[pinnah]

The other day I was ripping down my old plants. Normally this time of year they are dry and brittle and the bines break up easily.

I have this one plant - this one in fact -that has really durable bines. I mean they are hard as heck to break and that is after standing dead all winter.  They fracture into long stringy strands and are extremely tough...

It got me thinking about hops as fiber...similar to hemp perhaps?

Anyone know if this has been tested or if farms in the PNW use spent bines for anything? 
Seems like some potential there for a lot of waste biomass from the hop yards.

[reverseapachemaster]

Up to the nineteenth century hop bines were used similar to hemp to make cloth. It requires soaking the bines, pounding them to release the fibers and then spinning into yarn or string. Not particularly efficient once cotton became widely available.