Found some fat wood - how to store it?

[malente]

Hi,

today, while out with my boys playing in the woods, I found a bit of fatwood and resin


Tree resin and fat wood by Eva und Michael, on Flickr

How do I best store it for later use? Better to keep it in one piece or make smaller tinder sticks already?

Cheers

Mike

Update: So I went back and got a wee bit more (about, uhm, 5kg or so?)


More fat wood! by Eva und Michael, on Flickr


Close up fat wood by Eva und Michael, on Flickr

 

[Ogri the trog]

I'd keep it somewhere dry and cool, and in big bits....

My major beef with Maya dust is that with so much surface area, the volatile hydro-carbons (stuff that burns easily) can evaporate readily - especially if you carry the tin in your pocket and heat it all up.
If you carry a big stick of it, it should be an easy enough task to shave a few bits off whenever you want a fire!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[mrcairney]

Nice find, there's loads of pine near me but I have yet to have a look about. I get woodshyness.

 

[malente]

Nice find, there's loads of pine near me but I have yet to have a look about. I get woodshyness.

This is actually just a small piece I managed to get of with my SAK... There is a whole fallen pine tree there and the lower section near the root is mostly fat wood.

I think I will have to sneak out again with a big axe and saw

 

[lannyman8]

what makes it easy for you, i would pre cut it into sticks and store in an old tin like that, ready to grab a bit at short notice...

 

[santaman2000]

In large pieces it's virtually indestructable. For centuries here the larger ones were used for fence posts (particularly corner posts) and there are still many standing that are over 150 years old. They're still full of resin and sticks the size of most campfire wood will ignite readily with no further processing needed.

Here in the South it's normally called "lightard" and yes the d is pronounced.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Lightard... Not heard that one thanks!

I find its best left for a week or three to 'season' once collected as despite the high resin content, It may still have some moisture in the wood. I then prep mine down to manageable kindling size sticks.
Managed to find a few variants from very dense and old wood, to very sticky resin rich stuff- to white, soft pine. The last one go's up like napalm, but all burn very well.

Good find! al.

 

[shaggystu]

.......The last one go's up like napalm.....

now there's a storage problem!

i've still not had a play with fatwood, i'm sure there must be loads in the woods around me but there's also masses of birch so i'm spoilt for birch bark, which really does lead to laziness.

stuart

 

[malente]

now there's a storage problem!

i've still not had a play with fatwood, i'm sure there must be loads in the woods around me but there's also masses of birch so i'm spoilt for birch bark, which really does lead to laziness.

stuart

Same here. I only found it by accident while building a den for the boys...

 

[The Big Lebowski]

now there's a storage problem!

LoL Napalm (of the tinder world at-least) was pretty descriptive I thought.

[video=youtube;vCie8PGrsQc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCie8PGrsQc[/video]

 

[malente]

LoL Napalm (of the tinder world at-least) was pretty descriptive I thought.

[video=youtube;vCie8PGrsQc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCie8PGrsQc[/video]

This isn't trivial man. That tinder stick really tied the room together!

 

[The Big Lebowski]

And it smells better than it did 10 mins ago

I have a bit of an obsession with the stuff, I wonder if they hold fatwood anonymous groups...

 

[shaggystu]

LoL Napalm (of the tinder world at-least) was pretty descriptive I thought.....

looking at that video you're not far wrong. i shall keep my eyes open for some. i know that i'm looking for fallen pines but does anyone have any advice further than that?

stuart

 

[Ogri the trog]

t does anyone have any advice further than that?

stuart

Wherever you are, it is worth keeping a watchful eye on fallen/cut pines. A tap with the butt of a knife or the poll of your axe might produce a ringing sound - harder than you think it ought to be from a downed trunk.

A few test cuts should reveal red or golden fibres or "plastic" looking areas that smell heavily of resin/turpentine. Cut out a chunk of the tree and do more tests to see the limits of the fatwood piece - (sometimes its big sometimes not). I let mine dry for a few days then bashed it about with a large hammer - the soft and worthless areas crumbled while the fatwood areas broke off more cleanly. If you're lucky enough to find big pieces, cut them into manageable sized lumps, if not salvage what you can and move on.

Good luck

Ogri the trog

 

[malente]

Updated the original post to add about 5kgs of fat wood *grins*


More fat wood! by Eva und Michael, on Flickr


Close up fat wood by Eva und Michael, on Flickr

 

[Limaed]

And it smells better than it did 10 mins ago

I have a bit of an obsession with the stuff, I wonder if they hold fatwood anonymous groups...

Lol.... funny you should say that, my garage is full of Chaga fungus, as well as a healthy pile of fatwood and various other bits of organic matter useful in lighting fires

 

[santaman2000]

looking at that video you're not far wrong. i shall keep my eyes open for some. i know that i'm looking for fallen pines but does anyone have any advice further than that?

stuart

Actually you're looking for old (20-100 year old) pine stumps. The sap falls all the way into the root system.

 

[Pignut]

I think mistwalker once posted a usefull tutorial post on finding fatwood, It was well worth a read.