First Time Making a Folded Bark Basket

Just a quick video showing my first attempt at making a folded bark basket from a cottonwood tree.

This is definitely not a how-to video as I am still learning and made some mistakes, but I learned a lot and was really happy with the finished product. I thought I was being clever by using the bark to bind the two ends together, but in hindsight I realize that roots or withies would be much more durable and easier to punch through the holes.

I also did a very lackluster job on the rim, but I am totally new to this so of course there will be room for improvement.

Despite these shortcomings, the basket is very solid and I am quite pleased with how it came out. I will be playing with this concept again, and hope to experiment with different sizes and potentially attaching handles or straps to it.

I may end up posting another video on this style of container with more details when I get better at making them, but I wanted to share this here to show that you can make a workable container with no previous experience. Even with filming and my slow approach, it only took about two hours to put this together.

Here is a video by Tom McElroy that inspired me to try this. It’s worth watching if you want to see how this was supposed to look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDWXKkK5wU0

Any time I post a video showing harvesting materials from living trees, some people will inevitably get upset. I totally understand the sentiment behind this, and in some places, harvesting material from a living tree is not appropriate. It is important to know your area, ecosystem, and local rules.

Ideally, it would be great to find a dead or downed tree with bark that is still in good condition, but here in the Pacific Northwest, things rot quickly, and anything that is not alive has likely begun to decay.

In this case I deliberately selected a black cottonwood as it is a very common and fast growing species that can often grow over five feet per year. Afterwards, the tree was cut cleanly at the stump with a saw and is likely to survive by sending up new shoots. If not, the break in the canopy may allow longer lived species like Western red cedar or Douglas fir to take hold and add variety to the environment. People have been harvesting materials from living trees for at least as long as we have been human, and can be a sustainable practice in some areas if it is done with respect and understanding of the ecosystem.

I welcome your opinions if you disagree, but please keep in mind that I’m not clear cutting old growth, and there is a good chance you sleep in a house made of wood or eat your meals at a wooden table.

Materials Used

Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) bark for the basket and binding.
Western Red Cedar withie for the rim.

Knife: Esee Laser Strike

Music: Theme from Last of the Mohicans on Guitar performed by

Luca Stricagnoli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kbv1OpIpaA