Kindling

[schlot]

Ok,

As I split some kindling down I wondered what other people do for this.

From helping with Boy Scouts (dad of two Eagle Scouts) I've used a lot of different ways to start a fire.

Method I've used this year has been a small section of newspaper with a dry pine cone under a couple pies of kindling.

The pine cones are easily available (my FIL collected a bunch of them) and usually take some of the straighter but shorter uglies and split them down into 6" to 10" lengths for kindling.

What do you guys use?

 

[blujacket]

A 1/4 of a SuperCedar, along with some splitter trash.

 

[Wood Duck]

I split straight rounds into kindling. Generally I use pine or spruce, but the main thing I look for is something that splits easily. I use a lot of kindling because I have to start a lot of fires due to small stove. I start fires with a piece of firestarter under some kindling. Even though a supercedar will get the fire started without kindling, I still use a bunch of kindling so that I can get the top of the pile burning quickly and make the smoky start-up phase of the fire as short as possible.

 

[Thistle]

Scrap wood from my shop,jobsites I work at,offcuts/edging & other scrap from Alaskan mill,slivers from splitting,twigs/small branches from the yard,corn cobs.Its all dumped together in cardboard boxes,plus I have several galvanized 20 & 30 gallon lidded trash cans full outside.

 

[basod]

Two havles a 55gal poly drum tied rope handles through them.
They fit in the quad trailer drive to an area clean up a radius and move on. One gets any limbs 1/2" and larger the other all the fine tops.
A handfull of the fines on some newspaper and few larger limbs then some pallet or slab wood.

And a blowtorch to light er' up. GF got it for "Me" for x-mas... she benefits the most though

 

[Shadow&Flame]

Work in a woodshop so kindling isnt a problem...just some newspaper or firestarters to get the scraps going. Some really nice firestarter is when you run a board cross grain thru a plainer...noodles gallore...very easy to light.

 

[Blue2ndaries]

I have a few sources of kindling. I receive bags of untreated cedar fenceboard cutoffs from a friend who has a fence/deck biz; they are usually 6-12" which I simply split into sticks. I also use remnants/collections from running the hydraulic splitter along with working thru a trailer worth of untreated cedar roof shingles (from my neighbor's reroof job 3 yrs ago) that I split into kindling. I probably have a bit over a cord of kindling between all these.

Start-up is a half sheet of newspaper with some criss-cross of kindling under a few medium sized pieces. Never fails to light up quick, especially the cedar shingles--kinda have to be careful with that sometimes.

 

[cygnus]

1/6 of a Super Cedar strategically placed near a few dry splits. No kindling, no paper.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I use my logsplitter and split real thin pieces of Silver Maple, Black Birch, Poplar, Cherry, Sasafras or any other hardwood that ignites easily-works great year after year.

 

[bogydave]

Select some strait grain, with no knots spruce.
Split it in the inverted ATV tire.

 

[WellSeasoned]

I have an abundance of pallets at work. I saved just bits and pieces since the end of last season, and have a gaylord filled, equal to about a 1/2 cords worth. Just need to load it on my truck, get it home and figure out how im getting it on my porch.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I use my logsplitter and split real thin pieces of Silver Maple, Black Birch, Poplar, Cherry, Sasafras or any other hardwood that ignites easily-works great year after year.

This is how I make kindling also. It really works slick with hydraulics. I use soft maple so when I get a log with no knots, it gets split into kindling. It is amazing how fast you can make it this way.

However, we don't use much kindling and we do like the super cedars.

 

[oldspark]

This is how I make kindling also. It really works slick with hydraulics. I use soft maple so when I get a log with no knots, it gets split into kindling. It is amazing how fast you can make it this way.

However, we don't use much kindling and we do like the super cedars.

You do that verticaly?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Do you really need to ask?

 

[red oak]

I use bark that falls off the wood as it dries, along with chips and smaller pieces that come from hand-splitting. I never split kindling on purpose, I have enough without trying. Shortly I'm going to gather several large containers of the stuff and put it indoors to dry out.

 

[JOHN BOY]

I split some poplar and pine rounds done to kindling size then put it in a plastic container and bring it inside. It gets really dried out and starts fires very easy.

 

[Smokey Bear]

Anybody ever fill a paper bag with dry saw shavings?

 

[scotvl]

i use whatever scraps i have around but i find dry wood doesn't really need much more than some crumpled up newspaper.

 

[corey21]

I have a bunch of pine for kindling i split it last spring.

 

[ailanthus]

A supply of 2x4 cutoffs split to various sizes + some newspaper. Top down, of course.

 

[salmonhunter]

Work in a warehouse so i can take as many unpainted pallets home as I want as they pay someone to come take them away. I just grab a couple pallets and bust them up with a sledge hammer and crowbar whenever i need kindling.

 

[woodchip]

We use old pallets to make kindling here. One pallet lasts over a week once processed down.
I've been saving small bits from splitting too, we seem to get through a lot of kindling here, having a good dry collection now helps once it's cold and wet through Winter........

 

[schlot]

Anybody ever fill a paper bag with dry saw shavings?

No, how do you use it? By itself or with kindling wood?

 

[CageMaster]

kindling??? i just don't let the fire go out.....hahahaha....but if needed i use the a piece o newspaper underneath a small square stack of splitter scraps and bark

 

[firefighterjake]

I go with D) All of the above.

Really depends on my mood . . .

Often I use a Super Cedar and like WoodDuck throw on 1-3 pieces of kindling to just speed things up.

For actual kindling I sometimes use scrap dimensional wood left over from various projects . . . sometimes old cedar shingles that I have replaced with newer ones . . . sometimes I use some old boards I have left over from tearing down my camp . . . sometimes I use pallet pieces from pallets that were just too far gone to stack wood on them any more . . . sometimes I use pine cones collected from the nearby pines . . . sometimes I split up softwood slabs that I get for free from my Uncle's personal sawmill . . . and sometimes I'll split up my own kindling from softwood, basswood, cedar, etc. that I may cut down just to make some kindling.