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Pine pitch and tallow

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Allyn T:
Awesome! Thanks Pat, I'll def try it now

EdwardS:
Bear fat and beeswax is one recipe I know.  It works very well, reapply maybe once a season.  Warm the wood well and it'll soak in-do this til it won't take any more.

It works in the super-damp Southeastern forests.  I'm looking forward to testing if it works here in the actual swamps.  Getting bear fat-that's the hard part.

Hawkdancer:
Edward,
What ratios? And is the fat rendered?  I would think almost any rendered fat could be used. 
Hawkdancer

EdwardS:
I'm not sure what Pop's ratio was, but I have had broad success with even a 1:1 ratio.  More fat penetrates better.  More wax waterproofs better.  Just fat works too, but has to be reapplied much more often.

And yeah, rendered fat.  I'm sure you could do it with non-rendered fat, but I'm not very sure it would be pleasant.

Lard or deer tallow work too.   Bear might be traditional, but their numbers aren't what they were.

Pappy:
I rendered a lot of deer tallow this year and it works way better than tallow alone in all my projects and won't go rancid like tallow alone will.
Not sure it is as good as bear[never had any bear] but good stuff non the less. I feel sure you could heat the bow a little and rub it in alone and it would work fine. :)
 Pappy

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