Homemade FAT WOOD pic heavy

[Juggernaut]

I watched a tutorial on a YouTube channel I subscribe to called black owl outdoors, it shows how tomake you're own fat wood.

After a weekend at brockwell with only damp wood to use I figured why not have a go, so I got half a kilo of pine sap/rosin/pitch off eBay for £10 including postage, took part of a broken pine pallet from work that was completely dry and set to work.

All you do is cut the pine up so it's small enough to start a fire and fit in a small container, then on a very low heat melt the pine sap which will be hard so it turns in to a liquid.

Then add a few sticks and leave them to sit in the hot sap but making sure you go and of the heat to keep it in a liquid state, after 5 minutes or so pull it out with tongs and place across a couple of twigs so the whole thing doesn't stick to what you've laid it on!

It will only take 5 mins to set hard! Then you can pack it in to your container ready for your next trip ;0)

Next time I'm going to experiment with adding some paraffin, VERY small amounts at first.........

Anyway enjoy the pics and I hope they make it easier for you to understand my ramblings.

 

[Juggernaut]

Enjoy

 

[Tat2trev]

Wicked idea like that a lot

 

[Juggernaut]

And finally I had some left over in the pan so decided to make some fat sticks on steroids by dripping the already soaked sticks in nearly set pine pitch!!!

Luke

 

[Juggernaut]

Yeah Trev, cost was nominal and the time spent making then was less than 15 mintes..... The amount of as I have left would literally last me the next years worth of camping trips!

I'm not saying they will be as good as mya sticks but then for the money those things cost I'll make do with home made fat wood all day long :0)

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

How well do they light. Great idea by the way.

 

[Bartooon]

Thanks for that Juggernaut - excellent idea. Have you had chance to try them out yet. I would be interested to hear how they perform compared to Maya sticks.

 

[Clouston98]

Interesting idea! I have harvested my own and used bought stuff but it would great if you could do a review comparing them .

 

[Juggernaut]

I literally finished them an hour ago and posted straightaway, so no I've not used them yet.

I want them to be able to light from a ferro rod but I'd be happy if once lit they act like a fire lighter and just be for if. Longer giving you a bigger window of time to make a fire?

Maybe if I was to scrape some ferro rod off and light that though it would work

Luke

 

[David Morningstar]

How deep does the pitch penetrate into the wood? If you cut a load of shavings of the surface, are you left with a piece of diet wood or is it still fat?

 

[Juggernaut]

I've not looked yet, I do plan on cutting one up to see how far it's penetrated though, I let them sit in the hot liquid sap for 5 minutes a batch.

Maybe try feathering them next time though!

Thanks
Luke

 

[HHazeldean]

Thats a fantastic idea, I'd love to see how they compare to standard maya sticks and such, thanks for that.

 

[Juggernaut]

How deep does the pitch penetrate into the wood? If you cut a load of shavings of the surface, are you left with a piece of diet wood or is it still fat?

Ok, just had a play in the garage lol cut one in half and it looks to of soaked around 2mm deep all the way around, I can see the dried sap crystals running through the cut, I'm guessing if you soaked them for longer the pitch would go deeper.

Tried lighting one with a ferro rod but no joy although this is probably more down to not having a nest to build up from as well, add a very small nest and this thing would go up a treat no problem! Or if I were to half then quarter the kindling a couple of times.

I have a fire/ember/match string also which I caught an ember on from the ferro rod the. Used the ember tower the home made fat wood off, took it no problem and set of burning really well and burned for quite some time.

With the use of a lighter or naked flame the home made fat wood literally took 1-2 seconds to flare up.

All in all a worth while adventure making them especially when you consider how little cost and time involved, are they flammable...... Yes. Are they cheap....... YES. Do they burn for among time...... YES. are they easy to set alight..... YES. Was it fun....... YES.


Luke

P.S the missus thinks 10pm fires in the garage are a silly idea lol

 

[Chiseller]

I dropped on.....
The last woods we were in , foraged enough natural fat wood from heavily pitched fallen pine.
Be interesting to see how yours compare to nature's own .

Grand job you've done though :thumbup:

Run Silent-Run Deep

 

[Monikieman]

I've been meaning to try this myself but went for the 'el cheepo' version as I was too stingy to but the resin from eBay.

I used an old wok and candle wax and simmered over an open fire for about 5 mins. Just kept watching incase it flashed over.

Not sure about total burn time but scrapings with a knife ignite easilly with a ferro rod.

 

[Juggernaut]

Cheers chiseler, il bringing some to otley! For a try out :0)

 

[Juggernaut]

I've been meaning to try this myself but went for the 'el cheepo' version as I was too stingy to but the resin from eBay.

I used an old wok and candle wax and simmered over an open fire for about 5 mins. Just kept watching incase it flashed over.

Not sure about total burn time but scrapings with a knife ignite easilly with a ferro rod.

Good job! I'm confident these would catch with a ferro rod given a little practice on my part, especially if I feathered them!