What's your favorite natural cordage?

I make various natural cordages from grass, canna leaves, mulberry bark, daylily leaves, iris leaves, vinca vines, and various root barks, etc. My favorite for light use is daylily cordage and mulberry bark cordage for heavier use.
What's yours?

 

Elephant grass works great but, will cut you to shreds if your not careful.


Improvise, Adapt, Modify, and Overcome. FTM/PTB

 

I believe in using what you have. You can use stuff like jute twine and practice doubling it by reverse twisting it on itself to make a thicker version. In this way, you can have fire tinder and whatever strength rope that you may need.

 

Never tried Elephant grass. Is that similar to wire grass found in marshy areas?

 

How much ash do you use and how long do you soak the vines/bark for?

 

Bumping because I am interested to know if any monkeys make their own cordage and what do they use. I think this would be a useful skill to have. I wonder what I can find in urban areas to make cordage.

 

rough cordage is grape vines soaked in water over night and then woven/braided into usable lengths... ( I have loads of grapevines.).. back up is Virginia creeper.... same process...

 

Entrails from one's enemies?

 

I've never tried with anything but yucca and Spanish bayonet.

I did take a few weeks and learned to make crappy cordage, fair sewing materials, a few baskets, and an ugly but loved hat. (I'd aggravate my daughter with threats to wear it to school to pick her up...ect.)

I could see the leaves of Texas river cane possibly being cordage material.

 

soaking? to make it more pliable?

Is is tougher when it dries out after you braid it?



My grandfather had one of these, and we used stripped cane and horse hair

 

I braid and use it wet... it's more pliable and limits breakage... once dry it seems to hold well .... I've only used it on temp shelters and the like... so I can't specify how long it lasts....

 

Made it with cypress bark, palmetto leafs, palmetto stems, basic grass if it's tall enough. and thistle stem, probably a few others. Bark cordage is the "best" to my eyes, but that is largely because it is stronger, thinner than most of the others, and easier to twist and carry. Got a technique, so I'm sort of indifferent unless I have a specific project I an concerned about.

 

Heck, I'm just interested in seeing how it's done.

 

So am I. I found some daylily plants in a public right away. I was thinking of getting some browned leaves and trying to make some cordage. I read up and saw that the dead leaves are perfect.

 

i was messing around with plastic for makin icicles... we dont have thim in the SW so im doing some fake ones for the holidays and if was looking for an easy way to do strips from plastic bottles. And this guy has a unique and simple way of making cordage out of plastic bottles.