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.

Firewood Tricks

Early Spring can bring spectactular family time!  The following tricks for finding and gathering dry firewood are extraordinarily practical and work great when approached as “games” that children and parents can play together.

1. “Squaw Wood” – Though the term Squaw Wood is sometimes in question, generally this refers to dry branches that can be found at the bases of evergreen trees.  The boughs and uppers branches of the trees tend to protect the Squaw Wood from rain, making it an excellent choice for kindling.  One game, that works especially well in a predominately deciduous forest, is to have children scan the hillsides for evergreen trees.  From a distance they stand out really well.  Dry Squaw Wood can normally be found there.

2. Pitch Stumps – Pine stumps often consist of hardened sap, called Pitch or Fatlighter, which is highly flammable.  Any easy way to find the Pitchwood is to simply kick a stump.  Once the rotten wood falls away, the Pitchwood normally remains, as it is much stronger.  I like to make shavings from the Pitchwood to use as tinder.  Often it can be split into kindling as well. Once children start to look for these stumps as a game, they will start to notice them everyone, even when they are not looking for Pitch specifically.  *Of course, supervision is necessary if children are using cutting tools as part of the game.

3. Cedar Stumps – These are sought for ease of use.  Cedar is very easy to split into kindling, and long pieces work well for making shavings for tinder.

4. “Standing Dead” – The split wood of standing-but-dead trees is a great place to find dry firewood (assuming the top of the tree is not broken and hollow to allow water to seep in.)  This technique is more advanced, as a saw, ax, or large knife is often needed to split into the wood.  Again, fine shavings can be used for tinder, with long, thin pieces being used for kindling.

The ability to find firewood is a valuable skill, and the “games” listed above will help you and your children to hone the skill.  The warm fire at the end of the game is the best reward!

Water filter

A variety of events can contaminate ordinary, working sources of water.  For example, rainstorms, or even worse, hurricanes, can pollute tap-water that is normally clean.  In other cases, a pond or puddle may be used as a water source.  With a little improvisation these problems can be remedied, allowing for better-tasting, better-smelling water.  NOTE:  This type of filter will NOT purify water, but is meant to be used in conjunction with a purification method (boiling, iodine, bleach, etc ….)

The figure above illustrates a three-stage water filter built out of a tripod and porous cloth.  This simple device is highly effective in cleansing drinking water.  I have seen a version of this constructed out of a plastic milk jug that washed up on the beach (a large, plastic soda bottle would work as well.)  In this case, the bottom of jug was removed with a knife and a piece of cloth was placed over the jug’s mouth.  The inner layers of the filter were the same as in the image: charcoal, sand, and grass.

Projects such as this water filter can also make for great fun on family outings and camping trips.  Again, ensure that the water is PURIFIED before drinking it, and experiment with filters such as this one to improve the look and taste.