Got wood???

We've talked about fires, how to start one, how to keep it going... even how to cook over one... but this time lets talk about the wood itself

One way to get a proper campfire is to use the right wood. If you want a pot of tea in a
hurry, you will have to use a quick-starting wood such as poplar. But to broil a venison
steak, you will need hot coals such as those produced by seasoned hickory.

Wood (and trees) can be divided into two groups - hard and soft. In the case of trees, this
division is somewhat of a misnomer. Conifers are called softwoods, while deciduous
trees are called hardwoods by forest workers from pulp cutters to forestry engineers.
Although all evergreen trees have soft wood, so do many species of hardwood or broadleafed
trees such as poplar, alder, and basswood. The hardwoods with truly hard wood
are oak, hickory, maple, birch, and sweet gum.

THE HARDWOOD OR DECIDUOUS TREES
Alder The alder is a fast-growing tree of swamplands and stream bottoms. It is found
from Alaska to the Gulf coast, from Newfoundland to the mid-west, and from the
Rockies to the Pacific. It bums fast, with a quick flame and strong heat, but it also bums
out quickly.

Alder tends to spit and snap, so watch for sparks. It is excellent for quick boiling and
cooking and is good for baking. Because it burns fast, have plenty of it cut. It makes
excellent kindling when well seasoned.

Ash There are about fifteen species of ash in eastern North America. Their range extends
from central Ontario and British Columbia south to Florida. Ash, particularly the red,
white, and black varieties that are most often used as campfire wood, live on moist sites.
All ash are heavy hardwoods. They don't make good kindling because they tend to start
burning slowly. White ash can be used for firewood green, while red and black ash
should be seasoned first. They all throw good strong heat, and produce coals which are
ideal for broiling and frying.

Basswood The linden, as the basswood is sometimes called, is found from Maine to the
Dakotas and from southern Ontario to Kentucky. It is very light and soft. When used for
fuel, it should be well seasoned. It bums quickly and turns to ash rapidly. It spits and
snaps and throws sparks readily, so be careful and be certain the area around your
campfire is cleared of humus and dead leaves. Basswood, like all soft woods, is good for
boiling and quick cooking.

Birch The birches - black, yellow, and white - make good firewood. Black and yellow
birch are superior to white. However, trappers in northern Canada depend on the hardy
white birch to heat their cabins through the long winter. Birches are hard and heavy.
Yellow birch is found from New England to Minnesota and from Central Ontario south to
Pennsylvania. Black birch ranges from southern Maine and southern Ontario to northern
Alabama along the Appalachian Mountains. White birch, sometimes called paper or
silver birch, is found from Alaska south through Canada and the Great Lakes states to the
Atlantic seaboard.

The bark from all these birches is easily stripped off and makes excellent kindling.
Birches burn well even when wet. They start readily, and bum slowly and with an intense
flame. The coals retain heat for a long time and are good for frying a steak or simmering
a stew.

Beech The beech is a very hard wood. Its range extends from central Ontario to the Gulf
of Mexico and from Maine to Kansas. It will burn when green and give off plenty of heat.
Many outdoorsmen rate beech as highly as oak. The coals retain heat for a long time,
making them a good bet for frying and broiling.

Hickory All the hickories are excellent campfire woods, with the shagbark being the best.
There is no doubt that hickory is the finest of all campfire woods. The hickories are found
in a variety of forest habitats, and their general range extends from Maine and southern
Ontario south to Louisiana and Texas.

Hickory sawdust and chips are the best wood to use when smoking fish, ham, or bacon. A
hickory-smoked ham is far superior to the synthetic chemical-smoking process used on
supermarket hams. Similarly, a good steak - beef or venison broiled on a thick bed of
hickory coals - is much tastier than charcoal-broiled steak. It burns with a steady and hot
flame, and its coals remain hot for a long time.

Hornbeam There are two species of hornbeams - the American and the hop - and both are
very hard and heavy woods. Indeed, the hop hornbeam is sometimes called ironwood.
The range of hornbeams extends from southern Ontario through the eastern half of the
United States to northern Florida. They do not burn too well when green, but after being
well seasoned, they bum with a steady heat and produce hot coals.

Maple There are over twenty maple species in North America, but only the hard or sugar
maple makes first-rate firewood. It is hard and burns evenly, even when green. It leaves
very hot and longlasting coals for long cooking or broiling.
The soft maples, such as the red maple, burn much like poplar quickly and easily. They
are a better bet for quick cooking, but they should not be used unseasoned because they
don't bum well when green.
How does one tell the soft maple from the hard maple? It is easy by the leaf margins. The
lobes on a soft maple's leaf have serrated or saw-like margins, and the underside of the
leaf is silvery green. The margins of the leaf lobes of a hard maple are smooth, and the
underside of the leaf is dull green.

Oak There are about sixty species of oaks in North America. Most of them make good
firewood, but some have to be seasoned first. Probably the best is white oak, which will
start well and burn when green.

The red and water oak should be seasoned first. The oaks are all hard and dense woods
that bum slowly and produce hot coals. The only exceptions to this are the willow oak
and the scarlet oak, both of which bum fast. They can be used for quick boiling, while the
other oaks are a good bet for long cooking and broiling.

Poplar The poplar family contains the aspens and the cottonwoods. They are rapid
growing trees. Some of the species are the first trees to recolonize old burns. Some
species grow on high, dry, and sandy soils. Poplars range from Newfoundland to Alaska
through the Rocky Mountain states, the Great Lakes, into New England, and south to
Kentucky.

Poplar wood is light and soft. It bums quickly when dry. It is also a good wood for fast
boiling and cooking, and it is ideal for getting a brown sheen on biscuits in a reflector
oven. When dry, it makes good kindling.

Sweet Gum This bottom land tree is a beautiful sight in the autumn. It is found from
Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas. It has a fairly soft wood and burns quickly,
thus it is best used for quick cooking.

THE SOFTWOODS OR CONIFERS
Balsam Fir The balsam fir lives on moist bottom lands. Its range extends from
Newfoundland to northern Alberta and south through the northern Great Lakes states to
the Atlantic seaboard. It is very soft and resinous, with a high moisture content when
green. It is difficult to start a flame when green, hence it should be used only when
seasoned. It burns quickly when dry and throws a fast heat. It spits and snaps while
burning, so be careful. The balsam fir is basically a quick-cooking wood. Small, dry,
pencil-thick branches make good kindling, even when broken from a live tree.

Cedar The outdoorsman should concern himself with only red, white, and western red
cedar for campfires. However, cedars are only third-rate as campfire woods. White cedar
and western red cedar live on moist sites, while red cedar prefers open areas. Cedars, as a
group, are widely distributed over North America. All cedars are light and soft woods
that do not bum well when green. When seasoned, they ignite and burn quickly, but still
give off a lot of smoke. Great if you want to keep the bugs away, but otherwise....

When cedar burns, sparks pop and fly, so the campfire must be in an area well cleared of
debris and humus. Cedar bark, when dried and shredded, makes tremendous tinder for
starting fires.

Douglas Fir This large western evergreen is not really a fir, but is related to the spruces. It
ranges from southern British Columbia to central California and as far east as Montana. It
is a soft and light wood that bums quickly. It tends to be smoky. It is suitable only for
quick boiling.

Pine The pines are widely distributed on the sandy soils of this continent. They are light
and soft woods. White, red, jack, and lodgepole pines burn well even when green.
Pitchpine has to be seasoned to burn well. Pines all throw a surprising amount of light
and are generally easy to ignite.

The pines are for quick cooking. They tend to pop and throw sparks, so be careful. They
also blacken cooking pots. If you are using pine as a campfire wood, coat the outside of
your pots with soap for an easy cleanup before putting them on the fire.

Spruce The spruces are widely distributed evergreen trees. White and black spruces range
from coast to coast and from Alaska to the Great Lakes. Western white, Douglas,
Englemann, and Sitka spruces are western species, while red spruce is found from Nova
Scotia through New England to central Ontario. The spruces are light and soft. To be
good campfire fuels, they should be seasoned. They start easily when dry and make
excellent kindling, but they never burn as fast as some of the other softwoods, hence they
are a good bet for all-around campfire cooking, as long as hot, long-lasting coals are not
needed. Small dead branches of standing spruce trees make good fire starters, even in wet
weather, but they do throw sparks.

Tamarack The larch, as the tamarack is sometimes called, is the only conifer that sheds
its needles every fall. There are several species of larch. The larch belongs to the pine
family, but is a much better firewood than the pines. Tamaracks range from
Newfoundland north to the Yukon and south into the Rocky Mountain states, the Great
Lakes states, and into New England. It lives on moist, boggy soils. Its wood is the densest
and heaviest of all the conifers, and is best when seasoned. Many northwoods
outdoorsmen prefer the tamarack for firewood over all the other species except perhaps
white birch. The larch bums with a strong and even heat, and is fairly long lasting, but it
doesn't leave as good coals as the birch. When burned green, it spits and sputters.

files.abovetopsecret.com...
I couldn't help myself, sorry.

I chop and burn wood regularly. Hardwood is best, pine burns fast but is smokey.
My neighbors and I like to grab downed trees on the side of the road and split them in the yard, it's free and it helps clear the area of all the wrecked trees.

It's a good idea for those unemployed with a pick up truck to grab wood on the side of the roads and split them up into cords and advertise on Craigslist. Or for wood stove burners, get yourself a free Winter's worth of heat in a couple weekends with a pick up truck.
I love New Hampshire!

Gosh I thought you were talking about morning "wood" at first when I read your title

But you meant wood wood...

Thanks for sharing the info!

Its great to see the US has a large variety of tree's to select from. Australia has pretty much eucalyptus and thats about it in many places. It poisons the soil making pretty much reducing the other plant life to a select few tolerant types, nothing much else grow until you clear it. Fortunately most forms of it burn pretty well, particularly red gum, which is a soft wood and burns for quiet some time once you get it hot enough.

You have done a lot of work there typing this up.
SnF
Its a great resource!

reply to post by Gravity215


During the 1700 and 1800 It was said that a squirrel could travel from New York to Georgia using only the branches of American chestnut trees without ever touching the ground. ...

today 2011 we have a 90% deforestation problem... little wonder flooding have become such a huge issue in the states... kill off all the trees and there's nothing life to protect the soil... Sighs...

reply to post by DaddyBare


We really haven't put a dent in the tree population in the US in my opinion. I've flown from ocean to ocean in the window seats, we have TONS of trees spanning across the country. From 30k feet it was difficult to find the populated areas, except for Las Vegas and L.A., they are pretty prominent from that height.

Overpopulation is bunk, there's plenty of room for all of us and then some. We do need to be a lot more mindful of our mother Earth though, we are crapping all over our natural resources and poisoning for profits.
We won't last much longer under the mentality of profits being the priority ahead of life itself.

Originally posted by balon0
Gosh I thought you were talking about morning "wood" at first when I read your title

But you meant wood wood...

Thanks for sharing the info!

\

Ya know I pick my titles just to peek a persons intrests
hopefully they learn a thing or three when they get here

How to tell if your wood is well seasoned:
If cut, check ends for extensive cracking. Color should be grey-brown and gets lighter the better seasoned it is.
Another way to check is to hold a piece of bare wood against your cheek - any moisture in it can be felt.

Thumbnail test for wood hardness: to determine whether wood is hard or soft push your thumbnail into the wood - if it leaves a dent it's a softwood, if not then it's hard.

When choosing wood for a fire avoid anything laying on the ground. Look around the edges of clearings where sunlight can get and dry out the wood. Often you can find dead branches up in a tree that are near enough to cut.
Same goes for wood around water or down in bottom lands even if there in stream present. wood found there will generally require further drying before you can make a fire.

This is not to say that green or wet wood can't be burned, It can but one must use a good fire to assist in the drying process. throwing green wood on the fire at night will help keep it going until you wake up in the morning.

There is so much more but those are the important points that come to mind right away.

Got wood? Only when I get my prescription refilled.

Good stuff

silver birch bark can be stripped for an alternative to paper just dont strip all of it off as it can damage the tree

don't know if they have much of it in the USA but a yew tree makes for great kindling wood as it splits very easy and even when freshly cut seems to catch hold very easy

wish i could remember all the stuff i was taught years ago....

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Hunting season opens in a couple of weeks here...
so you bet your ass I got wood

But I'm still sad I missed out on my Wyoming Moose draw this year... three years in a row and no Moose in my freezer... boo hoo...

edit to add a shameless plug for another of my old posts... this one on pine nut harvesting
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Very well put together.
I guess you are specifically talking about the American woods,
as the same woods in Europe have very different attributes.
The European Beech, most likely Eastern European if manufactured, but very similar attributes to wild European Beech, burns very well dry, and contains a lot of heat in its tight grain, but ours is a lot softer, soft enough to mark with a pencil and leave an indentation. It can be split with an almost perfectly flat edge on pieces up to 300mm

European Oak has a slightly different grain to the american versions, it also shows its 'stretch marks" a lot more clearly and has fewer 'impurities' in the wood itself, making it easier for shaping, chopping etc.
A beautiful application for oak which combines workmanship with natural curing is to work with the wood wet 'green' and to make structures from the wood which don't necessarily have to be down to the 'mm' correct as the shrinkage in oak causes very loose fitting joints to tighten beyond belief creating joints which are many times stronger then a joint made with cured wood.

Fruit trees are also highly prized for their grain, but not the best to cut if your wanting the fruit.
Lime wood is probably best recommended for basic wood shaping, for the more adventurous I would touch upon rose or mahogany.

Birch wood is very prone to disease, a few times I've seen one die on the street and the next year 25 of them on the street are useless and rotting.

Be very careful with wood like Red Cedar and Iroko, their splinters will turn septic and inhalation of the dust can also turn the lungs septic.

Also many people have allergies to wood which are never realised as they are never exposed to 'fresh' or green wood, which is enflamed/irritated by the sap or latex in the wood.

But lest we forget the most important wood on the planet.
Bamboo.
Its applications are food, clothes, structures, charcoal, coals, fire wood etc.
We greatly overlook it but the African Asian ways haven't and is still one of the most used woods, it makes beautiful bicycles, body odour proof t-shirts, super strong scaffolding, nutritious roots and the bamboo strains should outlast nuclear fallouts,

reply to post by MBUK3D


thanks for your input... I was hoping someone from another part of the word would add too...
BTW Bamboo makes great fishing poles too...

We have alot of wood stacked, i mean alot! all chopped and ready for the stove.

Edit, + we have like 300 bamboos in our backyard and they keep growing and growing

i will tell you ther is no better feeling than haveing a nice nights worth of dry wood all split and stacked right next to the harth/fire pit and a few beers cold in the cooler.
Throw in a tuned acoustic guitar. Some great friends, lovely women and you got your self a VERY GOOD TIME!
Thank you wood.

Originally posted by jplaysguitar
i will tell you ther is no better feeling than haveing a nice nights worth of dry wood all split and stacked right next to the harth/fire pit and a few beers cold in the cooler.
Throw in a tuned acoustic guitar. Some great friends, lovely women and you got your self a VERY GOOD TIME!
Thank you wood.

I know exacly what you are talking 'bout, but aint go no women but i am still young tho

We don't always have a choice of what to burn. I'm limited to alder, douglas fir, hemlock, and pine. The really good wood around here is: Madrona (sometimes called madrone). Compared to a softwood that stuff will burn forever.

WOOD?

I got wood
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I dont have much to add great post as usual daddybare.!

I go up to the mtns to fell wood every year about to go up this week just getting my saws prepped.

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best advice i can give when cutting wood is be slow and cautious and try to wear the best protective gear for your job.
steel toe boots, hard hat, goggles and earplugs are mandatory when running a saw also a fire extinguisher. you don't want things getting out of hand.

its always safer to work with someone when cutting wood
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pine resin and birch best tender i have heard of

after watching tons of youtube videos over the past few weeks.

believe it or not there is a little bit good information on youtube aint going to say theres lots

off topic: this is more of a request for basic map reading and compass usage think for the experience contributors on ats it would make a worthy thread by daddy and other mods who know their stuff.

Thought I would point out that bamboo is actually a grass.
It's by far the most useful grass we have.
Good luck with hunting season DB, I wish I could still get out there and fling a few arrows.
No moose but there's still plenty of Black tails out there just waiting for you.
They're saying "put me in your freezer Daddbare, pick me!"

Wish I could help with the map reading Neo but that's one of my weak points actually.