Birch Bark is a natural medical, food and firestarting item in The Long Dark.
Overview[]
Birch Bark is a multi-purpose item which may be used raw as Tinder for Firestarting, or crafted into Birch Bark Tea, a food and medical item.
To craft Birch Bark Tea, two units of Birch Bark must be crafted into one Prepared Birch Bark (5 minutes in-game, no tool/light required) and cooked with 0.25 liters of Water (Potable) and 10 minutes at a lit Fire with a Cooking Pot, Cooking Skillet, or Recycled Can. Consuming Birch Bark Tea restores 100 Calories, 30% Hydration and grants the benefit "Restore Condition" and potentially "Warming Up" if the beverage is also hot. Cooking Birch Bark Tea increases the Cooking Skill.
Birch Bark can can be found in the wilderness near lone birch trees or abundantly in birch forests. It's commonly believed that bark respawns after strong winds or blizzards, but this is untrue. Radial spawns (bark, branches, coal, stones ect.) simply spawn on a randomized timer, independent of any weather conditions.
Raw Birch Bark cannot be consumed directly and must first be crafted into Birch Bark Tea.
The Benefit "Restore Condition" heals 5% Condition (2.5% per hour, for 2 hours), regardless if the player is awake/asleep, or if Needs are not met. The Benefit does not stack however, and drinking multiple cups of Birch Bark Tea within 5 hours of one another wastes part of this Benefit.
Prepared Birch Bark (0.05kg) has half the weight of it's materials (2 Birch Bark, 0.10kg), and no form of Birch Bark/Birch Bark Tea decays.
Fire Starting info[]
Products[]
| Item | Skills | Materials | ||||||||||||
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 Prepared Birch Bark
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None |
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Tips[]
- Birch forests are present near the Lonely Homestead (Pleasant Valley), western Ravine, the western bank of the river heading south from Carter Dam in Mystery Lake, and north-western Bleak Inlet. One of the largest birch forests is in Ash Canyon, South/Southwest of Stone Shelf Cave. Lone birch trees can be found sporadically in all regions.
- Prepared Birch Bark cannot be used as Tinder, unlike it's unprocessed form.
Birch Bark respawns after High Winds or Blizzards- this is a myth, see Bashrobe's YT video "10 Myths and Rumors in The Long Dark".- The effects of Restore Condition are continuous, despite the player being awake, asleep, or even actively losing Condition (e.g. from a Need not being met).
- Birch Bark may be found via Beachcombing.
- Prepared Birch Bark weighs 0.05 kg, half of what two Birch Bark (their crafting materials) weigh.
- Teas may be heated/reheated to grant the Warming Up benefit by placing them on a fire's cooking spot, or nearby a lit fire.
- Teas are more weight efficient than Water for the Hydration they grant (0.1kg of a tea grants 30% Hydration, equivalent to 0.22kg of water).
- Birch Bark, Prepared Birch Bark, and Birch Bark Tea never decay.
Trivia[]
- It is possible to survive exclusively on Birch Bark Tea, especially on easier difficulties or by using the starvation strategy (only eating just before sleep).
- Birch Bark Tea is disabled during the Challenge: As the Dead Sleep, but Birch Bark may still be collected and used as Tinder.
- Cup of Coffee is the only item which can restore all 4 Needs (if consumed while hot), but Birch Bark Tea functions similarly with its benefit Restore Condition, since this heals Condition (2.5% hourly) faster than Fatigue damages it (1% hourly), so it is possible to survive indefinitely without sleep by drinking 1 cup of Birch Bark Tea every 5 hours (albeit at 0% Fatigue, moving slowly and unable to climb/sprint).
- Birch Bark is a real-world item acquired from Birch trees of the genus Betula, found across Eurasia and North America. It has a consistency and workability similar to that of cardboard, and has been used in a number of industries for hundreds of years including the making of paper, storage containers, canoes, shoes and roofing.
- Consumption of Birch Bark or Birch Tea has no significant documental medical benefits, though it is commonly drunk ("Birch Beer") in North-Eastern United States and Newfoundland (Canada).
- Real-World Birch Bark is typically harvested directly from the trunks of dead trees (removing bark from live trees is hazardous to their health), which is partially supported in-game where only loose pieces from the ground are acquired. However in survival situations (rather than in luxury industries), removal of birch bark from live trees (injuring/killing them in the process) is more common.
Update history[]
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