Finding Fat Lighter - Fatwood Firestarter

Very informative thread, thanks!

 

Same here. Had never heard the term "Fat Wood" before. It was always call Pitchy Pine. In the Northwest where I grew up it was everywhere along with cedar. Always carried some of both in my saddlebags, the pocket on my chaps or in my backpack if I was shanks mare..

EXCELLENT idea! had never thought of that.

 

I'll never forget a backpacking trip years ago into the Shawnee Forest near Porstmouth, OH. I was taking KYHillChick on our first trip together-- nothing too much, just 16 miles over two days. We got to the campsite about two hours before sundown. It was March. The rangers were supposed to leave regular drops of firewood, but there wasn't any because it was still early in the year, so I had to go foraging for deadfall.

My buddy, John, had gone through The Bulge. He was pushing 80 by this time. He didn't go on this trip, but he had always told me about how his buddy from North Carolina had taught him about fatwood. He was big on fatwood-- said it had kept him from freezing to death in the Ardennes many a night. So there I was out in a strange place in the middle of the woods and looking for dry deadfall. That stretch of woods had been picked clean by those before me. Nothing. Then I found an old pine stump, and I thought "Fatwood." Sure enough, I kicked over the stump like John had said and there it was. It was enough to dry out some tinder and a few bigger pieces so that Girlfriend and I got a hot dinner and there was enough fatwood left in the morning to get the fire going for coffee and oatmeal.

 

I love fatwood! Always take camping and sometimes hiking. It is like cheating to start a fire and most helpful when it's raining and everything is wet. Fatwood, pine resin and paperbark are my favorites here.

 

Its called 'Lighter Pine' down here, I have logs of it at my west place.

 

L&L Bean does, or at least used to.

 

Wal*Mart carries it, I prefer getting it off of Ebay, and then remember the seller that was selling the best stuff, the worst fat wood is the same quality that Wal*Mart sells.

 

When I was a a young guy, it was called "Squaw wood" in this part of the country. Wonder why you don't hear that so much anymore.

 

SQUAW WOOD; CUT THE COST OF WINTER HEAT BY PICKING UP SCRAP THIS SUMMER AND SAVING NEWSPAPERS TO ROLL YOUR OWN LOGS - CSMonitor.com

 

“we allways used to use womens tampons in the kit to readily accept the spark from a commercial fire lighter “

they used to be all cotton.....worked great as a wick with olive oil....plug for a bullet hole.....start fires

anyway they are NOT all cotton anymore..............do not work GREAT for anything anymore


you hear about using dryer lint for a fire starter...................it MUST be cotton lint...polyester will not work...will not wick....will not burn


a good wick for an olive oil lamp........is COTTON sash cord........hard to find....cotton will rot...so most sash cord now is improved polyester and does not work as a wick


another nice wicking is a commercial heavy duty mop..... all cotton....buy at lowes or home depot


“a lump of rubber cut from a tire “ works great


anyway ...back to fatwood,.......Its called 'Lighter Pine' down here, as gator 45/70

it is NOT old wood............

it is the HEART WOOD OF THE pine TREE......not the sapwood

IN THE SOUTH YOU CAN find old fence posts of heart pine


“
“The tree's sap was concentrated in the stump when it fell or was cut down. “ NO.....it is just the heartwood of the tree
GREAT POST other than that

 

Very nice, I like this. Never thought of a mop. Thank you for this idea.

** just bought a new package of fat wood from a yard sale for .50 cents.

I think I will break the box up and make a few packs (vac sealed) to go in the different bags & cars.

 

A few alternative fire starters that I use when I don't have fatwood are Birch bark, rubber from an inner tube or fine steel wool. I like birch bark the best but the inner tube can come in real handy at times. I cut the tube in band about an inch wide and use them for like you wood a rubber band. Then if I get in a bind I can use it for fire starter.

 

Walked up on this piece yesterday, A good 35' of lighter pine.

 

Wow @Gator 45/70 !... is that all fat wood?

 

Yes it is,

Yes it is, I have another one about 12' tall to the west of this one, I have others on my west location. This was close to where we are cutting a fire lane/food plots.

 

Found some more...Cou-zan and I think we are setting on several grand of lighter pine based on Wally World prices?
The one on my trailer I simple drove up to and worried out of the ground
The green one is Triple AAA lighter pine, You won't find better!

 

Women's tampons? Are there any other kind?

This is a serious problem.