kindling and firestarters

I have a two acre piece of land with a very small cabin. About an acre is wooded. I have more than enough seasoned kindling lying around for both my cabin woodstove and my home woodstove. I just pick up small, medium, and large sticks and use an assortment on top of newspaper to fire either stove up.

Danno77 said:

has anybody figured out how much fatwood would cost if it was a full cord worth? OK, a 50lb box of fatwood is 67.50 online (didn't search this out) a cord of pine weighs something like 2700lbs that means 54 boxes would be equal in weight to a cord of pine. so you'd spend $3645 for a cord of pine, lol.

I know it's more complicated than that, but has Fatwood been discussed more thoroughly around here? why does it look nice and fresh if it's from a stump of a tree that was cut down decades ago? Does it really ignite easier and get a fireplace/woodstove going faster than pine split very small and dried to perfection?

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I also use Fatwood sticks & swear by them! Two (2) sticks & a small amount of kindling is all you need.
Light them from the bottom (fire will quickly rise up the stick).
They way I understand it, when they cut-down Southern Pitch Pines, they leave a foot or so of stump above
the ground. The roots still continue to pump pitch (like a sugar mape) up through the remaining stump, and
it becomes saturated. A year or two later, they harvest that stub, split it & package it.

I also recycle my un-burnt coals from the ashes - they light quickly & throw-off an incredible amount of heat.

I get a 5lb box of Fatwood from Lowes...$5. If my wife starts the stove, she can get it started without drama.

This past week I subscribed to the Weekender (Fri-Sun) NY Times delivery. The woman on the phone said "...you can get the week for only $10 more..."

I stopped her and said "ma'am, three days of the paper should be enough to start the wood stove for a week..."

Dead silence of lack of comprehension or horror on the other end.

NY Times is a good fire starter. Sometimes when I start to set up the fire, I find an interesting article, set it aside, and read it while the stove warms up. It's a nice fire ritual.

If god hadn't invented newspaper knots and top down lighting I'd be using Super Cedars. Maybe when all the newspapers go the way of cave drawings I'll need to switch. However - if you want a starter use the Super Cedars, they can't be beat..

I recycle. Egg cartons, I love eggs over medium with the whites well done, i eat them all the time so i get plenty of cartons, old candles and new from the dollar store and chain saw dust for fire starters and keep the sweepings from the log splitter for kindling.

Pine knots are what I use. At least that's what I always called them and they're everywhere around here. They are left over pine stumps full of sap. Chop them into pieces and throw a few twigs on top of that then some wood. They light instantly and are so full of sap they'll drip flames off of them.

PINE CONES ARE THE WAY TO GO. EASY TO COLLECT AND ALREADY TO BURN. ALWAYS LOOKING TO SAVE MONEY!!

egg cartons with sawdust and candle remains.

Retired Guy said:

If god hadn't invented newspaper knots and top down lighting I'd be using Super Cedars. Maybe when all the newspapers go the way of cave drawings I'll need to switch. However - if you want a starter use the Super Cedars, they can't be beat..

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I do the same... without the newspapers, but with the Super Cedars... build the fire just like you were going to put the knots on them. Then put a piece (1/4 or maybe 1/6 if you are good a breaking them) on top center) and light it off. Works about the same for me. I have found it helps to have some nice small kindling there on top, but that is true even with newspaper I believe.

I just don't like taking the time to tie knots.

Actually, with my stiff fingers it takes me longer to unwrap the Super Cedars - even though they are great starters. I have used fatwood and the wax starters in the past

those supercedars are EXPENSIVE.

spirilis said:

cheap StarterLogg's from walmart, those don't light by themselves with a match though (maybe I got a bad batch?) so I use a tiny squirt of firestarter gel from walmart and light that. but those starterlogg's don't light my woodbrickfuel by themselves, so I use them to light some kiln-dried kindling pieces and pallet wood pieces (those burn hot & very fast). That starts the inferno. Once the woodbrickfuel chars underneath the top brick (on top of the teepee), it lights off and voila.

One of these days, I should see if the pallet wood lights off by itself with firestarter gel... I know the kiln-dried kindling doesn't, at least larger pieces don't. Oh well, just working with what I have at the moment

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I make Liberty Bricks, which are the same size and material as the woodbrickfuel. We discovered that the teepee suggestion to start bricks is too fussy. The bricks often topple over, especially if you touch them when you try to put kindling underneath. Also, the teepee lets too much air out the sides and does not light as easily. We recommend building a stack with three bricks on the bottom with small gaps to allow air all around and two on top with a small gap to let the upper bricks catch fire from the flames going through. Three wads of newspaper is all it ever takes. The wood is so dry that the bricks are almost as easy as kindling to start. Some people sugest breaking up a brick to make kindling, but most bricks are pretty tough. We have scrap pieces that we grind up for use in bricks. Would you be interested in buying kindling with your bricks if it were about the same price per bundle?

I use dryer lint or sawdust in an egg carton I started a thread on this complete with a video, works great and it is free.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/45095/