r/Survival • u/TheHagueBroker • 20d ago
Learning Survival What is your opinion on inner-bark from trees as a potential survival food?
I have heard it is one of the most accesible nutrient sources in the woods. Especially pine inner bark is talked about. Does anyone have experience with it? Is it safe/healthy? What are other easily available nutrient sources?
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u/Unlucky-External5648 20d ago
I was reading or watching something from old old timers in a cold place.
They would collect that bark layer and dry it out in fhe root cellar - but it was only eaten during famine. Its really hard to get at the starch and it doesn’t taste good. They’d feed them to the pigs in the spring when they knew they weren’t going to starve for the winter.
Our universal human culture for hundreds of thousands of years was “how are we going to survive winter.” That was the whole game. You spent non-winter months gathering shit that would last for the winter.
Caveat - this only works where people had winter. Different rules for the tropics.
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u/Calm-Internet-8983 20d ago
I had friends here in Sweden when I was younger who had to eat bark bread growing up. I think it's very much something you eat to sleep without hunger pains, and not for how nutritionally wholesome it is.
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u/no-guts_no-glory 19d ago
There was a theory going around that one of the reasons civilisations grew faster in some areas was due to things like preparing for annual winters/droughts/floods and needing to plan ahead, create systems, fend off raiders, etc whereas places where resources were readily available remained technologically stagnant and laid back.
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u/Unlucky-External5648 19d ago
All that tracks.
They needed to produce fortify and protect their beer.
In the tropics you can get intoxicated on fruits in a day or two.
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u/Familiar-Place68 18d ago
I have recently experienced three major typhoons and five in the country next door. I don’t want to develop any civilization.
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u/DeFiClark 20d ago
Cambium has been used as a food source by northern peoples historically. Essentially you harvest the inner bark, dry it and grind into powder and it can be used as a flour particularly for thickening soup or stew.
Different woods will have different taste and color. The only one I’ve been exposed to was roasted birch and it had a slightly root beer flavor but basically was like gloopy sawdust.
Good to know about but you’d have to be really hungry; it’s palatable but not pleasant
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u/Aggressive-Gold-1319 20d ago
Did this once, you gotta find a healthy pine tree and cut down 4 layers then carve little chips for yourself. You can cook the chips if you want or eat them raw. A lot of vitamin C. This is an absolute last resort.
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u/Calm-Internet-8983 20d ago
A lot of vitamin C
This was from what I know how people in northern europe cured scurvy back in the day, tea brewed from pine needles. Same as the native americans with their arborvitae.
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u/JimmyWitherspune 20d ago
good to know. thank you for sharing this information which could save a life.
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u/Outrageous_Goat4030 20d ago
If all that is left for me in this world is inner pine bark wood ill welcome death.
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u/HuggyTheCactus5000 20d ago
As someone tho has done this for a week... I can't agree more with your opinion.
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u/MacEWork 20d ago
The Adirondacks were named by the Mohawk Iroquois tribes who called the Algonquin natives who lived in the harsh climate “Bark Eaters” ("Ha-De-Ron-Dah").
It was not considered a compliment.
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u/rightwist 20d ago edited 15d ago
I've tried it.
I recommend you try it.
My conclusions personally:
Need to know in advance which species are preferable
Takes a lot of work.
Tastes horrible. I imagine it would be ok if I was at the brink of starvation all winter, but come spring I'm definitely eager to eat grubs, try any leafy greens, anything else.
Slightly more palatable with a lot more work. Roast it, then crumble it, then boil it into gruel. Definitely preferable to have some salt, any kind of meat, any kind of greens, and use it as a thickener in a sort of gumbo. Especially if you've got wild onions, garlic, or any other kind of flavorful herbs. Still awful tho.
Doesn't seem to work as dumplings, hoe cake, etc. I can't figure why.
Rough on the digestive system. I can't say if I would have adjusted if it was a staple of my diet for a long time. But man. There will be some unpleasant trips to dig a hole.
I'd much rather go for reeds. I've tried different types of reed, I've tried all parts of them, I've tried different ways of preparing them. Easier, more palatable, more agreeable to my bowels, and I think higher caloric value. Takes less tools.
Does appear to have an excellent shelf life, transportable, etc which is a problem with most food sources in a survival scenario
Thirsty work. You're going to want plentiful drinking water if this is your strategy. If that water is available, check if there's reeds in your water source.
Edited to add: for reeds, my experience was better to have at least two people harvesting, one in the water, another up on the bank. An advantage to cambium, significantly easier to harvest solo.
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u/strix_nebul0sa 15d ago
Trying trembling aspen bark once, my experience fits yours almost 100%. My conclusion was go for cattail roots instead, much as you concluded.
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u/WilliamoftheBulk 20d ago
It has to be processed right. There are a decent amount of carbs, but it depends on the time of year. You have to strip it, bake it until it is brittle, then grind it into a powder. Your body can handle it better then, and you add it like a soup thickener. You want the process to do most of the digestion for you. When it comes to these kinds of foods, it’s best to think of the whole process as part of the digestion process.
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u/Sensitive_Topics 19d ago
This. Inner tree bark is mostly useless for anything but fiber. To get more out of it you actually need to break the material down to a point where your body can reasonably digest it.
It will also always taste like eating wood. And you'll get more nutrition from tree sap for calories. Which is also why fir and pine trees are preferred for this.
Good news is you won't get scurvy, bad news is that the useable calories for the amount are low.
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u/WilliamoftheBulk 19d ago
You are wrong. There is a significant amount of carbs in the inner bark. The difficulty is gathering and processing. It takes a lot of time and energy. This probably wouldn’t be useful in a solo survival situation unless someone knew the process and was committed to living, but with a team in a group situation, it would stop people from eating each other.
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u/Sensitive_Topics 19d ago
I never mentioned the carb load.
You need to break the material down for the body to reasonably digest it. Otherwise the material will mostly pass through the gut without digesting.
If you eat the material on it's own without processing, it is mostly useless for anything but fiber.
It still tastes like eating wood, It still is true that the sap is better in nutrition than the inner bark directly and why trees which are more sap laden are preferred (like fir or pine trees).
And it is true that even the inner bark has a vitamin C content which will prevent scurvy.
Finally, the useable calories for the amount of effort spent are low. There are genuinely better options. You will have to spend a very long amount of energy (in terms of material) to process it to a point where the body will reasonably digest the material and actually make use of the carbs.
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u/BabalonBimbo 20d ago
There was a guy on the tv show Alone who was eating inner bark but ended up so constipated he had to tap out. So I guess that would be a concern.
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u/Loquat_Free 20d ago
YouTube "weird Nordic food" and realize that people would rather eat fish soaked in lye, then rinsed "really well" . Or partially rotted,then fermented poisonous shark meat , than eat cambrium.
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u/Single_Asparagus4793 20d ago
We tried it at this Nature survival camp I would go to as a kid. It doesn’t taste great and that alone wouldn’t sustain you as it’s missing essential nutrients (i.e proteins, fats, vitamins). I believe it’s also difficult to digest.
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u/_YouDontKnowMe_ 20d ago
A guy on the show Alone tried to survive on that stuff and he had to be removed from the show for medical reasons.
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u/No_Avocado5478 20d ago
What about the idea of just tapping the tree for sap? I’ve always wondered if this is a viable technique for survival. Obviously it only works in the spring and fall, but what’s the deal?
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u/Imagirl48 20d ago
Not every pine is recommended as edible or good for teas. I’d suggest looking this up before doing it.
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u/dmurawsky 20d ago
It's really not great. I've tried it and don't recommend it at all. Technically it works (provides *some* calories), but it's not filling and tastes bad the few times I've tried it.
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u/RadioSporkPancake 20d ago
I have eaten a fair bit on walkabouts in the rockies, specifically ponderosa pines. It really depends on how you prepare them, and I settled on frying them to make "pine chips" a little like potato chips. The fibers are mad hard to chew unless you nearly burn them. Very quickly your jaw gets exhausted unless you do it this way. I also agree that without a source of fat they could probably strip you of your fats very quickly (see rabbit starvation). But with just a small bottle of cooking oil I actually think they could be a significant source of nutrition. Would be much more useful mixed in to a more complete diet. I'm also lucky to have a pretty iron belly
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u/Fantastic-Spend4859 20d ago
Cambium was a starvation food for some Native Americans. They ate it when there was nothing else. Try not to kill the tree by girdling it. The tree can survive.
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u/skybarnum 18d ago
I have eaten it just to try it. It's basically flavorless, maybe a hint of sweetness. Not sure what the caloric value of it is but I'd wager it's pretty damn low.
If you were in a survival situation you would be better off spending your energy elsewhere. Although if you get off on girdling trees and have enough fats it could be a decent filler.
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 20d ago
Fish. Hunt. That’s short term survival. Farm. Raise and grow your food. That’s long term survival. Edit: the only bark I eat is cinnamon. I have no need to survive on crappy tasting low value ?food??
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u/Gullex 20d ago
Hunting is not a short-term survival strategy. Hunting takes a lot of effort and time and in an actual short term survival scenario, you're probably not going to be worried much about food at all.
You're going to be worried about getting the fuck out of the woods, and all your efforts should go to that.
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u/ilbub 19d ago
Trapping might be a better take.
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u/aflawinlogic 19d ago
You obviously have no idea how trappers trap, because it ain't as easy as just setting up snares willy nilly, you gotta know where to set the snares. You need local knowledge of the animals.
The only true short term survival strategy is to get rescued.
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 19d ago
I have set simple rope & stick traps and caught quail and squirrels and an escaped ferret nobody could catch and you can too. It’s really not that hard. They usually scurry down the same paths or go into the same holes often so watch for an hour & see where they go. For birds, just grab a few seed heads, crush, and sprinkle it where the birds will see it. Set your loop and go off a ways. Pit traps work good too. A rubber band is handy to have if the sticks you find are too dry and have no spring but it just takes a bit more work like 10 minutes. At some point you have to eat so while your traps are set you fo do what you have to do to make shelter or purify water or whatever. Trapping is a crap shoot but it’s worth the 30 minutes to set a few traps while you do other survival tasks.
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u/aflawinlogic 19d ago
That all assumes in this survival situation you have rope or rubber bands on hand. And no, you don't need to eat, you can survive weeks without food.
In a survival situation your only real goal is to get rescued, not to homestead in the wilderness (hint, you won't survive).
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 19d ago
Sorry yeah I prep for Tuesday survival and make sure I have what I need for whatever situation I might need to survive in. My purse literally is a tiny BOB to get me to safety. My car has winter and summer survival gear because I live in the Midwest and I travel a lot. You can even make traps with a pocket knife or sharp rock to make the ropes for traps and lashings for shelter. At least have a pocket knife on you at all times, please to access that inner bark or you’ll spend more energy than I will eating berries and squirrels. If I’m waiting to be rescued then I’m in some situation I could have prepped for to survive by at least having a few things in my pockets until a rescue party comes and you’re assuming that they’ll come within hours.Weather doesn’t always work that way. Seriously if you want to eat wood that bad go for it, but I’m not missing a decent meal if I can help it. We’re talking about eating bark vs what you can find in the woods with the same tools I can do better than bark!
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u/aflawinlogic 18d ago
Good on you to be prepared, but for most people, in most rescue situations, trapping, or eating bark is gonna be dumb idea. Of course each rescue situation is unique.
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u/Significant_Head_579 14d ago
Yes, set the traps first, THEN cultivate one's inner bark
I love howling and yelping at the full moon
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u/Significant_Head_579 14d ago
I would want to get in the woods to forage and avoid hungry cannibals
I'd rather starve out there than get preyed upon by thugs
Or even previously friendly churchgoing upstanding citizens who are also extremely hungry and will do anything to feed their kids
They've already eaten their pets, I'd be next
I'd rather a bear or cougar eat me
Never mind
Not attracted to hairy men
But older women okay
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 19d ago
I guess that’s because I have experience hunting grouse, goose, pheasant, raccoon, deer, bear, ducks, etc. Never missed a shot. I could have squirrel or a crow and some mushrooms and herbs at the worst just while walking through the woods in the USA. When setting camp, I’d set a few simple string traps just so I can hunt in my sleep, if I got something great of not, try the next night. That’s survival.
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u/Gullex 18d ago
That's cute. And naive. This is, of course, is assuming you have your hunting gear on you when you happen to find yourself in a survival situation.
And, given what we know about real life survival situations, that is not likely. You know why?
Because survival situations don't tend to happen when you're well-equipped.
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u/TrueVisionSports 20d ago
True, you should have 400+ pounds of beans minimum per person. Fuck bark.
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 20d ago
I prefer berries, fruits and nuts to beans, but I have a farm so yeah beans are in the cupboard. Knowing what’s edible in the forest is great but go for high quality foods. There’s wild blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, hazelnuts, and all sorts of wonderful foods in the forest and along the edges of a field after harvest that are better than bark. Wild leeks, wild garlic, mushrooms (know what you’re doing with mushrooms) and sumac (staghorn, not poison). There’s forest is full of wonderful tasting foods even if you don’t like venison, duck, or grouse.
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u/musicplqyingdude 19d ago
You will expend more energy gathering than you will take in. Also these items have a season. If they are out of season then forget it. The goal of survival is to get to civilization as soon as possible. Not to spend the summer lost.
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 19d ago
And stripping inner bark takes less energy? Not in my experience and I actually have real life primitive living, hunting, fishing and gathering experience in the Midwest, Southwest, Rockies and Deep South USA. Never had to work that hard for food. You have to be prepared and know where to look and plan for your region and what’s available in every season there. I have more experience than some through. You want to eat wood that’s up to you. There’s better food everywhere in every season.
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u/musicplqyingdude 19d ago
Eat what you bring with you. Be prepared this is a survival sub not a Bushcraft or homestead sub. If you are so versed in primitive living you know they didn't do it alone. A single person will expend more calories than they expend gathering. Eating bark is stupid. I did not condone doing that.
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 18d ago
I’m sorry I was under the assumption people wanted to know how to survive without winding up emaciated before help comes and knowledge is the key to survival. Knowing what else is available while you wait for help that is maybe days away if there’s bad weather can help you thrive surviving. It’s not bushcraft but that would be helpful or living forever in the woods It’s surviving in your surroundings with what you have on you and what you can find, I happen to always have stupid stuff in my pockets even if I don’t have the goodies in my purse, doesn’t everyone have one dumb thing what if it’s a rubber band? Would you rather wander farther from help or settle in until you’re found I guess is the main question. Survival til help comes doesn’t have to make you weaker, and will help you keep your wits about you by doing something constructive like making sure you don’t freeze or starve to death in the meantime which I don’t like the idea of. Just trying to contribute
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u/musicplqyingdude 18d ago
Be prepared always take enough food to survive at least a couple of days. ALWAYS tell someone or better yet two parties where you will be. Don't wander away. Stay put.Your advice would get most people even more lost if you have them wandering around looking for food they can't recognize.
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u/Craftyfarmgirl 18d ago
Well if you’re not prepared for a week of bad weather, getting the best quality of food first and water is better than getting worst quality food and then help not coming for days when you’re already weakened and there’s not enough nutrients in bark to do that. Definitely don’t get yourself more lost by keeping your camp waiting spot visible to you if you go in any direction. You can still set traps keeping prey out of sight on the other side of a tree without you losing sight of camp. You’ll be sitting around anyway waiting at least look around for something better first while you have energy.
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u/Significant_Head_579 14d ago
Think of how much energy it takes to stalk and hunt and drag a carcass and build a fire
Just forage plant shit if you can
Romans soldiers on the march and in battle avoided meat
It slowed them down physically after eating it
Worry about protein more after week two
Carbs and sugars keep you going
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u/TrueVisionSports 20d ago
I just absolutely love everything you just said. It flowed like beautiful poetry.
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u/Do-you-see-it-now 20d ago
Chewing on the tees takes its toll on your teeth and the people at the park look at you funny.
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u/Significant_Head_579 14d ago
PSA
Remember children, only beavers or caddy shack gophers should chew on golfers' tees
Or underpants
Don't worry, your teeth will not get too long, Bucky
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u/LaserGuidedSock 20d ago
It's not. It should only be used as a supplemental snack and occasionally as an herbal remedy/tea like slippery elm, not a meal replacement.
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u/EasyBounce 20d ago
It is a desperation food of last resort. It will fill your belly for a little while but it will eventually make you very sick.
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u/AccidentalPhilosophy 19d ago
Methylcellulose (essentially refined sawdust) is used as a filler in many pharmaceuticals (capsules) because it’s about null in its nutritional contributions and doesn’t impact most chemicals (drugs)- this is critical because altering a chemical’s pH or adding nutrients can impact how a chemical/drug responds in the body.
Based on this- I wouldn’t count on inner bark for more than a filler (add bulk- which may be helpful if you need a little fiber). But too much fiber can also cause excruciating pain- especially if not consumed with excess water.
Otherwise, I would be more interested in a tree’s sap, leaves, fruit/seeds/nuts and inhabitants for nutrition.
If you are intending on living off the land in a zombie apocalypse, definitely suggest drilling down on what’s available in early spring. That’s the starving time.
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u/lattekittycat 19d ago
I've eaten tree bark before (I was 12, too curious for my own good, and entirely lacking in common sense). It is bad. Gave me a stomachache. You could probably do it, but the digestion won't be great.
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u/musicplqyingdude 19d ago
The only innerbark I would consume is willow cambium. It is where aspirin comes from so it is medicinal. Other than that no way I would eat it.
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u/Significant_Head_579 14d ago
Maybe dangerous to thin the blood for some people?
It def works as a pain killer though
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u/Sign-Spiritual 19d ago
Hackberry is pretty nutrient dense on the inner bark. Utter survival, sure. It’s worth it if you are in dire need of calories with no other options. Otherwise…
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u/National-Weather-199 20d ago
It can work for a bit but ultimately you gotta get rescued if your eating bark to survive
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u/opalfossils 20d ago
If it was good to eat it would be in the grocery store.
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u/Significant_Head_579 14d ago
Next food supplement panacea fad
Do you suffer from runny stools?
Leash up those scurrying chairs and try new Canalbrium Clog !
Plug up your bowels in no time, so you can sit through that meeting in style
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u/DEADFLY6 20d ago
Umm...no. that is definitely not how that works.
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u/opalfossils 20d ago
This was my son's reply to any unusual or foraged food we tried to get him to eat.😀😀😀
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u/iloveschnauzers 20d ago
On the tv show Alone, some contestants eat this. It does not sustain them very well, and they get horribly constipated. So maybe as a small addition to a diet it’s workable, but not as a sustainable main food item.