“Try to set the night on fire…” (the Doors)
Damar is the Malay name for the resin produced by certain trees in the jungle: it is very useful stuff and can be a great help in fire lighting or for making glue (e.g. for caulking boats). But one use that had always intrigued me was how to use it for lighting a camp at night.
I had heard that it could be used for this purpose, but damar on its own doesn’t hold a flame well and there was some ingredient that was missing from the mix. I asked around amongst the locals but no-one could remember exactly how to make a ‘damar torch’ (although all of them remembered getting burnt by dripping, molten damar as children!). Some suggested adding charcoal or ash, but neither of these helped (this would be the way to make pitch rather than a torch).
Then, a few weeks ago I went on a trip to Bera with my friend Keong who introduced me to an Orang Asli called Stem. Stem is a real craftsman and I’ll show you some of his work in later videos. He is also a font of knowledge when it comes to junglecraft and, finally, I had met someone who not only knew how to make these torches but could also show me the traditional way of extracting oil from the Keruing tree. I was delighted.
The missing ingredient I had been looking for was punky wood from a soft wood tree (like a Mahang tree) – when this is mixed with the resin it gives a foundation for the flame to hold onto.
The Orang Asli use oil (from the Keruing Tree) to make a torch fashioned from a palas leaf. The process of extracting the oil is fascinating but, perhaps, beyond the scope of someone in a survival situation looking for a quick and easy method of lighting up the night. I tried experimenting with punky wood mixed with crushed rosin (the fossilized form of resin) and the results were better than I had hoped….with bamboo acting as a container it was possible to make a long-lasting (about an hour) torch in a matter of minutes.
I brought back some keruing oil from Bera and tried experimenting with that as well – this time to see if I could make an oil lamp using only materials collected from the jungle: using the inner bark of a terap tree for the wick and bamboo to make the lamp. It worked like a charm.
This was the first time I had messed about with making oil lamps and I found it quite amusing that this was knowledge I had to ‘learn’ when, just a few hundred years ago I imagine every one would have known the in-and-outs of making oil lamps as a matter of course. Similarly the carbide lamp (still, I believe, used by some cavers today) is a technology that has been almost completely sidelined by the advent of electricity and LED torches.
Even in the village nearby where I live, the locals couldn’t remember exactly how to make the jungle torches that were common place when they were children…a skill unused becomes a skill forgotten.
I am very grateful that there are still people like Stem who have kept these skills alive as, in our modern, convenience driven world, there is a real danger that some of these skills will be lost.
But, you may ask, would they really be lost?
Maybe not in totality, but that essential ‘missing ingredient’ can be very elusive until someone tells you what it is.
For anyone interested in visiting Stem and finding out more about Orang Asli traditional techniques and craftwork, the best thing is to contact Keong at Sepuh Crafts and see if he can arrange a trip there. For anyone interested in junglecraft skills it is a great opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
Hi Paul,
Great article&video.
I tried myself to make “all natural torches”… Didn’t go very well 😀
I will use your method as soon as I go back in Asia.
I realized something when I read this article and the one on re-handling a Parang: Skills get lost.
It is really sad, as one day, there won’t be any “local” culture, only the global identity…
By writing your articles, and posting your videos, you preserve the skill.
This is big stuff. The traditionnal way that even native users forgot is now freely available.
It’s a bit like preserving wildlife…
Well, you just earned all my respect.
THANKS,
Wawa.
Hi Wawa,
Many thanks for the comment and good luck with your torch making – the two common problems are torches that go out too easily and the other is ones that don’t last long enough to make them worthwhile. The resin ones are good, but they don’t like strong wind and will blow out easily (although this isn’t usually a problem in the jungle).
I think you are right that a lot of these skills get forgotten, at least in part. People can remember roughly how something is done but may have forgotten exactly how to do it. In the village near where I live there is only one person left who is skilled at rattan work, the (only) parang maker died a few years ago and, as I mentioned in the article, no-one could remember how to make torches. Certainly the skill of friction fire making is one of the first to go as a BIC lighter is just so much easier!!
Cheers!
Paul
Another great one Paul!
If I’m not mistaken , Damar is similar to Amber. They both are a hardened resin , just the trees are different .
On one of my mountain trips in East Malaysia, one of our guides picked up bits of damar as we were trekking. I was curious as to what he would use it for, and saw later that he used it as a fire starter. I have bits of it in my backpack and it does help. It smells very good too and I believe the traditional incense Kemian comes from a mix of damar or from a certain tree. Kemian is usually used to smoke the kris, and sometimes in religious events / funerals. I doubt you could buy kemian in sundry shops now like how it was when I was much younger.
Damar as glue and caulking for boats – I may be wrong as it was quite a while ago when I asked – they heated it up and mix it with ash. You end up with a sticky and tarry glob which use use to glue stuff. Some parangs I noticed still use damar to glue the tang in , but very very seldom do I see them now.
I have a huge chunk of damar given by a friend in the shop, I’ll grab a photo and send it to you.
Cheers mate!
Hi Nadir,
Great to hear from you and very glad you liked the video. I also like the smell of burning resin – a sweet sort of smell – and maybe it helps keep the bugs away too? I had heard it is used for funerals too (so God knows what my neighbours must be thinking as I’ve been burning it quite a lot recently!).
Resins were also used in the West for making glue (or pitch) by adding ash/crushed charcoal to the mix and were used in making primitive arrows (to fix the head to the shaft). I think the purpose of adding the ash is to soften the resin as otherwise it is too brittle and flakes off or cracks.
I have quite a collection at home of damar and, like the guides on your trip, come across it quite often just lying around on the ground. And, as you mentioned, it can really help to get a damp fire going.
Anyway, thanks again for the comment.
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Another great video! There is a tree here in the rainforest which we call tabonuco that produces a resin much like damar. It smells wonderful and some people use it as incense but the traditional use by the native here was for caulking cracks in their canoes and you guessed it, torches. In fact the english name of the tree is torchwood. Sadly, there is nobody left on the island who knows how to make torches the way our natives made them. A while back I saw an episode of R. Mears old show World of Survival where natives on the island of Seram in Indonesia were making torches identical to the ones on your video. I saw this and tried it with local materials and worked like a charm. Here (and troughout the tropics) there are many other trees with flammable resins that would likely work, so this is a very useful skill. Incidentally, locking the knots in the wrapping of the torch not only keeps the shape of the torch container while you fill it. It is also what keeps the torch from unravelling when it burns down through each wrap.
Keep up the great vids! Cheers!
Gabriel
Hi Gabriel,
Great to hear from you and many thanks for the comment. Very interesting to hear about the ‘torchwood’ tree over there and that you managed to get a torch going with it – as you say, a lot of these useful skills are being forgotten to a large degree which is a shame.
These torches are also great for fire-starting (hopefully not by accident!) – a torch can be re-lit in the morning and be a big help in getting a fire started if your twigs are all a bit wet (which they so often seem to be!).
You are absolutely right about the ‘locking knot’ also being necessary to keep the rope from unraveling as knots further up the torch are being burnt away, so thanks for pointing it out.
Cheers!
Paul
While on the subject of useful resins, do any of the natives you have met still use the latex of gutta percha? There is a tree native to the american tropics called bulletwood in English that is in the same family as gutta and whose latex has identical properties to those of its asian cousin. Before synthetic plastics, the latex of both the american and asian species were extensively used for golfballs, the covering of trans oceanic telegraph cables, machinery belts (it is an inelastic latex) and the filler for dental root canals. The only commercial product that I know of that is still made from gutta is the root canal plugs. I do not know of anybody using this any more around here but in the old days people used it to seal containers such as lining tightly woven baskets to make watertight and to seal cracks in boats etc.. I have seen pictures of old Dayak parangs( mandau) that have a hilt made from a plug of gutta percha, sometimes dyed in different colors. Any uses of this latex survive in your area?
Regards.
Gabriel
Hi Gabriel,
Many thanks for the comment and an interesting question you ask. Apart from rubber trees (and there are far too many of those in Malaysia rubber plantations!) I don’t know specifically of a latex tree.
Saying that both fig trees (under the bark) and the terap tree fruit have a sticky, latex like substance and I know that this is sometimes used to trap birds. The sticky stuff is smeared on a branch and the unlucky bird that lands on it finds its feet get a little bit stuck….as it flaps its wings to free itself these too get stuck.
I’ll ask around here though and let you know if I hear of anything.
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your great articles!
Natural torch is nice. Now I’m having problem how to recognize the Keruing tree and Mahang tree. haha… Unless we really look at the tree ourselves otherwise by knowing the name doesn’t really help I think.
Btw, got message from Keong. Thanks! I’m at good recovery! Now I can confidently go shopping with sunglasses on 😉
Cheers.
Hi Rachel,
Good to hear from you and very glad you are recovering from your nasty tumble in the jungle….time to trade in those vibran soles for something made from softer rubber perhaps?
I keep meaning to do a video on some of the characteristics of the more important trees for junglecraft but haven’t got round to it yet….it’s on the to-do list.
Anyway, hope your recovery is speedy and the headache not too bad!
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Believe it or not, the incident is a gift to me. I’m very much blessed. Well, I’m in fact under taking the online “spiritual awakening” course conducted by Tom Brown Jr, from USA Tracker School. I’ve learn so much about some basic skill inheritance from Stalking Wolf, Lipan Apache elder.
I am seeing the miracle and powerful of the skill I’ve picked up throughout my self healing process. So, I don’t feel sorry about the accident, but I found lessons and messages I could pick up 🙂
Btw, no headache o…. not even a single pain killer pill I consume. So much of fruit juice and vege. They work wonders too.
Newbies to your website, so much to learn from you! Will spend time to go through them, and more important, try them out or else, remain as a book.
Take care and enjoy your days!
Warmest regards,
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
thanks for the update and you are clearly a more balanced person than I am!….yesterday I whacked my head on a metal shelf and was nowhere near as philosophic about it, promptly picking up a slab of wood and whacking it back!
Anyway, glad to hear there was no headache and hope you have great time on the Mycat walk.
Cheers!
Paul