I was way off....i thought it was a candy that looked like wood. The thumbnail for the video had my imagination running wild so i had to check it out. Im glad i did....i wish we all knew more about our environment and survival methods.
Heads up, literally, before you start pecking on a dead southern pine, look up. Sometimes it takes only a little jarring to bring down a large widow maker limb.
George G. Got to watch for snakes anytime you’re out in the forest, but especially in a coniferous forest of the swampy southeast (cone bearing tree forest where you’ll find the fatwood) you could run into copperhead snakes. And yes, they can be in trees.
Another important piece of info he left out for simplicity: The resin heals broken branches. If you see a pine with broken of branches, there will be extra resin there. The tree rushes the resin into the broken branches near the trunk, even when the tree is still living... The resin seals the wood and keeps the rot out of the trunk. Usual it extends 4 to 6 inches thru the broken branch from the trunk
More like big-boned or thick-limbed. And I identify as "thin" anyhow so it doesn't count as an insult to me or my other pine tree friends in the forest. Hell, they're probably already posting about me or maybe even unfollowing me on SpruceBook.
Just some additional info: I was taught to look for tree stumps with lots of "fingers" of wood sticking up from the break in the trunk. The fingers are the areas of wood that have been preserved by the resin while the rest of the tree has rotted away. You can break the fingers pretty easily, they snap right off and there's about a 50% chance that a dead tree found like this has a bunch of fatwood. For context, I live on the Oregon coast where plant life rots to mulch almost immediately after dying. So maybe if you live in a very wet area you could use my tip. Also, thank you Coalcracker Bushcraft. I did not know how to find fatwood any other way than what I described here. My way is very reliable, but I always like to learn new or different ways of doing things.
@@salvagemonster3612 Seems weird to brag about being intentionally ignorant, but okay. We're all here to learn more, and we can help each other do that.
You are awesome! I’m not a camper or hiker, but I do live in the middle of 100 acres of forest. I’ve watched 2 videos, and you’ve already changed the way I view my land. Kudos!
I know a little bit of bush craft, but tricks like this really help bring that bit of real to the table when playing Dungeons and Dragons. It might only translate down to a few sentences, but little things like this make the game have that verisimilitude to encourage the suspension of disbelief. Thank you!
How did I not know about this? I went to scout camp every summer as a kid, got my Eagle even, spent countless hours in the woods, never heard of fatwood. Nice work man!
As a scout you definitely should know what it is, I knew what it was and how to find before I was a scout. That was one of the first things we were taught as scouts here in NC. We called it lighter where I’m from.
popped into my recommended, great to know. time to go learn proper fire safety/how to take care of fire in a way where I won't burn a forest down and I'm golden to start roasting my own marshmallows. thanks dude.
We called it lighter pine. Family used to give us kids hatchets and send us into the woods and tell us we cant come back til we each have a bundles worth of lighter pine and kindling. Good times.
It's wood but extra flammable... typically gathered for outdoorsy life such as wilderness survival practice, camping, hunting & fishing; pretty much anywhere you start a small fire pit. Think of it as a luxury item for starting fires. Not necessary, but very nice to have.
I have a wood fired furnace in my house, and always use fatwood to get the fire started. I usually buy fatwood from a local business. Thanks to you, I now know how to find it myself.
Him: “Pennsylvania fat wood is nothing like Georgia, South Carolina type fat wood” 3:37 *Me who knows absolutely nothing about any type of wood*: “obviously, Pennsylvania fat wood is trash, you may continue”
I've been hunting and hiking all of my life, but never been much into bushcraft until recently. I have already learned so much from your videos. Thank you very much!
This is awesome. I'm 45 and been outdoors my entire life and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I never knew about this. This could be life saving knowledge. Ya learn something new everyday!
Finding Georgia fatwood is super easy if you don't mind ordering it online in large boxes or bundles. I bring a full pillowcase of seasoned, cut, split fatwood sticks on every camping trip. I've never had trouble starting a fire in the wilderness, or in my fireplace during the winter. White Birch bark works really well for an emergency, but never take it from a live tree. I'm going to go out and forage for it to build up my stash. We are surrounded by wilderness. This video was inspiring.
It's cool to hear different ways of referring to something. I've always known it as pitch pine or pitch wood. The greenish black, cracked exterior is a good indicator of fat wood as well. Almost looks burnt.
Live in mobile, AL and we recently had a hurricane come through and knock down all of our old pine trees. Ended up finding one of the spots where the city was dumping all of them and man when I tell you I was like a kid in a candy store
I am about as “city” as you can get but watching this video was both informative and increased my chance of survival during a zombie apocalypse by at least 4%! Great vid bud.
I’ve known what Fatwood is my whole life but never called it that. I also never knew about finding it in limbs like this. Growing up we heated with wood and dad knew how to find an old tree trunk that was down and get what we called LIGHTER. Lol. Anyway, after watching this video I went into my South Carolina back yard and the first limb I pick gets me a fire with a spoon full of shavings and my ferro rod. Never in my 56 years have I made fire without matches or lighters. Thank you for this video
I collect resin that has oozed out from Conifers, makes a great fire starter when used with shavings. Also, if you have scrap lumber, Conifer, a lot of times it will ooze sap for a long time to come, splintering it into slivers works well too. I have a garden shed that is 10 years old made of pine tongue and groove and it is still oozing sap.
FINALLY I LEARNED something new. here is also one tip: if you find yourself in wood where are no evergreen trees like pine etc., you should look for birch tree. its easy to recognize - white bark with black stripes. we know that bark from birch will burn even when wet. Hope someone find this useful :) greetings from slovakia and thanks for vid mate!
Good information and the location really does matter when looking for fat wood. Here in Florida I locate a dead Pine ( Or Stump ) that has lost most or all of the soft wood. Only the heart or fat wood is remaining , outside color is usually gray. Chip off a piece of the gray color and it should be dark amber and smells like a bucket of turpentine. The easy way to cut it is with a saw. I like to saw off pieces about 2 inches long. At home I split them till I get a bag full of match size pieces. Old pine logging areas are great places to find it.
I got another use for it. With the right fatwood, you can use a little water and boil the turpentine out of it. Then add sugar to it, and eat it. The ratio is 1 table spoon of turpentine to three table spoons of sugar. It kills parasites. You will wan to do it a few time over a period of days. It works better than eating a half cigarette.
I saw this video through someone scrolling through their recommended in another video and was so intrigued I just had to go find it and watch it myself, lol. It was absolutely worth it, I'm so satisfied with what and _how_ I learned today.
In Georgia we call it fat lighter, in the 90's we could sell a large coffee can of sticky splinters (we call it) to the rich folks up in Atlanta for $20, fire starter. Make a weeks pay off of one croaker sack full. (80 or 90 lbs of it.)
Ah, so this is what my wife was talking about on the phone with her girlfriend about?, I had no idea she was into Bushwhacking and hiking. Maybe I should buy her a pair of safety knee protectors in case she slips on a rock, she wont hurt her knees.
Best description of fatwood on youtube. I've seen a good few, and they all describe it, and what to do with it, but not how to get it. I thought it came from a specific tree which they never named. Thank you for actually explaining what it is, why it is there, and how to get it.
Thanks for the tips! I didn’t know that what I’ve been referring to as “pitch-wood” is in fact fatwood. I have a couple of years worth of fatwood stumps in a pile. Its always nice to have more methods to gathering the gold. Plus, your method is awesome in a survival scenario. Ive been using fatwood for firestarters for years now. There is absolutely nothing better! I just put a 55 gallon bucket, a hatchet, and some big chunks of fatwood in front of my door come late summer. The buckets full after a month or so of working at it for 5-10 mins a day. Gotta be cognizant of the creosote buildup if you use a lot of it tho. But, I use mainly doug fir and pine for firewood anyway. So I’m already a religious chimney cleaner.
My local Lowes always has commercial fatwood in the grill and charcoal section. Buy the commercial stuff to get familiar with it, then hit the forest to find your own. Each region's fatwood looks a bit different but the smell is the same.
One reason is because it's not one of those small, key chain rods. lt's like the one l have and is 6 inches long with a 1/2 inch diameter. lt gives you much more surface area to strike. When l struck mine for the first time, it threw the exact same kind of spark, and my reaction was the same as yours.
I'll be damned. My family has lived on the North Pacific Coast for over 150 years, and like most of us I was raised in the woods. Our forest here is all conifer, though few of them are pines, and it turns out I've seen fatwood more times than I could count, in exactly the same place where you found it. Even though we use those dead branches to turn up the heat on a wood-burning cookstove - works just like turning up the knob on an electric range - I'd only ever heard of fatwood from pines in the South, so I had no idea that was what was in there. (We call those branches pitchwood.) But that translucent sheen in the grain at the branch crown - yeah. We've got that. By the tonne. Thanks for the insight! I always ignored all the "find some fatwood" suggestions for making a fire in the rain, because though we have lots of rain, I didn't think we had any fatwood. Turns out I've been gathering and using it all my life.
most exillent , I've started fires in rain storms with fat wood . during any storm theres a direction of travel , therefore a dry side of a tree . collect your tinder from branches above ground , though the outside is wet the inside will be dry and combustible . happy trails 👣 God bless 🕊
I've been an outdoorsman for years and pine always lights..heard the term fat wood and was bewildered...hell I've been doing this for years! Great explanation
This guy is the real deal helping survival folks learn what to do. Sad all his top comments are dick jokes, yeah they are funny but, come on, this dude is legit, we should give him our honor and gratitude for the free knowledge. Not make jokes.
He didn't even edit the vid to make the shavings light first time. Things won't always go your way in survival but you have to keep trying so really appreciated that little bit of honesty.
How about we give him our honor and gratitude and ALSO make jokes? The honor givers win. The jokers win. The channel wins. Everyone goes home happy. What say you?
this is awesome. never used an ax like that to make kindling. Looks a lot safer than what I do. Love the old videos. Much different than the new ones. All good stuff.
Immediately went to my woods after watching this video and found some (NE SC area) with my family. It was everywhere that I walk my dog each day and worked as shown just like the pieces I buy from academy. Thanks for the video!
I’m in South Carolina and I didn’t know you could find damaged limbs that are full of resin. Always thought you had to find the old sap soaked stumps in the dirt only for fat lighter, as we call it.
I agree with you. You're right that limbs and outer stump are just sap wood. The REAL fat lighter (we pronounce it "lightered" in Alabama) has to come from the nearly fossilized, translucent, heart of that underground stump. That's the real stuff! Anything else is OK. But it ain't "Fat Lightered".
This popped on my feed and I figured I'd learn something new...which is exactly what I did. I'm embarrassed to say that, residing in East TN, I should have known this already...but I know it now and knowing is half the battle. Excellent video...thanks, buddy.
That was so easily recognizable, as it had such a beautiful Amber look to it...you could just see the resin in that limb you held up....super good video!!!!💯% 🎩s OFF ‼️
One of, if not the first video of yours I caught a year or so back, and I've been an instant fan since and subscribed to your channel. I keep coming back to this one because it's a favorite.
Hey, Dan. Great informative video. I live just south of Tallahassee. Here in Florida we usually call it lighter, or lighter pine. And by the way, if you slice through the fatwood thinly it is actually translucent because of all the resin. I use it all the time. Another good place to find it is in the old stumps of deadfall pines. It's EVERYWHERE here in N. Florida!
Living in the northern part of the Philippines, where pine trees are abundant this technique was taught to us a child, and is definitely helpful when it comes to starting fires!
Maybe... but be aware there's almost definitely going to be hair and skin oils in it, which smell like hell itself when burned. Plus, depending on the person, that lint might be >50% plastic, in which case it's going to be a smelly, toxic problem. I think you'd get better results with a couple coffee filters, or some cheesecloth, or some untreated paper scrap. Or bathroom cotton balls!
@@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice Wash your dryer lint, i am serious. Wash it then let it dry back out, washes the skin oils out of it, the plastic bits float, so you can scoop them out. Once dry, get some tallow, beef, venison, doesnt matter, render it down. Put a layer of the dryer lint in the bottom of an old cupcake tin, about 1/4 inch (or around 5mm for you Metric Heathens) of the dryer lint is fine. put about double that in fatwood shavings on top. pour the tallow until it JUST BARELY covers the fatwood shavings. For extra use, get some oil lantern wick, cut it into 1 inch (2.5cm) segments and settle it into the center of the pile, before adding the tallow. For a non-urban variation, find a dead birch tree, shave the soft wood into a fine powder. If its a little rotten, this is fine, dry it out, and crumble it so it looks like sawdust. Use this in place of the lint. for a more portable 'pocket lighter' version get a mentos tin, fill it with a well mixed combination of fatwood shavings, and tallow, using the lint/birch powder as a flour to line the edges. the 'starter candles' are something my Tribe came up with a long ass time ago, largely to help the idiot settlers not die in the winter. You let it burn until the fire is started. when the wick is finished off, you can then use the fatwood and tallow block as a base for a final fire.
We cal it lighter knot here in NC and a little tip is look for dead pines, the longer it has been dead the richer it will be and the better it will burn. Try to get it with a dark reddish orange color, it really burns well at that point.
Personally i find it easier to deal with facts than Buzzwords. #1 "Find some fatwood" #2 "Find some wood with resin in it" For #1, i can imagine a Big piece of wood (i.e. Fat), some wood that i've dipped in Fat, or a piece of wood that is kind of expanded to make it Fat. That's about it. #2 i can work out for myself, as it Explains what is needed. I suppose after finding some Fatwood i need a Sheerstone, some flax and a paid-for survival expert maybe ? Nah. Just need to know what these stupid artificial words mean and the rest is obvious.
I agree actually, life would be a lot simpler if things were just to the point descriptive instead of like catchy adhoc names. Resinous wood immediately tells me oh ok, palm or pine or anything like that in my region would work. Fatwood is like, uhhh is this some special american species or what?
Someone gave me a 6" log of this maybe 10 years ago. I kept it in my tool box and when ever someone couldn't start a fire. I would slip out to my truck and hatchet and get a few chips off and get a fire going. I call it pine knot.
Didn't know what fat wood even was. I learned something. Your audio is really good. I would have thought you used a lav. Mic. But didn't see you wearing one. You use a boom Mic for this? Reguardless, thank you for the video.
Fatwood is like cheating in fire making. I have found boxes of it in limbs of pine trees, but a lot of people say to look for a stump. I have never found it in a stump though. I saw it off so I do not lose any from chopping/breaking, plus sawing is easier. Thanks for a great video.
I found the best fatwood in Oklahoma, down in the roots of a pine that broke in a storm. Very dense. I had a handle made of one of the roots for a cleaver. I used a saw as well because it was so dense with resin. My buddy and I hauled out a lifetime supply in one afternoon. Good quality fatwood has visible curling wisps of black soot and visible rendering of the resin.
In Florida it’s referred to as lighter knot and Mr. Simmons is correct you can find it usually in large amounts in the root system of an old stump. Typically you will not see it on the surface of a stump.
While you're obviously memeing, In case you're actually wondering: Evergreen refers to trees (and other plants) which have foliage that remains green (and thus functional) throughout more than one growing season. So it's just a term for a type of tree and has nothing at all to do with how lively said tree is.
In my experience fatwood is easiest to find if you find a fallen tree, old dead trees tend to have plenty of it at their core especially the rotted pines ones that fell and are rotten on the outside but on the inside there’s still some solid wood that’s almost completely golden orange with resin Because then you can get big logs of the stuff with minimal effort, just make sure to scrape off the rot
Agreed, way less effort. I love the rotted ones which when a branch is pulled off it doesn't break but pulls out the "root" of the branch from inside the trunk. Full of fat wood. Also, somehow from a "leave no trace" standpoint i feel like this leaves less impact.
Yea a stump is really the best here in flat.what happens is the roots keep producing resin, with nowhere to go it keeps building up in the stump and that's where true lighter wood is
great video - my area is so full of paper birch, I've allowed myself to become dependent on it. I'll try fatwood soon and be prepared for a different environment.
chewing oily wood chips is good for you tho, some contain anti-inflammatory and antibacterial stuff in it. some of them taste like scented bag. however, some might kill you.
Dan i am from the Netherlands, and i been following you for a while, and i must say, you are the for me ,you explain it well, you are really a teacher and there are few of them I can tell you. sometimes I wish I was born in America instead of the small Deepstate country of the Netherlands.... you have much more nature and I would be in the woods forever.. 
David Jessee that's why I clicked on this video. I've lived In south Alabama all my life and have never heard the term fat wood. I have 6 stumps split out back of lighter'd though
Thank you! I had no idea this was a think? as an arborist, and tank down trees, I've noticed this resin build up in limbs but never thought to ask what it was or why it happens. This has been helpful. Semper Fi.
I'm 71 and I just learned something new today. Thank you.
Wow...recon the old saying is true huh.👍
No your not , get off the youtube eugene
Brooo how was the cold war?
@@scottrichard8256 I believe the saying you're thinking of you can't teach an old dog new tricks and then no it wouldn't be true obviously
@@bobbyboucher1936 why are you here? Just to make someone suffer
I'm a real beginner. I clicked just to find out what fatwood is.
Same here!
Me too lol
Lol so hard
I was way off....i thought it was a candy that looked like wood. The thumbnail for the video had my imagination running wild so i had to check it out. Im glad i did....i wish we all knew more about our environment and survival methods.
Yup
Heads up, literally, before you start pecking on a dead southern pine, look up. Sometimes it takes only a little jarring to bring down a large widow maker limb.
more likes
Or a copperhead
@@jameshelms5510 what??? 😮😮😮
George G. Got to watch for snakes anytime you’re out in the forest, but especially in a coniferous forest of the swampy southeast (cone bearing tree forest where you’ll find the fatwood) you could run into copperhead snakes. And yes, they can be in trees.
@@jameshelms5510 let me sit down for a moment... 😮😮😮😮
Another important piece of info he left out for simplicity:
The resin heals broken branches. If you see a pine with broken of branches, there will be extra resin there. The tree rushes the resin into the broken branches near the trunk, even when the tree is still living... The resin seals the wood and keeps the rot out of the trunk. Usual it extends 4 to 6 inches thru the broken branch from the trunk
Imagine being a tree chilling in the woods, and a guy appearing out of nowhere in the woods calls you fat.
"Bro you dont have to say it like that"
I'm just big xlylem'ed
Now that's funny
he's telling the tree it's got some "fat wood"
More like big-boned or thick-limbed. And I identify as "thin" anyhow so it doesn't count as an insult to me or my other pine tree friends in the forest. Hell, they're probably already posting about me or maybe even unfollowing me on SpruceBook.
Just some additional info: I was taught to look for tree stumps with lots of "fingers" of wood sticking up from the break in the trunk. The fingers are the areas of wood that have been preserved by the resin while the rest of the tree has rotted away.
You can break the fingers pretty easily, they snap right off and there's about a 50% chance that a dead tree found like this has a bunch of fatwood.
For context, I live on the Oregon coast where plant life rots to mulch almost immediately after dying. So maybe if you live in a very wet area you could use my tip.
Also, thank you Coalcracker Bushcraft. I did not know how to find fatwood any other way than what I described here. My way is very reliable, but I always like to learn new or different ways of doing things.
omg ty! I'm up in WA and was having similar thoughts as to how I can find said fat wood since we're in the soggy PNW.
@@kjadfhgioaudbfvilaeu nice username
And I was taught to ignore guys who go on and on about what they know.
@@salvagemonster3612 Seems weird to brag about being intentionally ignorant, but okay. We're all here to learn more, and we can help each other do that.
great tip, thanks.
Oddly enough, I often get stopped in the middle of the street by people asking "where the hell can I get fatwood!!?"
50 a gram in Wales
I got mine from Amazon!
in my pants
@@Snow-ej5fm 😂😂😂😂
If I had a dollar, right?
You are awesome! I’m not a camper or hiker, but I do live in the middle of 100 acres of forest. I’ve watched 2 videos, and you’ve already changed the way I view my land. Kudos!
Simple, clear instructions presented in a friendly manner. what more can be asked. Thank you sir.
True that, a nice well endowed southern gal in daisy dukes and a halter top swinging the axe would be nice.
An explanation of what fatwood is? lmfao
Cake it’s when the wood builds up resin. Good for burning
I know a little bit of bush craft, but tricks like this really help bring that bit of real to the table when playing Dungeons and Dragons. It might only translate down to a few sentences, but little things like this make the game have that verisimilitude to encourage the suspension of disbelief. Thank you!
How did I not know about this? I went to scout camp every summer as a kid, got my Eagle even, spent countless hours in the woods, never heard of fatwood. Nice work man!
As a scout you definitely should know what it is, I knew what it was and how to find before I was a scout. That was one of the first things we were taught as scouts here in NC. We called it lighter where I’m from.
Around here we called it pitchwood, from doug fir, other firs, hemlock, cedar, ponderosa pine, etc. NW Oregon.
Same
I wish I would've stayed and became an eagle scout
That's because boy scouts was only created as a disguise by the NAMBLA organization for their members.. look It up
popped into my recommended, great to know. time to go learn proper fire safety/how to take care of fire in a way where I won't burn a forest down and I'm golden to start roasting my own marshmallows. thanks dude.
Well well well look who we have here... Hi
Undertake music remix guy!
Y'all should check out "Father's Day for the black man by dr Khalid Muhammad.
YO I LOVE YOUR MUSIC
Ah yes, the remix guy who's music i listen to while reading light novels.
We called it lighter pine. Family used to give us kids hatchets and send us into the woods and tell us we cant come back til we each have a bundles worth of lighter pine and kindling.
Good times.
Or lighter knot
Thats kinda brutal but rad at the same time
@@that1snowyguy251 gotta work if you wanna eat!
I wish my parents did this to me when I was a kid
@@steveallmand784 Or Fatlighter. There are a ton of names for it.
*Sees thumbnail*
My brain:
C a N d Y
Same, thumbnail looks delicious
Translation: *"Candeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!"*
Me toooooo!!!
Me too. Df is fatwood and how did it get recommended to me?
_My_ brain: *Fries*
Never heard of fatwood, don't know why this was suggested to me but i'm here and I'm watching
It's wood but extra flammable... typically gathered for outdoorsy life such as wilderness survival practice, camping, hunting & fishing; pretty much anywhere you start a small fire pit. Think of it as a luxury item for starting fires. Not necessary, but very nice to have.
I have a wood fired furnace in my house, and always use fatwood to get the fire started.
I usually buy fatwood from a local business. Thanks to you, I now know how to find it myself.
Local loggers get it all the time..
Never heard this called fatwood before. Grew up calling it "lighter wood". Has a pretty distinctive smell.
Literally was going to comment that, if I didn't see it first. Is it a southern thing to call it lighter or what?
@@lukewilson3271 No clue, but I did grow up in the south and everyone I knew called it lighter wood.
South Carolina here everybody I know calls it fat lighter
We always called it fat lighter, it's kind of annoying hearing called anything else lol
@@blazerwilliams2260 yes yes it is
Him: “Pennsylvania fat wood is nothing like Georgia, South Carolina type fat wood” 3:37
*Me who knows absolutely nothing about any type of wood*: “obviously, Pennsylvania fat wood is trash, you may continue”
It’s not as trash as your spelling there bud
Ev now your comment makes no sense
Roy S Judging by your spelling I’m not surprised you can’t understand it
Ev you don’t get what I did do you...
Pennsylvania fat wood isn't trash if you know where to look for it.
I've been hunting and hiking all of my life, but never been much into bushcraft until recently. I have already learned so much from your videos. Thank you very much!
This is awesome. I'm 45 and been outdoors my entire life and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I never knew about this. This could be life saving knowledge. Ya learn something new everyday!
Big boned wood is nicer way to say it.
Exavion Johnson you don’t get it do you? Or do I even get it? Who knows
🙈🙄
Exavion Johnson You’re an idiot.
Thicc wood?
@@Xman-Flavor so what you are saying is i have the same size bones as a newborn?.....dumbass
short videos like this are more reasonable than people spending 5 minutes yapping about themselves.
well done
it still could've been 45 seconds
@@spambot7110 What, 25 seconds longer than your best effort with your mate.
Push! so that those others might read it.
Six minutes..
This is legitimately the most useful video I’ve watched on RUclips thank you
Finding Georgia fatwood is super easy if you don't mind ordering it online in large boxes or bundles. I bring a full pillowcase of seasoned, cut, split fatwood sticks on every camping trip. I've never had trouble starting a fire in the wilderness, or in my fireplace during the winter. White Birch bark works really well for an emergency, but never take it from a live tree. I'm going to go out and forage for it to build up my stash. We are surrounded by wilderness. This video was inspiring.
Awesome, informative video that cuts straight to the practical facts. You're a good teacher.
Thank you!!
I second that.
I 3rd it!
My dad always had a bucket of rich pine in his shop by his wood stove. Now I do the same. Stuff is awesome. Cool vid man.
It's cool to hear different ways of referring to something. I've always known it as pitch pine or pitch wood. The greenish black, cracked exterior is a good indicator of fat wood as well. Almost looks burnt.
I've heard pitch wood and a Cree name for this. Never heard "fat wood"
@@thatdudeoverthere2188 What was the Cree name for it? You have piqued my interest.
Grew up in N.W. Louisiana. I was taught and thus always referred to it as "lighter pine".
Grew up in South Georgia. Real country. Always heard it called “Fat Lighter”
Fatwood is one of my most useful and important survival tools. I love fatwood. Fatwood and ferrocerium are very useful tools for outdoor survival.
Live in mobile, AL and we recently had a hurricane come through and knock down all of our old pine trees. Ended up finding one of the spots where the city was dumping all of them and man when I tell you I was like a kid in a candy store
I dont know how this ended up in my recommended but, im enjoying this.
I am about as “city” as you can get but watching this video was both informative and increased my chance of survival during a zombie apocalypse by at least 4%! Great vid bud.
I don't think you overestimate by saying a 4% increase. Starting a fire is huge! Perhaps THE best skill to learn.
You don’t get to call the superior person “bud”. I’d put you in a rope for berating me like that…
@@mouthwash8182 wash your mouth, bud
@@anima.vestra7498 I’ll wash it out with your moms spit
I’ve known what Fatwood is my whole life but never called it that. I also never knew about finding it in limbs like this. Growing up we heated with wood and dad knew how to find an old tree trunk that was down and get what we called LIGHTER. Lol.
Anyway, after watching this video I went into my South Carolina back yard and the first limb I pick gets me a fire with a spoon full of shavings and my ferro rod. Never in my 56 years have I made fire without matches or lighters.
Thank you for this video
I collect resin that has oozed out from Conifers, makes a great fire starter when used with shavings. Also, if you have scrap lumber, Conifer, a lot of times it will ooze sap for a long time to come, splintering it into slivers works well too. I have a garden shed that is 10 years old made of pine tongue and groove and it is still oozing sap.
Overheard my son talking about wanting to get some fatwood. I was concerned. Wow thanks for the explanation! I'm now relieved.
Dude's forearms are huge. Always handling that fatwood.
popeye
@misa smith uH, MAYBE JUST A MAN WHO ACTUALLY WORKS
Found the gap tooth rebel flag beer gut always has a black eye country girl
Forearms? You should see his fatwood
😄
FINALLY I LEARNED something new. here is also one tip: if you find yourself in wood where are no evergreen trees like pine etc., you should look for birch tree. its easy to recognize - white bark with black stripes. we know that bark from birch will burn even when wet. Hope someone find this useful :) greetings from slovakia and thanks for vid mate!
True but another note: you need a lot of the bark more than you think it burns quite fast!
I'm an Eagle scout, I've never heard of fat wood. Great stuff.
Lol me too
Same
I’m an Eagle Scout too. 50 years ago we called it pickle wood.
Good information and the location really does matter when looking for fat wood. Here in Florida I locate a dead Pine ( Or Stump ) that has lost most or all of the soft wood. Only the heart or fat wood is remaining , outside color is usually gray. Chip off a piece of the gray color and it should be dark amber and smells like a bucket of turpentine. The easy way to cut it is with a saw. I like to saw off pieces about 2 inches long. At home I split them till I get a bag full of match size pieces.
Old pine logging areas are great places to find it.
Chuck Littleton I
I got another use for it. With the right fatwood, you can use a little water and boil the turpentine out of it. Then add sugar to it, and eat it. The ratio is 1 table spoon of turpentine to three table spoons of sugar. It kills parasites. You will wan to do it a few time over a period of days. It works better than eating a half cigarette.
HD Candela yes I love pine stuffing, mashed pine and my favorite pine under glass
HD Candela wha???? eating cigarettes?
Chuck Littleton I know this is old. Just stumbled onto your comment. The info is much appreciated.
"that's what I tell individuals"
you know a guy spends a lot of time in the woods when he forgets the word "people"
haha I love this guy.
I saw this video through someone scrolling through their recommended in another video and was so intrigued I just had to go find it and watch it myself, lol. It was absolutely worth it, I'm so satisfied with what and _how_ I learned today.
I consider myself something of an expert on this subject as I've gotten fatwood every morning for over 20 years.
Would that make you 32 now?
The way you said that though, lol.
I used to get hardwood every morning when I was younger. Now I take my saw into the bush to collect fatwood for entertainment. 😉😁
How have I never heard of fat wood? I am pretty outdoors capable and have never heard of this till now. Rock on youtube.
Pretty much all of it's uses have been replaced by more modern capabilities.
In Georgia we call it fat lighter, in the 90's we could sell a large coffee can of sticky splinters (we call it) to the rich folks up in Atlanta for $20, fire starter. Make a weeks pay off of one croaker sack full. (80 or 90 lbs of it.)
@@gsp49 Hey neighbor, in Alabama we added an "ed" to the end of fat lighter and made it fat lightered.
wanna blow your mind hillbilly style.. look up why some places the people spray paint the roadkill
Ah, so this is what my wife was talking about on the phone with her girlfriend about?, I had no idea she was into Bushwhacking and hiking. Maybe I should buy her a pair of safety knee protectors in case she slips on a rock, she wont hurt her knees.
YES! This video will help many people. We need more videos like this on youtube straight to the point.
Best description of fatwood on youtube.
I've seen a good few, and they all describe it, and what to do with it, but not how to get it.
I thought it came from a specific tree which they never named.
Thank you for actually explaining what it is, why it is there, and how to get it.
Thanks for the tips! I didn’t know that what I’ve been referring to as “pitch-wood” is in fact fatwood. I have a couple of years worth of fatwood stumps in a pile. Its always nice to have more methods to gathering the gold. Plus, your method is awesome in a survival scenario. Ive been using fatwood for firestarters for years now. There is absolutely nothing better! I just put a 55 gallon bucket, a hatchet, and some big chunks of fatwood in front of my door come late summer. The buckets full after a month or so of working at it for 5-10 mins a day. Gotta be cognizant of the creosote buildup if you use a lot of it tho. But, I use mainly doug fir and pine for firewood anyway. So I’m already a religious chimney cleaner.
Thanks brother, I was trying to buy some at Home Depot today. they didnt know what I was talking about.. I will go find some tomorrow. Cheers
My local Lowes always has commercial fatwood in the grill and charcoal section. Buy the commercial stuff to get familiar with it, then hit the forest to find your own. Each region's fatwood looks a bit different but the smell is the same.
That was the most dramatic ferro rod strike I've ever seen in my entire life. How do you get it to spark for so long?
Put lot of pressure on the rod with the knife. And back of the knife should not be rounded.
His knife was also completely covered in that resin from the shavings.... That might have had a little bit to do with it as well
One reason is because it's not one of those small, key chain rods. lt's like the one l have and is 6 inches long with a 1/2 inch diameter. lt gives you much more surface area to strike. When l struck mine for the first time, it threw the exact same kind of spark, and my reaction was the same as yours.
@@JimiBLong where did u buy yours/whats the name of it?
@@dariogrosse5053 hey, let me know too, when you find out where JimiBLong bought his I got a keychain one and never use it because its useless.
You have explained this better than I have been able to in the past and will know be sending folk to this video when I am asked about fatwood.
I'll be damned. My family has lived on the North Pacific Coast for over 150 years, and like most of us I was raised in the woods. Our forest here is all conifer, though few of them are pines, and it turns out I've seen fatwood more times than I could count, in exactly the same place where you found it.
Even though we use those dead branches to turn up the heat on a wood-burning cookstove - works just like turning up the knob on an electric range - I'd only ever heard of fatwood from pines in the South, so I had no idea that was what was in there. (We call those branches pitchwood.) But that translucent sheen in the grain at the branch crown - yeah. We've got that. By the tonne.
Thanks for the insight! I always ignored all the "find some fatwood" suggestions for making a fire in the rain, because though we have lots of rain, I didn't think we had any fatwood. Turns out I've been gathering and using it all my life.
I keep getting recommended this video. I think the algorithm is trying to tell me to quit school and hide out in the woods.
It's telling you to return to monke
It's been recommended for me multiple times for like a year and I'm just now finally watching it
Excellent Video. Simple, educational, thorough. Good job!
Outstanding! I only found out about Fatwood today. This is my second video, the best one. I feel like an expert already. Thank you.
Great little video! Over the last few years I have become acquainted with fatwood and it has become a staple in my "arsenal", thanks for sharing!👍👍
"As those revans-- those resins"
A star wars fan, I see
Will you accompany me in the dark Jedi temple and help us get off this planet?
Not everyone is a man child
@@MattC-jg1yb >"I'm not a manchild"
>Likes LOTR
Yikes
@@MattC-jg1yb Lol because liking a movie = manchild.
More like pointlessly trying to insult people on the internet = manchild.
@@admiralampere5513 did I pinch a nerve there? Go consoom some more
most exillent , I've started fires in rain storms with fat wood .
during any storm theres a direction of travel , therefore a dry side of a tree .
collect your tinder from branches above ground , though the outside is wet the inside will be dry and combustible .
happy trails 👣 God bless 🕊
I've been an outdoorsman for years and pine always lights..heard the term fat wood and was bewildered...hell I've been doing this for years! Great explanation
This guy is the real deal helping survival folks learn what to do. Sad all his top comments are dick jokes, yeah they are funny but, come on, this dude is legit, we should give him our honor and gratitude for the free knowledge. Not make jokes.
He didn't even edit the vid to make the shavings light first time. Things won't always go your way in survival but you have to keep trying so really appreciated that little bit of honesty.
Life without jokes, it's waste. Die is better than life without jokes.
How about we give him our honor and gratitude and ALSO make jokes?
The honor givers win.
The jokers win.
The channel wins.
Everyone goes home happy.
What say you?
you're right he's probably so pissed to have millions of views from people who wouldn't otherwise be interested in his videos
@@mitchspurlock3626 lmao so fucking true
this is awesome. never used an ax like that to make kindling. Looks a lot safer than what I do. Love the old videos. Much different than the new ones. All good stuff.
4 is better than 3
This is one of those videos most people dont search for ,but youtube makes them watch it it anyway
Is youtube losing their algorithm touch? Why would they promote a survival skill???
@@NigelM18 The nuclear war for Helium 3 is coming mate
Immediately went to my woods after watching this video and found some (NE SC area) with my family. It was everywhere that I walk my dog each day and worked as shown just like the pieces I buy from academy. Thanks for the video!
From Georgia and we have so much fat wood (we call it fat lighter) that we use arm sized pieces to get that fire going hot and fast just bc we can
@@jaybo516 when I go camping thats basically what we do because it burns so bright you might as well not even bring flashlights
2017: Nah
2018: Maybe
2019: Not yet
2020: HE BOI YA WANT SOME F A T W O O D?
F A T W O O O O D 😁😁😂
@Josh Franklin Now I know when I hear Yankees say "Fatwood" I'll know they meant lighterd.
I’m in South Carolina and I didn’t know you could find damaged limbs that are full of resin. Always thought you had to find the old sap soaked stumps in the dirt only for fat lighter, as we call it.
I agree with you. You're right that limbs and outer stump are just sap wood. The REAL fat lighter (we pronounce it "lightered" in Alabama) has to come from the nearly fossilized, translucent, heart of that underground stump. That's the real stuff!
Anything else is OK. But it ain't "Fat Lightered".
This popped on my feed and I figured I'd learn something new...which is exactly what I did.
I'm embarrassed to say that, residing in East TN, I should have known this already...but I know it now and knowing is half the battle.
Excellent video...thanks, buddy.
That was so easily recognizable, as it had such a beautiful Amber look to it...you could just see the resin in that limb you held up....super good video!!!!💯%
🎩s OFF ‼️
Once you see it you’ll find that you can’t not see it. Everywhere! The extra added bonus is that wonderful pine sap aroma.
My fat ass thought the tile said “fastfood for beginners”. I thought those were fries
🤣🤣🤣🍟
🤣🤣🤣
Good stuff lol
Those burn
One of, if not the first video of yours I caught a year or so back, and I've been an instant fan since and subscribed to your channel. I keep coming back to this one because it's a favorite.
Hey, Dan. Great informative video. I live just south of Tallahassee. Here in Florida we usually call it lighter, or lighter pine. And by the way, if you slice through the fatwood thinly it is actually translucent because of all the resin. I use it all the time. Another good place to find it is in the old stumps of deadfall pines. It's EVERYWHERE here in N. Florida!
I'm right by you lol
Just found your channel through Townsend's channel. Love it! City girl so I've got a lot of catchin' up to do! Thanks!
Living in the northern part of the Philippines, where pine trees are abundant this technique was taught to us a child, and is definitely helpful when it comes to starting fires!
I found fatwood on Amazon. It was a ton of work.
Seriously though, this was very helpful. Definite thumbs up.
“Urbanites”, collect lint from dryer machine. Your welcome.
Add petroleum jelly to it , it burns slower
also 9v battery and some steel wool
Maybe... but be aware there's almost definitely going to be hair and skin oils in it, which smell like hell itself when burned. Plus, depending on the person, that lint might be >50% plastic, in which case it's going to be a smelly, toxic problem. I think you'd get better results with a couple coffee filters, or some cheesecloth, or some untreated paper scrap. Or bathroom cotton balls!
Had to check what the fuck is an urbanite
@@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice Wash your dryer lint, i am serious. Wash it then let it dry back out, washes the skin oils out of it, the plastic bits float, so you can scoop them out.
Once dry, get some tallow, beef, venison, doesnt matter, render it down.
Put a layer of the dryer lint in the bottom of an old cupcake tin, about 1/4 inch (or around 5mm for you Metric Heathens) of the dryer lint is fine.
put about double that in fatwood shavings on top. pour the tallow until it JUST BARELY covers the fatwood shavings.
For extra use, get some oil lantern wick, cut it into 1 inch (2.5cm) segments and settle it into the center of the pile, before adding the tallow.
For a non-urban variation, find a dead birch tree, shave the soft wood into a fine powder. If its a little rotten, this is fine, dry it out, and crumble it so it looks like sawdust. Use this in place of the lint.
for a more portable 'pocket lighter' version get a mentos tin, fill it with a well mixed combination of fatwood shavings, and tallow, using the lint/birch powder as a flour to line the edges.
the 'starter candles' are something my Tribe came up with a long ass time ago, largely to help the idiot settlers not die in the winter. You let it burn until the fire is started. when the wick is finished off, you can then use the fatwood and tallow block as a base for a final fire.
NICE!! I had never even heard of fat wood until this video. That's a great tip!
We cal it lighter knot here in NC and a little tip is look for dead pines, the longer it has been dead the richer it will be and the better it will burn. Try to get it with a dark reddish orange color, it really burns well at that point.
Your video on this subject was fantastic!
If the name was simply "Wood with Resin in it" then it'd be whole lot easier to understand than "Fatwood".
Great video BTW.
Personally i find it easier to deal with facts than Buzzwords.
#1 "Find some fatwood"
#2 "Find some wood with resin in it"
For #1, i can imagine a Big piece of wood (i.e. Fat), some wood that i've dipped in Fat, or a piece of wood that is kind of expanded to make it Fat. That's about it.
#2 i can work out for myself, as it Explains what is needed.
I suppose after finding some Fatwood i need a Sheerstone, some flax and a paid-for survival expert maybe ?
Nah. Just need to know what these stupid artificial words mean and the rest is obvious.
it has many names actually. you can call it "rich pine", or "pine knot". but there are still others. wiki it.
@@Gizziiusa down south east it's fatlighter.
How about resin wood?
I agree actually, life would be a lot simpler if things were just to the point descriptive instead of like catchy adhoc names. Resinous wood immediately tells me oh ok, palm or pine or anything like that in my region would work. Fatwood is like, uhhh is this some special american species or what?
Can that happen with Honey? Would be a very tasty fire!
Who the phuck eats fire
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 fuck
@@Rustyknife1 why do you get to spell it properly but everytime I do my comment gets deleted? I hate Susan.
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 🤷🏻♂️
@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 simple. Her inconsistency.
Someone gave me a 6" log of this maybe 10 years ago. I kept it in my tool box and when ever someone couldn't start a fire. I would slip out to my truck and hatchet and get a few chips off and get a fire going. I call it pine knot.
I've always heard "fat lighter" or "fat knot" myself
Is the 6" log cut from fresh tree and let dried or dead tree?
Pennsylvania Proud! These woods have taught me a lot in my 24 years and Im always looking to learn more.
Didn't know what fat wood even was. I learned something.
Your audio is really good.
I would have thought you used a lav. Mic. But didn't see you wearing one.
You use a boom Mic for this?
Reguardless, thank you for the video.
Geeb yeah, really consistent volume
Fatwood is like cheating in fire making. I have found boxes of it in limbs of pine trees, but a lot of people say to look for a stump. I have never found it in a stump though. I saw it off so I do not lose any from chopping/breaking, plus sawing is easier. Thanks for a great video.
I found the best fatwood in Oklahoma, down in the roots of a pine that broke in a storm. Very dense. I had a handle made of one of the roots for a cleaver. I used a saw as well because it was so dense with resin. My buddy and I hauled out a lifetime supply in one afternoon. Good quality fatwood has visible curling wisps of black soot and visible rendering of the resin.
In Florida it’s referred to as lighter knot and Mr. Simmons is correct you can find it usually in large amounts in the root system of an old stump. Typically you will not see it on the surface of a stump.
0:43 "there is resin in any type of evergreen tree" slaps the deadest and sadest looking tree in the entire forest behind him
While you're obviously memeing,
In case you're actually wondering: Evergreen refers to trees (and other plants) which have foliage that remains green (and thus functional) throughout more than one growing season. So it's just a term for a type of tree and has nothing at all to do with how lively said tree is.
@@SeraphReficul a joke: what OP said.
Definition of meme
1 : an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture
@@cheesecake4648 oh that was supposed to be a joke?
@@cheesecake4648 bro shut up. Your the one that needs to learn if you don't know what memeing means
@@SeraphReficul Very helpful. Thanks for elaborating :)
!
Didn't think I would be learning this today, but really glad I clicked on this video!
I live in Maine so there are plenty of evergreen trees around. I never knew about fatwood though. Thanks for the info.
In my experience fatwood is easiest to find if you find a fallen tree, old dead trees tend to have plenty of it at their core especially the rotted pines ones that fell and are rotten on the outside but on the inside there’s still some solid wood that’s almost completely golden orange with resin
Because then you can get big logs of the stuff with minimal effort, just make sure to scrape off the rot
Agreed, way less effort. I love the rotted ones which when a branch is pulled off it doesn't break but pulls out the "root" of the branch from inside the trunk. Full of fat wood. Also, somehow from a "leave no trace" standpoint i feel like this leaves less impact.
Yea a stump is really the best here in flat.what happens is the roots keep producing resin, with nowhere to go it keeps building up in the stump and that's where true lighter wood is
Right, underground!
With time the ground termites will find it and grow strong. Harvest and save.
I am 42 and this is the best thing that I ever learned...
great video - my area is so full of paper birch, I've allowed myself to become dependent on it. I'll try fatwood soon and be prepared for a different environment.
The thumbnail looks like some lush jerky or maybe some premium dried pineapple
Looks like salmon jerky.
Whatever it looks like it looks fucking tasty
Forbidden snacks
ILike2PlayBass I thought it was jerky too lol.😂 I have learned something today!!
chewing oily wood chips is good for you tho, some contain anti-inflammatory and antibacterial stuff in it. some of them taste like scented bag. however, some might kill you.
I had never heard of fatwood. Interesting.
John Smith
We always refer to it as Fat Lighter- but I would probably understand what someone was referring to if I heard Fat Wood.
This is legit one of the best videos on RUclips
"just get out there and do it" 🔥 it an amazing feeling.
I Believe ✊
My father showed me how to collect fatwood when I was a kid. Super helpful when starting a fire in the dead of winter.
Yes, don’t hurt yourself with the axe. You really saved me some time, thanks for telling us how important the fatwood in Pennsylvania is.
Dan i am from the Netherlands, and i been following you for a while, and i must say, you are the for me ,you explain it well, you are really a teacher and there are few of them I can tell you. sometimes I wish I was born in America instead of the small Deepstate country of the Netherlands.... you have much more nature and I would be in the woods forever..

Birch bark, any coniferous resin, it can be all wet around and you'll still get fire going...
birch bark is amazing. i wish i had birch trees in my area.
i got pine for fatwood though, so its all good.
You will find your best in stumps, I have a truck load I've had for over thirty years, old dead pine tree stumps full of resin.
During the civil war they would put a whole stump of it in a cage basket burning on the front of the locomotives for light.
We call it lighter pine.
Dylan Hilliard that's we call it in Alabama
Just "pitch" in Northern California.
David Jessee that's why I clicked on this video. I've lived In south Alabama all my life and have never heard the term fat wood. I have 6 stumps split out back of lighter'd though
I'm from Mississippi and I've always heard it just called "lighter."
klarc w grizwald right?? I lived in Washington county.. a little town called chatom..
Thank you! I had no idea this was a think? as an arborist, and tank down trees, I've noticed this resin build up in limbs but never thought to ask what it was or why it happens. This has been helpful. Semper Fi.