2020-008 | FINDING DRY FIREWOOD

OUTDOOR COMMON SENSE TIPS: In the event of very wet conditions where finding dry firewood is difficult, a standing dead tree trunk can be a good source of firewood. Chop on one side and you will be surprised that it is dry. Just be careful because the knife on its downward stroke will tend to bounce off the surface if the edge cannot penetrate deep.

First seen in Facebook

November 28, 2017

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GATHERING GOOD FIREWOOD is second-nature for people. That is fine when you are blessed with good weather or you lived in the tropics where sunshine is turned on 365 days a year. Wood, to include moist and half-moist, full branches and upturned roots, trunks and slender branches, can be converted into good firewood, through a drying process and are kept under the weather for future use.

When wood is drier and lighter, it is chopped or cut to the right length and stacked neatly and aerated for another drying process, this time in a sheltered place. Wood are bunched according to thickness and age, or the time when these were gathered. When it is ripe for use as a firewood, it is chopped lengthwise or split from each other, so to aerate the insides and allow moisture to evaporate.

These are neatly stacked in squares and are sometimes covered with canvass cloth, cheap laminated nylon sheet or just a piece of square plywood placed on the topmost. Those that are ready for the hearth are linearly-stacked separately where it is most accessible, as on either sides, or on the bottom if the makeshift hearth is propped on legs. This is the way homesteads process their firewood, even in suburban areas where it has access to the woodlands.

In camping, the conditions are different. You are forced to use wood where it is available and there is almost no drying and aging process. Most likely, a tenderfoot would pick up a dry-looking wood from the ground intending to use it as firewood with disastrous results. In the process, lighting off all the 48 matchsticks in the box or suffering third-degree burn on the thumb by holding the gas-lighter valve too long, and without success of producing even an ember.

In bushcraft, we developed firewood gathering into an art form. We understood the science behind that. Of why, almost the wood we found and see, are not the best firewood for immediate use? And understanding further the elements of the fire triangle, we can put a spark of fire to life. With that, we could enjoy coffee; finish a warm meal; with the light and the heat of the fire, it stokes up a good night of fireside conversations.

Camping in good weather, firewood are easy to find. These are not found on the ground. These are found up there or rising up from the ground. These are not thick but are very easy to break off with even a lady’s hand. Because it is small in width or diameter, introducing it to heat until it became a fledgling flame, is so easy. Once you attained a robust fire, add thumb-sized wood for insurance.

How do you know these dead branches are dry? You break it and you smell. Your nose would pick up the smell of moisture once the broken-up branch is exposed to air. You may still use these but wait when the fire had already reached the right temperature where it would consume almost anything. Or you could dry it first by propping it near the campfire using the heat radiated by the fire.

 

During bad weather conditions where there is heavy rain and you need to make a fire to warm yourself, finding good firewood material is very daunting. Your object is to find a dry one which is close to impossible since everything is wet. Your only recourse is to find standing dead trees and dead stumps which would not be rare I am sure of that; and those dead twigs that are not touching the ground.

Standing tree stumps which have been dead for some time may look wet in rain but, once you chopped off on one side, you will be surprised it is almost dry. Chop further and it becomes drier. Watch where the blade bounces because, sometimes, it skims the surface. When you have a substantial number of pieces, chop and split them into smaller pieces and leave three long slender ones and fashion it into feather sticks. The finer the curls, the better it accepts heat and flame.

Standing dead trees have wood completely dry because it is still protected by its dead barks. You could chop off on the sides like you do on the dead stump but, if it is a huge tree, chances are that it has a cavity on its trunk. That is where you chip off chunks of dry wood with your work blade. By the way, please make sure you have a good working blade with you when you are foraging and processing firewood. You simply could not do it with your bare hands.

 

Lastly, understand the science of things in how to introduce heat quickly to wood and turn it into a smoldering fire. The smaller, the lighter and the drier they are, the better the chances of catching a fire. That is why in bushcraft, we have another medium to facilitate the quick transfer of heat to fire to a hardy material like wood. These are called tinder and kindling. It would be a different topic, however, and this might be featured here in the future.

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WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE BLOG, personified by this writer, is synonymous with the Outdoors, since Bushcraft and Survival is its niche. Safety and Security are its bedrock when it ventured into organizing outdoor events that involved people as in adventure/pilgrimage guideships and seminars; and explorations and expeditions.

Through tutorship, experience, folk knowledge and good old common sense, this writer was able to collect useful information which he is currently documenting in a book titled, ETHICAL BUSHCRAFT. He shares some of this information and knowledge in his training sessions; in his social-media account; and in this blog.