How to find and prepare Fatwood

    Have you ever wondered where all the fatwood is hiding? Look no further I'll tell you all you need to know to find fatwood. First off if all you've heard about fatwood is its good for starting fires, I'll tell you! Fatwood is one of the best (or the best) thing to use for starting fires in the woods, sure, if you had lighter fluid you could get a fire started with damp wood, but if you have flint and steel (or matches) fatwood is almost essential. You may be able to get some other material to burn with flint and steel, but if it is wet or snowy, like as not you may spend hours trying to get it to burn, I think it is more time efficient and dependable to do a little searching and find some fatwood to start your fire.

    To find fatwood you have to understand what it is and how it is made. Trees have sap running through them while they are living, its kind if like the tree's blood. When the tree dies the sap settles, where the sap settles it saturates the wood. This saturated wood is fatwood, so to find fatwood you have to know where the sap generally settles. Another important factor is the type of tree, pine trees are the best but you can also find it in some spruce and conifers.

    Now where to find it in the tree, my favorite, and also probably the easiest way, is to find a fallen, rotting tree, and then you kick or break off a branch (or what's left of a branch), what you want is the part of the branch that is right next to the trunk and the knot of the branch (inside the tree). Once you have that piece you can shave off all the rotten wood that came off with it, shave until you see fatwood. If you don't find fatwood in your piece, break another one off of a different tree and try that one. You can also find fatwood on dead standing trees, cut a few inches of a branch right where it leaves the trunk, shave off the bark and check the center for fatwood. Another place to check is the center of an old stump. If you are not finding fatwood in these places likely you are not checking in trees that are old enough or, are checking in the wrong type of tree. If you're not sure how to tell if its fatwood you can smell it, it should smell like turpentine. You can also look at it, it should be a dark, amber colored wood, if you make some shavings, they should look yellow (like beeswax shavings).

    Once you have shaved the bark and/or rotten wood off of your fatwood, you make a pile of small shavings (almost sawdust size), and put a spark on it. You can use the back edge of your knife (if it isn't rounded) to scrape off small shavings that light well. Depending on how wet your wood is, you may need to burn larger shavings or chunks of it to produce enough heat to light your kindling.

    Fatwood is one of my favorite things to use to start a fire, especially with flint and steel. I think fatwood could even be better than lint or paper, as it lights well, burns slowly, gives a lot of heat in a small area, and doesn't soak up water. It might make all your fire starting problems go away. You can carry a piece in your backpack, or find it when you need it, either way fatwood is awesome.

    If you have any questions you want answered, feel free to ask.