My young and dumb story

[Richard22]

Everyone has at least one of them. Some guys marry into money. I married into a family of hunters. First night in the camp house and first time to hunt with my wife's dad and uncles. Before we all hit the sack, one of them told me to put some more wood on the fire. It all looked the same to me, so I grabbed a half dozen or so sticks and put them in the fireplace. It wasn't long before the fire was blazing, and guys were throwing off their bedcovers. That was the night I learned about lighter knot.

 

[Justindrader]

I get the story I think, but I’m dying to understand what “lighter knot” means?

 

[Richard22]

I get the story I think, but I’m dying to understand what “lighter knot” means?

It goes by different names in different parts of the country but it's the most combustible part of a pine tree due to it being very rich in resin, typically coming from the knots in the trunk and limbs. For that reason, it's what you place on the bottom to get a fire going and not what you put on top of an existing fire.

 

[ismith]

It goes by different names in different parts of the country but it's the most combustible part of a pine tree due to it being very rich in resin, typically coming from the knots in the trunk and limbs. For that reason, it's what you place on the bottom to get a fire going and not what you put on top of an existing fire.

Fat wood? Is that what this story is about?

 

[MTTW]

Also known as pitch knots.

 

[Richard22]

Fat wood? Is that what this story is about?

Yes, that's one of several names given to this fire starter.

"Fatwood, also known as "fat lighter", "lighter wood", "rich lighter", "pine knot", "lighter knot", "heart pine", "fat stick" or "lighter'd" [sic], is derived from the heartwood of pine trees. The stump (and tap root) that is left in the ground after a tree has fallen or has been cut is the primary source of fatwood, as the resin-impregnated heartwood becomes hard and rot-resistant after the tree has died. Wood from other locations can also be used, such as the joints where limbs intersect the trunk. Although most resinous pines can produce fatwood, in the southeastern United States the wood is commonly associated with longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), which historically was highly valued for its high pitch production."

 

[WildWill]

Fat wood? Is that what this story is about?

What we always called it.

 

[Maverick1]

Nature's fireworks/firecrackers. That's what we used to call pine trees in the fire.

 

[gouch]

We just call it "pitch." When we were young, my friend Paul, who just passed away RIP, and I would go up to the lake for some trout fishing around this time of year. One thing we always took with us was a good chunk of pitch to get a fire started in all that wet wood.

Jake always enjoyed a good rip snortin' fire on those trips.

 

[Hammsolo]

It goes by different names in different parts of the country but it's the most combustible part of a pine tree due to it being very rich in resin, typically coming from the knots in the trunk and limbs. For that reason, it's what you place on the bottom to get a fire going and not what you put on top of an existing fire.

I learned stuff!