HOW TO MAKE A BIRCH BARK BASKET

How to make a birch bark basket
Staying on an extended period of time in the wilderness is not a walk in the park. It is certainly nothing like what we see inside the movies. Forests and parts of dense vegetation aren't Shangrila or paradise. You may be the type of survivalist who has a passion for wilderness survival skills or camping, and you also want to have a level of confidence to understand you will be okay regardless of what. If that's the case, an excellent survival skills to understand is making containers. This i will be explaining learning to make birch back baskets.

birch bark basket making
Making birch bark baskets is a skill used for 1000's of years for different purposes which has proven it relevance for wilderness survival. It could be used to store food and earn waterproof cooking containers.

MATERIALS You will have to MAKE A BIRCH BARK BASKET: These are materials you will have to gather to learn how to make birch back basket:

Birch back

Knife

Small nail

THE BIRCH BACK

Learning how to harvest a birch back is vital so you don't eliminating the tree. Birch bark is easier to peel when the sap is running along with the moisture content inside the trunk is just right. To harvest birch bark, make a vertical cut three feet long inside the tree. A cylinder of bark is carefully peeled from around tree. The brown or yellow inner bark stays on so the peeling does not cause any harm to the tree. The peeled bark is extremely light and flexible. It can be rolled with the back to front, and tied which has a string. It must be used immediately or stored in an awesome place to dry out.

THE ROOT

Roots from the spruce tree are used for sewing birch back basket. Long, straight root base is easier to split plus more efficient to sew with. Medium -sized trees with long, very straight limbs will often have straight roots. A rainy day is an ideal time to harvest spruce roots. This once the bark is easiest to peel through the spruce roots. Roots with red bark are the best. They are young and robust. Black roots are old and break easily.

MAKING THE BIRCH BACK BASKET

Prior to starting work on the basket, you wish to prepare all the materials. It is possible to soak the spruce root with water from the nearby river so the spruce root softens and is easier to split. Starting towards the end, a knife is used to split the root right down. The bark is peeled off and the bare root is split in two again. Cut knots are cut away because they will break later. Sharpen the end of the root to a point for stitching.

The outer layer with the birch back is gently scraped using a knife to remove the knots and peeling layers of bark. The greater the bark is scraped, and sanded, the less lines remain. The birch back might be cut into the shape with the basket using a birch bark basket pattern.

Then damp the birch back with wet cloth and expose it to heat so it can soften. When it has softened, work with an awl to punch the stitching holes. Then fold the birch back according to the basket pattern and insert small wooden sticks to hold the shape as the birch back dries. Wrap two moist strips of willow down the inside and the away from the basket top and permit it to dry.

Learning how to make a birch back basket is a good survival skill and makes wilderness survival less difficult. You have a safe place to keep food and baskets for organizing your survival camp.