39 Manly Uses for Coconut Oil in Your Bushcraft Kit

by Todd Walker

When it comes to packing for an outdoor adventure, leave the single-purpose items at home unless you have a pack mule to carry it all. Each item in your camping/bushcraft/survival kit should be able to perform at least three different tasks beyond its intended purpose.

Manly woodsmen, listen up. The women folk are more aware of the benefits and well ahead of us in using this stuff. Time to catch up!

It may not be as sexy as an ax or knife, but smart woodsmen should pack this non-sexy stuff in all their kits – bushcraft, EDC, Get Home Bag, camping, etc. I rarely go to the woods without it. As a utilitarian resource, I also keep a small container in my shop, bathroom, kitchen, school desk, and truck.

Here’s your multi-tasking resource…

Coconut Oil (CO)

There’s more to this tropical oil than its many health benefits. The saturated fat (medium-chain triglycerides) in CO burns quicker in your body than other fats boosting your metabolic rate and energy level. Don’t fall for the Big Fat Lie and fears of high cholesterol. The healthy fats in CO have been found to raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower the ratio of LDL to HLD.

The eastern woodlands is not a tropical paradise. You won’t find coconut trees growing along the banks of the Chattahoochee. Still, CO is inexpensive and readily available. For the best health benefits, stock up on expeller pressed, organic, unrefined virgin coconut oil (industry experts label extra-virgin as a marketing ploy). This type of CO has a stable shelf life of 2 to 5 years.

An eclectic mix of containers for my Lucky Sherpa Salve… main ingredient is CO.

Repack the CO in smaller containers and add them to your survival kits. The anti-bad-stuff properties alone make CO an essential resource to carry on your next wilderness adventure.

• Anti-bacterial – treats skin infections and kills bacteria
• Anti-viral – kills many common viruses
• Anti-fungal – effective on Candida; yeast infections, diaper rash, and lady-parts infections
• Anti-inflammatory – suppresses inflammation and helps repair tissue
• Anti-parasitic – helps rid your body of pesky parasites like tapeworm and lice
• Anti-microbial – fights infection from bacteria, viruses, yeast, and fungi without harming beneficial gut bacteria
• Anti-protozoa – kills giardia, a common protozoan infection from drinking untreated water
• Anti-pyretic – reduces fever

Coconut Oil Uses in Bushcraft

There are 4 categories below where coconut oil is your pursuit of bushcraft skills.

Self-Aid

If natural plant-based remedies are not available, CO is an excellent option for the most common injuries you’ll experience in the woods – cuts, scrapes, bruises, burns, sprains, bites and stings.

1. Cuts and scrapes: a thin layer applied forms a protective barrier against bacteria and foreign matter.
2. Bruises: speeds up healing by repairing tissue.
3. Burns: apply immediately to affected area and repeat as necessary
4. Bites and stings: relieves itching and stinging. Better yet, make your own Plantain Salve with 3/4 cups of CO using this recipe.
5. Chapped lips and skin: softens and moisturizes cracked, dry lips and relieves psoriasis and other skin conditions.
6. Sunburn: relieves the burn and heals the affected skin.
7. Sunscreen: not a high SPF but adds a little protection for your skin.
8. Nose bleeds: coat the nasal passage with a layer if you’re prone to nose bleeds in certain weather conditions.
9. Allergies: CO is a solid around 76º F. Melt CO and snort/sniff it up your nose to coat sinuses and protect from pollen. Also helps kill airborne germs associated with flu and colds.
10. Salves: add healing herbs to make a salve.

Personal Hygiene

1. Shaving: use it as a shave cream and after shave if you need to shave on your adventure. Or grow a beard…
2. Beard: yep, it’ll condition, tame, and sanitize any mountain man beard. Stops the itching too!
3. Soap: use CO as a soap substitute.
4. Foot care: nothing like a good foot massage after a day of trekking. Rubbing CO on your feet also kills harmful fungi and bacteria on the skin and toenails. Effective on athlete’s foot. Feet are likely your only means of conveyance. Take care of them.
5. Maceration: wet feet that look like prunes are asking for blisters and can cause painful cracks after drying. Rub CO on your soles before putting on clean socks and footwear. Apply a coat to dry feet and wear socks in your bedroll for overnight moisturizing and protection for the following days trek.
6. Teeth and bones: brush your teeth with a mix of CO and baking soda. I use CO for Oil Pulling too. Aids in absorption of calcium and magnesium for strong bones and teeth.
7. Deodorant: CO alone is somewhat effective as a deodorant. Or you can make an aluminum-free all-natural deodorant stick ahead of time so you don’t smell like Sasquatch. Your camp mates will thank you!
8. Bushcraft Dog: works on pets too. Apply to your dog’s skin and coat for any itchy issues.

Field Gear Maintenance

1. Leather: cleans, conditions, and preserves leather in the field.
2. Wood: apply a coat to ax handles, wooden spoons, and buck saws as a preservative.
3. Metal: wipe down your cutting tools with a thin layer of CO to prevent rust.
4. Lubricant: use to lube your crosscut/bucksaw for smooth sawing. A dab in the socket of your bearing block on a bow drill set reduces friction.
5. Cleaner: add an abrasive like baking soda to CO to scrub sticky stuff of knives and other gear. Even works on pine sap.
6. Fixin’ Wax: CO can be substituted for the tallow in my Fixin’ Wax recipe.
7. Oil lamp: not a maintenance item per se, but CO can be pressed into service as fuel for slush/oil lamps.
8. Rust remover: coat area and let it sit for an hour. Rinse with warm water.
9. Waterproofing: seals seams in leather and canvas.
10. Non-toxic: clean your eating knife and utensils with CO. Safe for animals and humans.

Camp Cooking

1. Cooking oil: CO is an excellent butter substitute.
2. Oxidation: less heat sensitive than vegetable oils so there’s less oxidation from heat. CO is more stable for stir-frying squirrel and sauteing wild edibles.
3. Coffee: add a heaping spoonful to your campfire coffee to start your day in the woods.
4. Hot Cocoa: I’ve dubbed cocoa/cacao the 11th C of Survivability. Adding CO to this rich beverage only cements the meal-in-a-cup on top of the list of stuff to never leave out of your kit.
5. Flavor: my nephew, Jake, cooked a snake on our backpacking trip with unrefined CO.
6. Energy: eat a tablespoon, with or without other food, to boost energy and endurance.
7. Vitamin absorption: CO helps your body absorb fat soluble vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
8. Colon detox: shown to reduce waste and toxins from your digestive tract.
9. Constipation: squatting in the woods, the perfect human potty position, when your system is backed up is a physical challenge. CO contains fiber and helps get stuff moving after that campfire chili encounter. No more “grrrrrrrrr” sounds coming from the latrine bushes.
10. Diabetics: CO is associated with insulin and blood sugar control.
11. Spread: use it as a spread on your bannock, dutch oven biscuits, or anything you’d slather butter on at home.

If you got this far, I need to add a CYA statement. I’m not giving medical advice nor am I a health care provider. This stuff is for informational purposes only and comes from my experience with coconut oil. Do your own research.

This is only a fraction of the manly uses of CO in the great outdoors. I’m sure you’ve got unique, unorthodox ways to use this magical oil. Share in the comments if you don’t mind.

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook… and over at the Doing the Stuff Network.

P.P.S – If you find value in our blog, Dirt Road Girl and I would appreciate your vote on Top Prepper Sites! You can vote daily by clicking here or on the image below. Check out all the other value-adding sites while you’re there… 

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Copyright: Content on this site (unless the work of a third-party) may be shared freely in digital form, in part or whole, for non-commercial use with a link back to this site crediting the author. All links in articles must remain intact as originally posted in order to be republished. If you are interested a third-party article, please contact the author directly for republishing information.

How to Make Lucky Sherpa Plantain Salve

by Todd Walker

When you’re Doing the Stuff of self-reliance, you’ll have the scars to prove it!

There seems to be no end to the things that attach to and attack my skin. Ticks, chiggers, cuts, burns, and poisonous plants seem to find me in the woods and backyard. My go to herb to treat these nasties that slip past my defenses is plantain. Chew a leaf of two and apply it to the area.

But what if plantain isn’t available?

Today is your lucky day!

I want to share with you an all-natural DIY ointment you can conveniently carry while practicing your Doing the Stuff skills. No need to chew the weed into a spit poultice. Just open the container, apply, and heal! I pack Lucky Sherpa Salve in all my kits now. It’s on the front row in my herbal medicine cabinet too.

There are store-bought salves available with ingredients you can’t pronounce. I like to know exactly what goes on (and in) my skin. Plus, I’m a cheap Doer of the Stuff.

Here’s how to create your own luck…

Lucky Sherpa Salve Recipe

• 3/4 cup of coconut oil
• A handful of fresh plantain leaves
• 1 ounce of beeswax
• 2 Tbs of local honey
• 1 tsp of Vitamin E oil
• 2 Tbs of Almond oil (optional)
• 8 drops of Tea Tree essential oil (optional)
• 8 drops of Peppermint essential oil (optional)

How to Make Your Own

This is a topical recipe for external use only.

I’ve been battling a cyst for a while now. Plantain is an effective drawing agent. However, it grew tiresome traipsing into the yard after showers looking for fresh plantain. No one is more thankful for this convenient salve than DRG!

In a hurry to treat the cyst, I whipped up a batch. Gather a large handful of plantain leaves, broad leaf or narrow leaf will both work. The narrow leaf variety is plentiful in my area.

Place the harvested weed into a blender with a 1/2 cup of virgin coconut oil. Blend until it turns into a green liquid. I added two tablespoons of almond oil to help liquefy the mixture. It should look like a dark green smoothie when properly mixed.

Scrape the sides to get it all!

Pour the mix into a pan and place over low heat for 30 to 45 minutes to infuse the good stuff with the oil. Stir the simmering pot occasionally.

After the concoction is infused, strain the mix through cheesecloth over a wire strainer into a clean boiler. I twisted the cheesecloth into a ball and squeezed it with tongs to extract the infused oil quickly.

Place the pot of strained oil back on low heat. Add one ounce of grated beeswax to the mix. Beeswax is flammable. Keep the heat low or melt the wax in a double boiler before adding it to the plantain oil. Now add two tablespoons of local honey and one teaspoon of Vitamin E oil.

Once the beeswax is melted, remove from heat and stir in the essential oils (optional). This step isn’t necessary. I added Tea Tree and Peppermint essential oil because of their healing properties. Tea Tree oil is also an effective insect repellent.

Test the consistency by placing a drop on a plate or wax paper and place it in the fridge for a few minutes. If it’s too thin after cooling, add more beeswax. Too thick, add oil until it’s right for you.

An eclectic mix of containers for my Lucky Sherpa Salve

Use your Possum Mentality and round-up several containers with lids. Pour the liquified concoction into the clean containers and allow the mix to solidify. This recipe makes about 12 ounces of salve.

Benefits of Lucky Sherpa Salve Main Ingredients

Selecting ingredients for any recipe will determine the quality of the product. Start with the best stuff nature has to offer. Here are the benefits of my ingredients.

Plantain

Plantain may be the best utility player in the world of wild weeds. Check out plantain’s healing properties here.

Coconut Oil

This natural powerhouse contains super benefits.

• Anti-bacterial (kills bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum diseases, and other bacterial infections)
• Anti-carcinogenic (coconut oil has antimicrobial properties so it effectively prevents the spread of cancer cells and enhances the immune system)
• Anti-fungal (kills fungi and yeast that lead to infection)
• Anti-inflammatory (appears to have a direct effect in suppressing inflammation and repairing tissue, and it may also contribute by inhibiting harmful intestinal microorganisms that cause chronic inflammation.)
•  Anti-microbial/Infection Fighting (the medium-chain fatty acids and monoglycerides found in coconut oil are the same as those in human mother’s milk, and they have extraordinary antimicrobial properties. By disrupting the lipid structures of microbes, they inactivate them. About half of coconut oil consists of lauric acid. Lauric acid, its metabolite monolaurin and other fatty acids in coconut oil are known to protect against infection from bacteria, viruses, yeast, fungi and parasites. While not having any negative effect on beneficial gut bacteria, coconut oil inactivates undesirable microbes.)
• An Antioxidant (protects against free-radical formation and damage)
• Anti-parasitic (fights to rid the body of tapeworms, lice and other parasites)
• Anti-protozoa (kills giardia, a common protozoan infection of the gut)
• Anti-retroviral (kills HIV and HLTV-1)
• Anti-viral (kills viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, AIDS, and other viruses)
• Infection fighting
• Has no harmful for discomforting side effects
• Known to improve nutrient absorption (easily digestible; makes vitamins and minerals more available to the body)
• Nontoxic to humans and animals

Source

Honey

Local raw honey has been used for thousands of years for its anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties. Honey can be applied to burns, cuts, and scrapes for wound care. More sweet benefits can be found here.

Vitamin E

This antioxidant promotes healing of the skin and scar tissue.

• Removes free radicals
• Promotes blood circulation
• Speeds cell regeneration
• Reduces oxidation rate
• Improves skin hydration
• Studies on rodents show promise for vitamin E’s reduction of the risk of skin cancer caused by UV exposure.

CYA Disclaimer:

I’m not a medical professional. I’m just a regular guy busy Doing the Stuff of self-reliance with calloused hands. This information is for educational purposes only and is not meant to be advice on treating, curing, preventing, or diagnosing diseases or conditions. Do your own due diligence with our information as it may not be complete.

With the above CYA taken care of, I can report that the drawing action of the plantain has made a huge impact to reduce the soreness and size of the cyst over three days. I apply Lucky Sherpa Plantain Salve to a gauze pad and tap it to the affected area twice daily. On the second day, the nastiness is oozing out. Sorry, that’s as delicate as I know how to put it. This stuff works for me!

No-see-ems and mosquitos were out last night while I was grilling. My ankles took the brunt of their bombing raids. I rubbed a dab of the salve on and the itching stopped almost immediately.

This tin fits nicely in my haversack

If you want to get lucky and make your own, we’d like to hear how it turns out!

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

P.S. – You can also keep up with the Stuff we’re Doing on Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, and our Facebook page… and over at the Doing the Stuff Network on Pinterest, Google +, and Facebook.

P.P.S – If you find value in our blog, Dirt Road Girl and I would appreciate your vote on Top Prepper Sites! You can vote daily by clicking here or on the image below. Check out all the other value-adding sites while you’re there…

Thanks for Sharing the Stuff!

Copyright: Content on this site (unless the work of a third-party) may be shared freely in digital form, in part or whole, for non-commercial use with a link back to this site crediting the author. All links in articles must remain intact as originally posted in order to be republished. If you are interested a third-party article, please contact the author directly for republishing information.