5 Uses for Pine Sap: How to Harvest and Utilize Pine Resin

Pine sap is a sticky substance that carries water, nutrients, a high sugar content, and mineral elements throughout tree trunks—similar to how blood functions in the human body. Pine tree sap circulates slowly through the trunk’s phloem tubes and xylem cells.

As pine trees undergo photosynthesis, they produce carbohydrates, which they then convert first to starch and then to sugar. This sugar combines with sap fluids to become the stickier, oozing substance with which we’re familiar. Other names for this hardened sap include pitch and resin.

While it’s possible to tap a tree to collect pine sap, the process does damage the tree, making it inadvisable in all but the most unique of circumstances. A much easier method of collecting pine sap is to look for the golden pine sap crystals along the tree trunk or branches. When the bark of a pine tree trunk takes on damage, sap spills out and hardens like a scab to protect the tree. Sap also bleeds naturally to help the tree conserve energy in the spring and early summer.

Once you’ve collected enough pine sap crystals, heat the resin over a fire—preferably in a metal vessel—to transform it into something that more closely resembles a liquid. You might choose to strain the resin after liquifying it, depending on how you plan to use the substance.

Due to its unique composition, pine sap presents a wide array of practical applications for campers and survivalists. Here are five ways you can use pine sap:

1. 1. Fire starter: You can tap ponderosa pine tree resin to use as a turpentine fire starter or to prolong the burn time. For example, you could cover your burning material in sap when making a torch or building a fire. Craft fire starters you can easily carry with you by dipping pine cones into sap and then letting them harden. These could prove to be useful later, especially if you’re trying to spark a blaze in wet conditions.
   
2. 2. First aid: Pine sap is a natural antiseptic with antibacterial properties. Survivalists put these qualities to good use by utilizing sap to help seal wounds in the wild. They use sap oozing from damaged coniferous trees or melt down hardened globs of pitch or resin to create a medical superglue. Additionally, pine sap contains vitamin C, which boosts humans’ immunity against bacteria and infection.
   
3. 3. Herbal supplement: Herbal supplement manufacturers extract several essential vitamins, polyphenols, and phytonutrients from pine bark to incorporate into their products. Pine tree sap and pine needles carry many of the same nutrients and antibacterial properties; hence the astringent materials find their way into products like anti-inflammatory teas and broths for treating a sore throat or other ailments.
4. 4. Pitch glue: You can use the resin from pine trees, in addition to certain evergreens, sugar maple trees, and birch trees, as a sealant. For example, in the absence of other waterproofing substances, you might use pine sap to repair holes in your tent or improve the water-resistance of a tarp. In a survival situation, you might also use it as an adhesive while you craft tools, weapons, or fishing gear.
5. 5. Skin salve: People use pine sap to treat rashes and skin conditions, such as eczema. While you can find bags of food-grade pine resin at retail stores, you can also harvest this red, hardened pine pitch directly from damaged pines in the forest. Boil it with olive oil or almond oil, then strain the mixture through cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Return the mixture to a low heat and add beeswax. Stir until the salve coagulates. Once it begins to cool you can store it. By adding more beeswax, you can turn the formula into a pine tar soap you can utilize for better hygiene while you’re camping in the wild.

Certain outdoor activities carry an elevated risk of serious injury. Wilderness scenarios require extensive survival gear, including but not limited to food, water, maps, protective clothing, and first aid, along with mental and physical fortitude. This article is for educational and informational purposes, and is not a substitute for hard skills and expertise.

Prepare for any outdoor journey by grabbing a MasterClass Annual Membership and committing Jessie Krebs’s wilderness survival course to memory. As a former United States Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape instructor, Jessie can teach you everything you need to know about packing for a trip (neon is the new black), purifying water, foraging (crickets: the other white meat), starting a fire, and signaling for help (forget SOS).