Hi,

Does anyone know if it is possible to use any of the UK birch / or
alternatives to create a birch bark canoe ?

Thx...

JimmyHoffa wrote:

Does anyone know if it is possible to use any of the UK birch / or
alternatives to create a birch bark canoe ?

Canoes can be made with a number of different barks. The requirement is that
the bark is fairly uniform and elastic. Spruce, elm, chestnut, hickory,
basswood and cottonwood have all been documented as used. However, only paper
birch has the properties that are highly desirable. The other barks will
produce a canoe with shorter life and will be more difficult to work with.
Source: The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America, Adney and Chapelle.

Mike

Michael Daly :
Canoes can be made with a number of different barks. The requirement
is that the bark is fairly uniform and elastic. Spruce, elm,
chestnut, hickory, basswood and cottonwood have all been documented
as used.

I know that people here in Sweden have built servicable canoes from
spruce (Picea abies) bark. Not great by any means, but servicable.

However, only paper birch has the properties that are
highly desirable. The other barks will produce a canoe with shorter
life and will be more difficult to work with. Source: The Bark
Canoes and Skin Boats of North America, Adney and Chapelle.

I expect that you will have a real problem finding a birch with the
proper quality of bark (remember, they tried to use as few pieces as
possible since seams are weak -- and leak! -- points).

Some more sources to look at might be:

Michael Kerwin
GA-O-WO: Building an Iroquios Elm Bark Canoe
Bulletin of Primitive Technology (6), 1993

Jim Miller
Building a Birch-Bark Canoe
Bulletin of Primitive Technology (20), 2000

David Gidmark
The Algonquin Birchbark Canoe
Shire Ethnography (1988), Aylesbuty, UK

Jim Dina, et. al.
Making a Spruce Bark Canoe In The Wilderness
Bulletin of Primitive Technology (26), 2003

D. R. Doerres
Canoe Tree
Bulletin of Primitive Technology (6), 1993

/Par

--
Par
Ignorance is a renewable resource
-- PJ O'Rourke

Par wrote:

I expect that you will have a real problem finding a birch with the
proper quality of bark (remember, they tried to use as few pieces as
possible since seams are weak -- and leak! -- points).

It's hard to find good paper birch here in Canada - the kind of big, old growth
trees that provide a large enough piece of bark are getting rare.

I never realized how elastic paper birch was until after reading Adney &
Chapelle and Gidmark and then playing with some bark while on a hike.
Remarkable stuff!

Mike