Hand Made Cordage

I love learning new skills but more than that I love actually using the skill to make something useful. Making cordage from foraged materials is one such skill I acquired in the last few years. The light colored fiber and cord on the right is from a shrub we call "leather wood" but I a not sure if that is it's correct name.It is definitely leather like and so flexible that you can actually tie the limbs in a knot. The fiber to the left is the inner bark of' basswood'or 'little leaf linden'. It is one of the best foragable fibers in our area.Both of these fibers need to be collected in early summer or late spring when there is plenty of sap to allow the bark to be removed easily. Of course pulling off the bark will kill the tree so I pick one tree or shrub ,cut it down , take every bit of bark I can, and use the tree for firewood. This will provide fiber for a lot of projects. The basswood inner bark is made up of multiple thin layers that can be separated as is the leather wood bark to a lesser extent. The fiber can be used 'as is' but is much more useful as cordage. I could show you how to make cordage in a few minutes but I am not so sure about telling you how to do it! Starting with two strands of slightly damp fiber, the fist strand is given a clockwise twist.Strand one is now brought over strand two in a counterclockwise direction and strand two is twisted clockwise. Each strand is twisted clockwise in it's turn as the two strands are twisted around each other in the opposite counter clockwise) direction. It is much easier than that sounds. The opposite twist keep it from unraveling and is the basis of most rope and cordage Some people twist the fiber by rolling on their thigh with the palm of the hand. That method is very fast, several feet a minute can be made. I have not mastered that method and use my fingers to twist the fiber, I make a few inches a minute. A caution to any men who might try the thigh method, do not try it while wearing shorts unless you were wanting to remove those leg hairs anyway!