I have recently began my search for "fat lighter". Some people call it "rich pine". I know you can buy it online and other places but this gives me even more reason to head out in the woods and explore. "Fat Lighter" is the center of old growth pines, Which are hard to find these days. Well, maybe not in all areas but hard to find here where I live. Do any of you gather this and use it to start your fires?
This info is straight from wikipedia, but I'd bet there is more to it. Can someone elaborate?
"Fatwood is scar tissue of a damaged or injured pine tree. A lightning strike will scar a tree sometimes top to bottom without necessarily killing the tree. The result scar of burnt bark will "scar" over with resin. Once hardened, the wood and bark around the area becomes rich with the flammable hardened resin. High winds breaking limbs, or violently twisting the tree, will also open "wound" in the tree bark. Again, resin will harden forming "scar" tissue rich in fatwood. Hard yellowish resin can be found around the wound area. This can then be scraped off and used as a fire starter. [2]
[edit] Wood kindling and tinder
Because of the flammability of terpene, fatwood is prized for use as kindling in starting fires. It lights quickly even when wet, is very wind resistant, and burns hot enough to light larger pieces of wood. A small piece of fatwood can be used many times to create tinder by shaving small curls and using them to light other larger tinder. In Louisiana "fatwood" is known as "rich lighter" and cut slivers are what is referred to as "kindling" because of the abundance. The pitch-soaked wood produces an oily, sooty smoke, and it is recommended that one should not cook on a fire until all the fatwood has completely burned out. Because of this oily smoke fatwood should not be used for indoor fireplaces. A fatwood pine knot burns hot enough that even one of a smaller size can cause damage to a wood stove and even cause house fires. The smoke produced by "fatwood" is an excellent bug (especially mosquito) repellent."
[quote author=thingette 1s sister link=topic=2261.msg21010#msg21010 date=1361753776]
THis info is straight from Wikipedia
"Fatwood is scar tissue of a damaged or injured pine tree. A lightning strike will scar a tree sometimes top to bottom without necessarily killing the tree. The result scar of burnt bark will "scar" over with resin. Once hardened, the wood and bark around the area becomes rich with the flammable hardened resin. High winds breaking limbs, or violently twisting the tree, will also open "wound" in the tree bark. Again, resin will harden forming "scar" tissue rich in fatwood. Hard yellowish resin can be found around the wound area. This can then be scraped off and used as a fire starter. [2]
[edit] Wood kindling and tinder
Because of the flammability of terpene, fatwood is prized for use as kindling in starting fires. It lights quickly even when wet, is very wind resistant, and burns hot enough to light larger pieces of wood. A small piece of fatwood can be used many times to create tinder by shaving small curls and using them to light other larger tinder. In Louisiana "fatwood" is known as "rich lighter" and cut slivers are what is referred to as "kindling" because of the abundance. The pitch-soaked wood produces an oily, sooty smoke, and it is recommended that one should not cook on a fire until all the fatwood has completely burned out. Because of this oily smoke fatwood should not be used for indoor fireplaces. A fatwood pine knot burns hot enough that even one of a smaller size can cause damage to a wood stove and even cause house fires. The smoke produced by "fatwood" is an excellent bug (especially mosquito) repellent."
Thats what I said. 😉
Well Wikipedia is wrong on that one; I can attest. It's not just the damaged area, it's the core of most stumps and in some cases, it's the whole stump. I have a pile of fat wood stumps that's bigger than my truck. Some of it's so fat until it's plumb purple when you split it. And it'll get you all sticky when you pick it up.
I like the idea of the paper egg cartons with dryer lint and melted crayons to start your fires, but with a couple of thousand pounds of fat wood, I don't think I need to go to the effort.
I'm going to check out the "Fat lighter". Never heard of it. We have a pretty good thing we ue to start fires. We take cotton balls and rub bout a half teaspoon of petroleum jelly into them. They light instantly and burn for at least 5 minutes. We have a plastic jar full of them that we keep in the PUP.
I'm sorry if that was ugly, I didn't mean anything by it. What I have always heard called fat lighter is the center portion of old pine stumps. This is where the sap has collected and hardened. This is very flammable. Sometimes you can pull it right out of a old rotten stump and sometimes you will need to persuade it to come out. When you find it in the wild it will typically be grey in color on the outside but very dark yellow nearly brown sometimes on the inside. This material is very flammable and will burn fairly slowly but very hot. Wiki was correct in stating that it can be caused by lightning strikes. It can also be formed due to damage or injuries to the tree. Once again I didn't mean to sound ugly. Sometimes when things are typed the come across harsher than expected.
My apologies, Sister! My fingers aren't used to expressing body language. Your initiative was well intended and was a very appropriate answer to his question; Kudos for effort!
And to the point, Wikipedia IS correct inasmuch as it can be caused by damage. Have you ever noticed a pine tree that someone has smacked with a car? Have you ever seen what we call a "cat face"? Both are rich in pine, but very, very hard. But damage creates a very small small portion of fat wood out there; most of it is the natural decaying process of the stump. Natural growth yellow pines (harder and harder to find) are RICH in sap and leave behind a stump that's nearly ALL pitch. Planted pines have been genetically engineered over the years to leave a very poor stump behind, thus leaving no interference to replanting. I've seen some old Southern Yellow Pine stumps on fence-rows that have been there so long until they're plumb green with algae; those are nearly entirely pitch.
Once again, my apologies. Here, this is for you: :cheers:
Man the stumps last forever when they burn in place. Whenever we have a fire in the woods here, whether it's intentional to burn the underbrush or unintentional, the pine stumps will burn for DAYS. Literally! We had a car catch fire about 5-6 miles from work and catch a small patch of woods on fire. The fire crew got it contained fairly quickly, but I could see the smoke and a small flame from a stump for 3-4 days later. If they're exposed where the air can get to them, it's a different story; they burn HOT and pour off an awful, acrid smell of smoke. That's why it's such a good fire starter.
I have some fat sawdust in a couple of cans from the last time I took a chainsaw to one. I wonder if it's explosive, or just flammable. Hmmmmmm, could be good under the crayons in the egg carton. 😀
I have looked all over my parents property and found a lot of the stuff. Some of it is still sticking in the air, that's the easy to spot stuff. I prefer to dig up an old stump and see what I find. I will check out the home depot and see what they sell it for. Who knows I could probably sell some myself!
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