Grabbed a nice little chunk of pine sap this morning to add to my little fire tin. So useful. Might make some glue sticks too. 633B5387-F8A6-48F8-8087-9373A73D5844 by Hanzo posted Mar 17, 2019 at 13:38
Yah know - I've been wonder about the uses for dried pine pitch. There a 80 year old planting a half mile back that's apparently infested with something that creates channels to the sapwood. I can pry off a two pound chunk with a pocket knife. Some trees have old sap runs down to the base. So whats it good for?
Accelerant for fire starting. Melt and mix with charcoal to make glue. There are some medicinal uses. You can look those up. I use it mainly for the first two.
The original glue sticks made the Indians used pine sap, charcoal, and animal scat. Basically melt the sap outside over a fire in a tin can so it can be discarded after, mix equal parts of charcoal and scat powdered finely. then add that slowly to the melted pitch, stirring till it thickens up pretty well. then dip wooden pieces into the mix to get a large glob on the end. and let cool. To use, heat the glob over a fire to make the outside runny and smear over the pieces to be glued. As a side note: If you replace the animal scat with bees wax, you are making what was once known "Cutlers Glue" which was used to glue the soles on to shoes up till the early 1900's. It sets up a little slower. and both mixes once dried are waterproof.
It is medicinal, an antibacterial (from the article linked in the thread: A.) Self Aid Pine sap properties include: antiseptic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial Treat wounds – apply it to cuts like you would super glue. Follow first-aid protocol for cleaning/flushing first. Stop bleeding – apply a soft glob (heat if necessary) to help stop bleeding. Treat skin rashes and eczema with ointments,tinctures, and salves. For tinctures, use 190 proof Everclear since resin won’t dissolve with watered down alcohols. Chew softer sap straight off the tree like a gum for sore throats and colds. You could pre-make “gum” with these ingredients: bees-wax, pine sap, and honey Decent Pine Sap Article...
Thanks all. Obviously a hole in my "stuff"... Edit: looked in the tin I keep in the shed - almost eight pounds of the stuff I've picked up while walking. I mean big chunks with minimal bark or other debris. I'm off tomorrow, so I'll set aside an hour or so to melt/clean it as I've been reading. @mm - i do have some everclear, so I'll try to create what's known as a decoction... I've used fresh needles and tips for medicinal stuff, but never tried this rock hard dried out sap.
What's it good for? Well, it's good for $5.00 an ounce if you sell it on Ebay. Plus shipping. Two pound chunks? Call that the $160.00 Giant Economy Size.
They cook sweet potatos and white potatoes in pine sap they say the sap cooks the potatoes just right and it was also used to keep the potatoes longer because when the sap cooled it acted like a protective layer take out of the hot sap wrap in newspaper the sap sticks to the paper don't eat the skin or paper just the inside of the potatoes.
Followup: The lowest price listed on eBay for pine sap: $4.99/oz, plus $2.60 shipping. Auction: Pinon Resin Pine Resin Sap Organic US NM Mountains Piñon Pine Pitch Rosin New | eBay Of course "wild" pine sap is all-natural and organic. It's also gently hand-picked without harming the pine tree. Any monkeys out there that could use a little more discretionary income (Can't we all?) might consider putting a few auctions up. $5.00 isn't much, but neither is 1 oz. When someone wants more (which should be most people, since no one wants to run out as soon as they start using it), you're probably talking about 3, 5, 10, or even 100 ounces. It all depends on how much they need, and how fat they use it. Your actual shipping costs may be closer to $1.25 than anything up to 5 ounces. So ship free for 5 ounces or more. $24.95 isn't bad for a five ounce order if you net $23.70. Especially if you do it three times a day for a while. Then again, 15 orders of 1 ounce each would net you about $95.10. Do that every day or every week, and enjoy the gifts of Capitalism. That's a nice return for a few pleasant walks in the woods on a Saturday morning.
Turpentine or a good fire starter I bet they did not have a grandmother give them a dose of turpentine for everything that ailed them.
