We don’t have many conifers at all in our ancient woodland in Kent. But in September we visited the beautiful Isle of Arran, which has a significant amount of coniferous trees, including many species of pine and spruce, hemlock and larch. It provides a fabulous opportunity to practice our bushcraft skills in a different environment. One of those skills was to make some pine resin glue.
First up you need to collect your resin.
Next place it on a hot rock next to a fire so that it melts.
Grind some ash into a fine powder and mix into the melted resin.
Then leave it to cool down. To use, simply reheat until it is pliable. Here you can see a limpet shell glued into a piece of birch to make a bearing block for fire by friction.
If you have any resin left over, you can use it for a candle.
You can see loads of photos form our amazing trip to the Isle of Arran on our Facebook page.
How do I get the resin
Hi Jake, you need to look for resinous conifers such as pine and spruce. Then look for the resin ‘bleeding’ out of a tree. That’s all there is to it!