What are the pro's using to start the fire ?

BrotherBart said:

ChillyGator said:

I splurge and use two 1/4 pieces of SUPERCEDER firestarter


"I have free fat llighter and buy SuperCeders"

-Endorsement Available at Reasonable Rates, just PM me :lol:

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I didn't have any small splits available tonight so I used two halves of a Super Cedar and four large splits. Talk about a start-up. Wow!

I am bucking for marketing manager.

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Makes for a FAST recovery too.......my stove sits cold tonight (59*)

if I just work the Tennessee/Georiga area my spelling errors won't be noticed :lol:

We lit our stove about two weeks before Halloween and it has not been out since. We let it burn down low but if I reload it, than crack the main door open about a quarter inch and i'll take right off. We have a propane torch for stating but just haven't used it. It is starting to warm up here during the day so we might let it just go out. It's been our only heat and we love it. If anything we have kept the house too hot but that's the way the wife wants it. David

Two 10" splits, loaded N-S (Hey, don't hassle me for wimpy splits! LOL), 2 sheets newspaper and mucho dried twigs/kindling on top. Although BB's napalm seems intriguing. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning...it's smells like...VICTORY"

I use shavings from an old VW engine block that I light with a magnifying glass.

or 1/4 Supercedar and a BBQ lighter.

or 4 knots of newspaper and a match.

I envy all the members around here with long burn times! Our stove only gets 5-6 hours between re-loads at best. So I've had to light a fire every morning for the last 4 months. It's been a learning experience, I can now light a fire by rubbing two sticks together if I had to!! :lol: So far in our first wood heating season we've used:

Lots of newspaper and kindling in the beginning of the season. Untill I got sick of doing that every day.
Yankee candle's Kindle candles- they are quite efficient and nicelly scented but expensive
Fat wood- handy little sticks they are! $10 bucks/box
StarterLoggs are also nice and a box of 24 for $10 can be split into chunks and last me a while.
But my favorites by far are Strike-a-fire by Diamond. $10 box of 48. They have a match head that you strike against the box so no match needed and you can light up dry splits with ease.

I'm looking forward to next year's season with a newer longer burning EPA rated stove! I'll only have to buy one box!

In my wood stove it has been a few months, I forgot.
I think it was some birch bark, few stick of spruce kindling & propane lighter.

Today I cut up a birch tree & burned the tops & limbs. Started fire with some peeled birch bark off the logs, few spruce limbs & a bic lighter.
Big bon fire in no time.

I use the little firestarting blocks... not sure of the name but i get them at the hardware store. they come 192 to a box for about 8 bucks, a box lasts me all season, if not more. i usually use 2 at a time. i never have to start a fire from scratch from november to april, although i did once just a few weeks ago when we had 60 degree temps.

With my boiler and storage system I need to start a fire everyday and then burn 6 - 8 hours before letting the fire go out.
About once a month I will collect a nice size box of the lower dry limbs off the white pine trees in my area,one handful of these ,some newspaper and properly seasoned wood makes for a quick fire.

BrowningBAR said:

BrotherBart said:

ChillyGator said:

I splurge and use two 1/4 pieces of SUPERCEDER firestarter


"I have free fat llighter and buy SuperCeders"

-Endorsement Available at Reasonable Rates, just PM me :lol:

Click to expand...

I didn't have any small splits available tonight so I used two halves of a Super Cedar and four large splits. Talk about a start-up. Wow!

I am bucking for marketing manager.

Click to expand...

I did the same thing except I used one and a half Super Cedars... I got lazy.

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I think I'm going to stop burning wood and just burn Super Cedars all day long. I figure my endorsement will include an unlimited supply of them.

Every morning (When I am home and when it's cold....) I have to start a new fire..... Si I'm using dry cedar kindling, news paper or cardboard from the recycling bin and a small propane torch... (I'm refilling my 1 lb small propane bottle )

birch bark. And it doesn't require much. If you've never peeled off birch bark and lit it up- you will be very surprised.

(this is a good outdoor survival tip, as well).

It used to be fat wood but now after trying my Super Cedar Samples, I now have a nice big box
of Super Cedars! Thanks Thomas!

If its well dried pine, a match will do.

I usually use Rutland Safelite Fire Starters in 144 packs. http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=4198180
If the wood is dry one square per fire will do it. I sometimes use two if I'm impatient. Four squares will get less than seasoned wood going.

I'm intrigued by Cape Cod fire lighters. They are a piece of pumice on an iron rod that soaks in a metal (usually copper, brass, or cast iron) decorative pitcher full of lamp oil. When you want to start a fire you light the rock on fire. When the pumice burns out you pull it out, let it cool, and put it back in its pitcher.

I can't rave enough about Super Cedars!
When the fire goes out at our house (which hasn't happened since the brief warm spell in early January), a quarter chunk of Super Cedar (maybe two) and a few small/medium splits stacked on top - cave style is all it takes.
Even my wife, who wanted nothing to do with the stove up-keep, is now starting fires... Does Super Cedar have a product to get her to bring in wood from the shed!?

Keep the Super Cedars out by the wood! Thanks for the endorsments and all your support! Look for the new Zippo campfire starter in March. It looks alot like the Super Cedar.

Thomas

Im not spending money on cedars when the newspaper and small splits are free.

The Super Cedars work great, and the sample was much appreciated. I use some newspaper, and whatever bark or kindling I've scrounged up; there's a lot of free kiln-dried scrap out there. If I'm cranky and want an easy, instant fire, then a chunk of starter log, or a bit of a candle works well. Some days, I'm happy to use the Girl Scout skills for starting a fire, and some days, I just want to be warm in a hurry.

I'm happy to know I'm not the only one cheap, er, frugal enough to chunk up those starter logs, or to mix old candles into sawdust to make my own.

I use the small firestarter squares we sel in our shop. 24 in a pack. a pack costs us $1.31. I use 2 to light the Mansfield so it's costing me about 11 cents to light the stove. Two little squares in between two large splits running north to south with a third large split on top. Light it, air on high, come back in a half hour, fill the firebox full and turn the air down for the day. Our showroom stove goes out overnight so I light it each morning. If it was in my home, I would only be lighting the stove 5-10 times per year, so even for a consumer, that $3.00 (retail) pack of starters can last a year in a decent stove. $3.00 compared to rolling up newspapers and gathering kindling...ehh

I use the starterloggs, i bought a box of 40 at the beginning of the season and havent had to buy anymore. I dont even need to split up some kindling. A half a startlogg placed carefully under a few strategically placed splits for air circulation will get going with the door cracked. If you need/want a faster established bed of coals, then use smaller kindling. If you're lazy and not in a rush like me then just place small to medium sized splits in there.
I think i now have personal vendetta against supercedars. I emailed them for my free samples, got the confirming email that they would send some and they never came. Starterloggs-for-life would be my gang name. In all reality, the loggs are easier to acquire and work great, so why switch.

I go old school like Woodjack . . . kindling, newspaper and a match . . . although I do a modified top down fire . . . and once in a while to mix things up and make things really exciting I will add a small cereal box or Pop tart box on top . . . and a few times I have even used a Bic lighter when I was feeling really wild and crazy.