. Want to make sure I harvest the correct fungus (this video helps) and going through the prep of the tea correctly as well.

Great info...!!!

TY Sir

We drink chaga every day! Glad to see you like it too, maybe it will help you with that survival medicine video

I could be mistaken but I believe I have seen this fungus growing on bay trees out here in Northern California. I live in the Bay Area. It could be a look alike but the next time I see it I will investigate further. Thank you for dropping all this knowledge.

Another great video, GB2! And FWIW, while you may be “a fun guy”, Chaga is a fungi (pronounced like “fun Jie”)... but either way, there’s a fungus amungus!

Joshua, thanks for sharing, I've never seen any in Oklahoma, atb brother 👍

Very entertaining lol. Good tips, wish we had chaga and birch in the buckeye. Northerners have is so easy:). Thanks again.

Watching video's from when i wasn't subscribed. You metion being in upstate Ny. I'm looking to buy property around Alexandria Bay, Ft Drum to Lake Placid. Camped throughout that area as a child. I'm retired now getting back into camping kinda primitive but mostly Overlanding with my Suburban. I like you videos. 🍺

Always leave some of the mushroom you harvest, just means more chaga for everyone next year! The forest is a wonderful bounty if your not greedy!

Liked commented and Here for the Mr. Green Beret! Now to watch

I have a ton of this around my area

I harvested some horse hoof fungi last year. I just used my knife and took the whole fungi. This year I noticed the fungi has grown back, I was very surprised to see it as I thought it would take longer than 12 months to grow back again.

some say that chaga is not so a typical parasitic mushroom, but rather saprophytic, as it gives the tree back also the medicinal or healing substances, while also taking some as a parasite

Ok...we’ll figure something out...I’ll figure out how to get a hold of you too.

Thank you for the information.

I love your videos I always learn so much

That was a great tutorial and walk through. I haven't found any yet but i'm working on it.......................

Great info! Great Channel! Subbed!

Josh, you Sir are a wealth of diverse knowledge. Thanks for sharing it! Now I've got an itch to research the more intricate details of Chaga and horse hoof (tea etc.) Fascinating stuff Brother. Are you familiar off hand with how Chaga grows in NW Idaho Panhandle? Going to visit there. I gotta look that up too.

It certainly does grow on other species. I found a softball sized one on a white oak in Vermont. That was without a doubt the biggest hornbeam tree I've ever seen.I was also not aware you can saw pieces off.I will practice that in the future. I'm not into decimating the forest for resources. Even when I find ginseng I leave the plant and take the seeds to plant elsewhere.

Birch are few and far between around my parts. Hop Hornbeam even more so. I keep looking, though. We need to get you a gimble, brother.

Another great video, thank you.

didn't now anything about chaga, thanks man

I had never heard of Chaga. Does it grow in the Southern states or just in the Northern states? When you were sawing that piece off it sounded like tough stuff. Thanks for the biology lesson! You are the MAN!

I live in the eastern woodlands near the GSMNF...Close to Gatlinburg...where the recent fire burned very large Amounts of Some of the best fatwood around. So there's that. No birch that I could find...plus ya really gotta be careful where you tread😀any idea what other fungus can be used? It got so hot we had cars melted to the asphalt and trees exploding...

Hoorse hoof josh can be found on live new zealand beech trees.

I'll have to look for it when I'm back home in New England. Never had chaga tea.

I can suggest that you check a site titled learn your land can't remember his name but from watching his videos I feel that he is one of the best in mushrooms and fungus and he always gives documentation and studies on everything he comments on in his videos

Thank you! Very informative

Seen a lot of video use of Chaga (not sure spelling) but didn’t know where and how to harvest it. Thanks.

Interesting! The chaga looks like a malignant mole growth...thank you for the excellent tutorial on this fungus!

Great video! Stay safe

Love the content, always informative. Are you planning on continuing the map reading and navigation series you started?

I also like drinking pinole as well. I have family that live in the copper canyons of Mexico who are raramuri who normally drink it often and make stuff with chia seeds that does alot of cool stuff

Interesting. My grandfather showed me this one, but we call it Sprängticka in Sweden. Ive seen this on oak a bunch but harder to spot. Did not know people used it as a medicinal.

That was so cool to see chaga up close like that. I drink it too, and have wanted to know how to identify it. Your video is the first one that actually showed and explained enough that now I can identify it. I'm sure now that I have seen it. I was also just wondering if you should harvest the whole thing, because as you mention that is what I have seen people who are touting it's medicinal benefits do, they just rip the whole thing off. But from wildcrafting protocols I know that you never take all of the plant. I wondered if fungi were different though because the fruiting body is only part of the whole. But I like your approach of only taking some of it, that seems more sustainable. Thanks Joshua!

There is not many mushrooms I would mess with but Chaga is one of them.

Challenge accepted, sir!

Thank you, sir.

Josh I have found that after you make Chaga tea , you can dry out the chaga and use it for tender.

Hey brother, it’s Andy...great info. Where in eastern upstate are you (roundabout)? The wifey and I will be visiting my brothers in November, Thanksgiving timeframe ...let me know.

I've picked a lot of chaga and I've only seen it grow on hornbeam and beech. Always tiny , usually dead. I pick up the dead ones now and then and dry them for tinder. I use them more as a bug repellant kind of incense. That was the biggest hornbeam I've ever seen. Everone seems to say the birchs betulinic acid is what give the chaga it's mojo. I'm no expert. I don't know if chaga off a horn beam would have medicinal properties.

Cliffhanger... Ready to see some Macgyver magic (or how to process, how are you lighting this)

Supermatch idea: I wonder if adding 2 more flipped around in reverse orientation so they light as the flame reaches the end and is dying out would add any benefit. Cooked my fingertips last night making my first one btw! I would not recommend holding a lit one! 😔

When you say upstate N.Y. which area..county? you don't even have to tell me the town. I live in Burlington, Vermont and go up to Underhill State park. We found ghost pipe, it was an awesome find. My fiance is ex-marine and we love the outdoors. Love your videos