Fatwood: what it is and why it is a top natural fire starter

If I could teach one natural fire-starting material first, I would probably pick fatwood, and Paul Kirtley makes a good case for it. Fatwood is resin-saturated heartwood from certain conifers, mainly pines. It forms where resin pools, such as old stumps, roots and branch junctions, often after a tree dies or is damaged. It is dense, golden-orange to reddish-brown, sticky when fresh, and smells strongly of pine.

Why does it work? The resin burns hot and long and repels water, so fatwood still lights when other tinder is damp. It also resists rot and stores well. All pines can produce it; he names longleaf pine in the southeastern USA, Montezuma pine in Mexico and Scots pine across Eurasia.

To find it, check stump bases, large branch junctions and dead lower limbs. Darker, richer wood near knots is a good sign, and a shaved piece should smell strongly of pine and feel oily. Chip into a weathered stump with an axe or split dead branches to reach the core.

For lighting, scrape a stick at right angles to make dust that catches a ferro rod spark, shave thin slivers, or make a fatwood feather stick, which he says burns hotter and longer than a softwood one of similar size.

Harvest only from dead trees or fallen limbs, never live wood. He also stresses that fatwood is a backup, not a substitute for learning proper fire-lighting skills.

Source: Paul Kirtley