Using the bark and shavings from Cedar trees is a great alternative to using Fatwood, especially if you don't have many Pine trees in your area. Fatwood is the best go to, but Cedar works excellent for fire starting.
Your video to alternatives to fatwood was exactly what I was looking for. I live in Central Oklahoma, and was curious as to what I could use in my area for fire starting. Once again thank you for the excellent video!
Going to sub your channel right now. Live in central Christian County Missouri and cedar is everywhere. Shredded inner and outer bark works great even when damp but the shaved heartwood, it is my go-to when everything else is soaked. Thanks for keeping it real.
I actually learned how to make primitive fires without lighters and stuff from Cedar. I had been searching for some good fat wood in the woods for a couple weeks and a tornado came through about a week ago and tore out some tree tops and I just walked up on like this beautiful orange turpentine smelling tree top where the knot had broke off and man I harvested so much of that stuff in the past couple days. But I always get some cedar bark and ruff it up and make a bird nest to start fires. I just think it’s fun man
Burnt pine stumps out in the woods is excellent for fat wood and you can put a match to a piece and it will light right up like birch bark. It looks like a dead, hollow tree stump in the woods, gray with a few burned areas on it. It’s found in old wooded areas or an area that had a forest fire at one time. The inners of the gray are full of hard pine sap. Cedar trees also get like this. But this stuff is very easy to pull up out of the ground, it will light in any kind of weather. It was used as torch lights way back in the day by many, as it burns slow, and for a very long time.
Linda Reinen yep, but unfortunately in my area, there is no wild pines that grow here, they are planted in yards, businesses, or parks, but cedar is like a weed here.
I love cedar and a lot of people don’t understand that bugs hate the smell of it when it’s burning they hate to be around it so it’s good to keep things away and it’s a great fire starter so good job man
SurvivorMetalMan if you're in the area that is hard to find fatwood you ain't got no Pines understand that there is one place you can get it Lowe's Home Improvement or any construction site that has two by fours I just stumbled on this my work benches made out of two-by-fours I just sharpen my axe and I just like to test out right here and right in the middle of the two by four is a Big Rich juicy vain of fatwood
Man I was in the woods learning all this a while ago now and where I set up my lean to there was a cedar tree right next to it and I started to realize that I could peel the bark off. And I started to make bird nest out of it not even really knowing what I was doing. I was just learning and man I tell you until I actually found fatwood in the woods where I live in Mississippi like that’s all I would use a cedar. I would make a bird nest out of that fibrous bark and just strike my feral rod and it would spark right up and that would burn so hot. Great video thank you
Out here in the Pacific Northwest and westcoast cedar and redwood are old go too's with a long history with the native cultures. I've been toying with picking up some pine resin, melting/thinning it with so turpentine and maybe a little wax and making up some firestarter outt of boredom. The idea is something that would start with flont and steel. I know it'd work with cerro rod.
Another thing about cedar that people hardly mention is if you chop down 4 or 5 small chunks of it and keep it in your bag it will keep insects out of your pack and make your clothes smell pretty good.
Subed. Ty for talking about this. I prefer cedar for making quick nests here in Texas. That damn tree is everywhere. Still carry my fat wood, but if people can't find it in their area, I keep coming across fatwood in crappy pallets. The ones that use softwood sometimes have 3x3 pieces that have a big knot. Usually they are broken there. That whole area almost always is fatwood. The 3x3 isn't good for anything else really. So they hide it cheap pallets.
I have pine Fat Wood and Cedar Fat Wood , So I tried Ash and White Oak shavings, they all fired right up with my Ferro Rod , it wasn't as easy as Pine Fat Wood , but they did Fire up
I am lucky down here in South Carolina Fatwood is everywhere and some of the best you will ever find. Funny thing is all these city folk have no idea what it is .
Hey metal man, you betta do some hair tying before it goes up in flames. Saw it happen in a play with a long haired actor in Lithuania. Great video. We got tons of cedar out here on the Outer Banks in NC. Not too many pines like on the mainland.
Rick Lane thanks my friend! I know many people do it different ways, I find it easier to do it this way, and it directs the sparks right into the tinder. Thanks for watching.
This guy reminds me of my uncle. Salt of the Earth kinda people. P.s. send me some Cedar, I'll send you some fatwood. I live in middle Georgia where the pines grow.
The green needles when on a flame will dang near explode! I always break off some greenery on the older trees or even the younger (actually i think the younger burns quicker and hotter) after I get a flame going.
I came across a 1954 boy scout manual that said S-M-L ,meaning shavings first , then feathering,(small slices) ,then larger twigs , to start a fire, and will work with almost ANY wood, however the amount of turpene, will surely determine how fast the fire will start. Am I right?
I really enjoyed your video! We have both cedar and pine here, but when it comes to fire and survival you just can't have to many ways of building a life saving fire! Thanks so much for sharing!
Fantastic demo Torren! I love cedar as well. It is indeed a beautiful wood and smells fantastic. It brings back memories of camping in Georgia earlier this year when it was still cold. I collected several downed cedar trees and created a long fire by my raised bed. It keeped me semi warm and smelled great all night. In my area I have to use tulip poplar bark instead because we really don't have much cedar at all. Thanks for sharing brother!
Black Hat Bushcraft thanks brother, that means a lot. I love cedar, that's mostly what we have here. It burns hot, but it burns quick. Thanks brother, I'm glad you liked it!
Great video! Have some cedar trees in my backyard I'm going to harvest for firestarter. Wondering about hurting the tree by scrapping the bark. Is a little ok but too much could possibly damage the bark? Thanks!
SurvivorMetalMan it is just that. I lived in a house many years back that had a closet totally lined in Cedar, I enjoyed just sitting in that closet looking and smelling the wood. It was very calming. Oh, it was a walk in closet so I wasn't just sitting in a tiny closet lol! Although I might have 😜
Felicity Forbes maybe so, but it’s a completely different type of tree than the standard pine. It’s all we have here that grow wild. But it’s a good tree.
@@SurvivorMetalMan my family is from OK so i get it. My grand parent were always complaining about the ceders growing in the pastures. We are all from up in northern OK. Woodward, Enid, Vici, but a few when they got older moved to OKC. I live in NM now. Havent been back in ages. Not since the last funeral anyways. In fact as i have a LARGE family we might even be distantly related.
Felicity Forbes truth, the cedars grow like weeds, they just take over everything. Our family is pretty large too, it’s possible to be distantly related somehow down the line.
This is the video I always wanted to do! Well done. As we have no native pine here in Kansas, cedar is my go to resource when in the woods. Again Well done!
Your Point from Nathan4071 here on RU-vid, he has an eBay store, he’s got the best ferro rods around. www.m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?sid=nathan4071&isRefine=true&_pgn=1
I live in western Oklahoma (Sayre & Elk City area), but one of my big concerns is finding fatwood or materials similar to, for practice and demonstration. Yes, there are pines out here, but they aren't always ideal. Ideal being like longleaf pine or red pine. I did know that cedar bark can process down decently thanks to Corporals Corner, but this is super useful to know. There don't seem to be too many bushcrafters in this area. Or I'm not looking in the right places, so it's nice to find somebody else out here in the know. You have earned a new subscriber, my man. All this being said, I do have some fatwood. But always looking for alternatives and more knowledge. Knowledge weighs nothing. :D
Fortunately for me, we have an abundance of pine and cedar. Dried up cedar branches go up like gasoline when you put 'em on a fire. Perfect tinder, for sure. We use the cedar bark for bundle material when doing flint & steel fires.... works pretty good!!!!
Carolina Chris Outdoors it's good stuff for sure, but Fatwood would still be my first choice, we just don't have many pines in my area, but fortunately for me, the good people in our community have sent some. Thanks brother!
If you had to you can buy fatwood at Lowe's or Home Depot. It is in the fireplace section. I agree that cedar smells great. Cedar trunks were used for years because bugs will not eat cedar or get to your clothes. Thanks for a well done video.
csh 62 yep, I actually have a good amount of fatwood at this time, but I’ve found a few pines in my area that I can get some from. And I have a cedar lined trunk, smells wonderful. Thanks for watching!
What a cool video and brings back memories of my ole man using cedar in the fish and game smokehouse . Thanks again from the high desert of NM - mesquite and pino'n territory .
buletpoint I got it from Nathan4071 here on RU-vid, he has an eBay store. He’s got the best! m.ebay.com/sch/nathan4071/m.html?isRefine=true&_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&_mwBanner=1
New to the channel. That's awesome! I totally agree about the cedar. It's so abundant in our forests here that it makes sharing fires a breeze. I look forward to checking out more of your vids, Cheers!
Hello! great video!! May I ask where you got your axe? I heard you mention earlier about plant based survival/ores but google ain’t cooperating with those terms, keeps recommending Oreos and why vegans are killing themselves lol. So yeah, thanks!
Preaching to the choir Brother...Pine in Oregon is on the eastern (desert) side of the state. In my "coastal rainforest" climate, this is what I grew up using...Cedar bark and shavings was my fatwood! I really just learned about the fatwood that everyone uses, and remember thinking, WTF? lol...That's the way to do it man...smells awesome for sure!!! Always looking for cedar fatwood...rarely find...Rock on!
Triumph Screen Printing thanks brother! Yep, pine forests in my state is 2-3 hours away from me. Cedar is everywhere you look here. Great stuff, and the smell is awesome.
A growing Eastern Red Cedar will burn like crazy when an open flame is held to the underside of the lowest branches. There is so much resin in them. I had contemplated doing a video demonstration years ago, but decided against giving all the knuckleheads another bad idea. Love the smell of the heartwood. Makes decent fence posts, as long as the sap wood is removed first. ERC is a pioneering tree, being one of the first trees to reclaim open land. They tend to be shaded out by other faster growing trees eventually & then tend to die off.
Oregon also has shore pines along the coast in the sand dunes. Rotted Douglas fir stumps are a great source of fat wood just look for solid wood in otherwise rotted stumps. Fat wood can and does occur in all conifer trees
Chris Middleton if you get lucky and find the sappy pieces it will, but regular bark won’t. However, even if it’s been raining, usually you can find dry bark on the tree, the branches protect it from getting wet.
Thanks for the video on Cedar. Just found your site and subbed it. You hit the nail on the head. Where I live we don't have that much Pine either but cedars are every where.
Pine in my area southern Indiana is usually in the forestry. But we have cedar it seems within sight anywhere you are. I think humidity had ya on the bark it will here I know. I like collecting it and bring it in out of the humidity and the load my tinder pouch. I mainly wanted to say that's an awesome ferro rod!!!
No pine in my area, few and far between. Cedar is a great fire starter. The ferro rod is awesome. Got it from Nathan4071 here on YT, he’s got the best.
I can find fatwood in my area fairly easy, but also look for cedar for the bark and always dead twigs on lower part of tree that burn great. had not seen or done the scraping, good idea. I am not always in my own area so alternatives to local tinders are good to know.
Great video! I have Eastern White Pine trees in my area in Rhode Island, but I haven’t seen any downed pine trees. I recently found I have cedar trees in the woods I do videos, and a bunch of them are dead so I have an abundant source of cedar bark shavings.
Thanks from Duncan, OK Mr. METALMAN. Most videos show folks using Burch bark. Burch isn't prevalent in my area. Beware of camping under cedar trees as ticks love camping there too.
Thanks your right everyone’s gone fatwood crazy. It hard to find where I live But once I see cedar I stop hunting for fat wood I find it lights very well .
I love cedar bark, it will take a spark and flame up quick. I have always said if you can't get a fire started with cedar, you might as well pack it up and go home. It also makes a great bow drill set.....thanks for sharing my friend.... ATB, Keith Alabama Bushcrafters ✌
thanks for your quick response,i am from tunisia and we have some of best fatwood in the world.i recently found a hole dead pine forest.the quality is superb.i will use this opportunity
Any conifer species contains resin and can produce fat wood. Idk why everyone thinks only pine trees produce fat wood lol. Cedar, fur, spruce etc can produce fat wood as well as long as it is a conifer species it will contain the resin similar to Pine. I have tons of cedar in my area and have found fat wood in them when there is a damaged branch or damage to the trunk.
That Battlefield Trail I go to has tons of Cedar....I keep looking for a rare Cedar Fatwood find...that'll be an awesome day when I do find it one day!!! Great informational video my Fatwood brother! I love that axe, that was so sweet of them! I had no idea that Cedar would light up like that, now I"m gonna have to try that! Gonna be a Cedar addict now, too gee thanks a lot!!! LOL
The Peeping Egg lol, cedar is good stuff, and it smells great, and it does burn good, I've been using it for years. Yeah, they are cool folks, youtubers right here in my own state. Thanks Carmen.
I live in the South and have plenty of pine for fatwood, but usually I go for the cedar. The outer bark for tinder, which is more easily processed than pine, and if really need be you can take some of the inner bark and it has a lot of sap in it and will burn great once you get it a little hot.
here in Arkansas, Cedar is a weed in the forest. really good for hot fires. few weekends ago I did a camp trip and everything was wet. Cedar still burned and I always had a fire . thanks
Very nice. Never really thought of ceder bark, but it makes ALOT of sense. Fortunately for me I have pine trees all over the place and ceder trees all over as well. And I feel your pain in the heat and humidity. Living in South Carolina swamps is the worst.
SC bushcraft backwoods you're very lucky to have the Pine's, I'd use it and Fatwood mostly if I had an abundant source of it. But cedar works great, and smells great. Humidity sucks, it's like a sauna lol. Thanks for watching my friend.
not getting onto you buddy but some survivor knowledge go find a dead rotted ceder get that hard unrotted center part clean in up and then (smile) you have cedar fat wood my friend and it burns hotter and better then pine he he from Tennessee best of luck to ya my friend i was stationed at tinker AFB for 4 yrs and aint kiddin hot lol good luck my friend
take it and roll it in your hands like dough, the harder stuff crumbles and falls away. the more fibrous stuff becomes fluffier. I have used it for years; long before fatwood. with you all the way. from Va. to Ok. GOD bless us all.
I was just thinking the other day about cedar as a replacement for fatwood. We have a few pines here in SW Missouri, but they're pretty difficult to find.
You know what, I'm a single mom trying to raise a man and thought bushcraft would be a manly thing to explore to get my 15 year old away from video games every once in a while. He was all for it! We're in eastern Missouri, and I clearly don't know what I'm doing out here looking for fatwood, but I came home empty handed. I was sad. He went back to the video games. We did find flint and we have a steel file. I know there's cedar everywhere so an alternative it is!! Wish us luck.
Incredible video my friend!! Cedar is not one of the trees that we have many of here in Wisconsin and we do have a lot of pine trees. You're not kidding about that bark you could almost weave a basket with it : ) nice job with the fire, it's good to know there's other sources out there. I appreciate you sharing this video with us.
Just created fake fat wood from dry clear cedar boards I had by cooking them in paraffine wax. Works great. I like the read cedar you used. Must smell great. Nice video, good inspiration. Where did you get the ferro rod and striker?
Great video! Like you, we are sparse on good pine trees in areas of the northeast. Cedar; we got.. The woods behind my house are full of the stuff. Going to get some for my "BOB". Where did you get that ferro rod? That is a thing of beauty - Thanks
