Pitch wood

[Caster]

Anyone know the procedure for cutting pitch wood sticks for a tinder box? I bought some from a guy in Backwoods magazine years ago. They burn like gasoline! I wonder if there's a suitable tree here in TN to cut some from??? The stuff I got was from old growth pine stumps. There's a certain time to cut it, when the sap content is highest.

[MacGyver]

I know historically, that the Longleaf Pine is the most prolific producer of fat wood. Stumps and taproots from fallen or downed trees are excellent sources. Also, "joints" of limbs are good candidates.

I have always heard that the spring is the best time to collect it, but I expect this point is moot when you're searching for deadfall. When you find a likely stump, you can usually bludgeon away the rotten stuff around the outside to get to the good, rosin-infused heartwood.

[Guest USMC 2013]

How about some vaseline on some Q-tips and store them in a film tube? Those light fast and burn hot.

Joe

[RichardR]

I usually just buy it, its not expensive & it usually only takes a single stick to get a fire going.

[Caster]

I usually just buy it, its not expensive & it usually only takes a single stick to get a fire going.

Me too. It's always a good thing to learn to get items, tools and materials without having to buy them though.

[oldogy]

We always called it fat pine or lighter knots. An old pine stump or a pine tree that has died while the sap is up. I have a big old pine standing on my place that lightning hit about six or seven years ago in the spring. The tree shows no signs of rotting so some day I'll take it down, expecting to find fat pine. If you were closer we could have a tree cutting party and both have enough fat pine for hundreds of years. I do need to take it down just out of curiosity. We do have a forester member on here who'll probably weigh in if he sees the thread.

oldogy

[MacGyver]

Hunting for this stuff can make for a fun walk in the woods. Take a machete or ax (your choice - but beware of the risk if you're going out by yourself) and look for old stumps that haven't really rotted. Take a couple of whacks to get down to the core, and if you've got good fat lighter, you'll see it and smell it pretty quickly. Since the taproots have sap as well, I always find it useful to try and pry the whole thing out of the ground.

One good stump can yeild enough fat lighter to last a decade.

[BrasilNuts]

My Father always called them Pine Knots.

Go out in the woods and kick around and you should be able to find some.

I always just looked for a rotten pine on the ground and kicked off all the rotten part to get to the sap center.

Great fire starter wet or dry.

[Guest ochretoe]

Fall is a good time to look for fat wood. A tree that has died over the summer or spring usually makes good fat wood. Dig up the big roots and split them down. You will smell the pitch or "fat" in it.

[Caster]

Thanks guys. Good incentive to get out and hike a while this fall.