Tar/waterproofing the natural way

[Psywar1-0]

Need to repair a hole in a boat or waterproof your Cache?

Try this recipe:

3/5ths boiled Pine Sap
1/5th Animal Fat
1/5th Charcoal

Collect a 5 pounds of Pine Sap.

Boil it (be careful its highly flammible) in a metal pot and pour thru a metal strainer. If you dont have a strainer, then just skim the larger impurities and such off. You will have pieces of bark and twigs, ants all kinds of impurities.

Powder the charcoal and add it to the sap while its still hot and mix well.

Then add the fat, small ammounts at a time. If you are starting to run out of sap, heat it up and cut it some more with fat.

This mixture can be painted on anything and dries to a hard tar like substance. In the winter its harder and will shatter, Keep it out of the sun as it will heat up and run off.

[CSB]

Thanks for posting the recipe. For years I've heard of North Carolina's popularity during the age of wooden ships for the vast pine forests, with bountiful supplies of tar, that coated the ship's hulls. And coated sailor's pony tails (hence the sailor nicname of "tar," ever popular in crossword puzzles).
Even the sailor's uniforms were fitted with a back bib to keep their tarred hair from sticking to the back of their shirt.

And of the men who worked the docks, it was said "You could tell a man from North Carolina by the tar on his heels .." Hmmm, Tarheel, good name for an NC college team ...

Now I'll try and mix up a batch.

[Sacamuelas]

For those of us that are novice wilderness men, can you give a brief explanation of the most expedient "field" method to obtain 5 lbs of pine sap. I can figure out how to easily obtain the other ingredients.

I googled and read about boiling split pieces then allowing to cure(solidify). Any better,quicker methods?

[Psywar1-0]

The sap comes out of the tree any place there is a break in the skin/bark, Its kinda like blood :-) Look for large clumps where lower branches have came off. In a long term setting you can make cuts to trees around your AO and collect the sap that builds up. Always make the cut on the same side of the tree, that way you dont "Ring" the tree and kill it.

Edited to add:

the way to tell if you have the perfect mix of Sap/Fat/Char is to mix it up, paint some on a thing piece of birchbark, let set and bend birchbark. If the bark bends and the mix doesnot crack its the perfect mix for reparing boats.