How to find pitchwood

Pitchwood is a GREAT fire starter.  Basically pitchwood is wood that is saturated with pitch.  The best places to find it are old stumps.  If a tree dies while standing up, all the pitch runs down the trunk and collects in the roots and certain pockets near the stump.  When the tree falls over, you can find these pitchwood seams and collect the pitchwood.  Often times you can see the pitch "leaking" out in these pockets and the wood will have a yellowish color on the outside of it.  Here you can see the obvious pitchwood seams in this old stump.  

Here you can see exactly what good pitchwood looks like.  The wood is very dense and heavy in proportion to the size of the piece of wood and it gets an almost iridescent look to it. 

What I do is take a small saw and cut pieces in to chunks about 4" long and then split them into pencil size and throw a few in a sandwich bag and into my pack.  When I want to start a fire, I take a stick, break it in half and light it at the break.  It will burn good and hot.  Set it on a dry spot on the ground and add small fuel.  The best thing about pitchwood is, its free, it can be found anywhere, and it always impresses guests, clients and friends.