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FATWOOD

Fatwood is not a species of wood, it is ANY wood (but almost always pine) that is utterly soaked in resin. When gymnosperms, especially pine trees, die, the resin in the branches tends to pool in the part next to the bole. Also, the area just above the roots often continues to get nutrient-laden sap up from the ground but since the tree is dead there is nowhere for it to go and it just pools in the lower area, plus the fact that the sap from the higher areas of the bole has nowhere to go in a dead tree so tends to flow slowly back to the lower area.

SO ... the portion of such tree branches near the bole, and the stumps of such trees, tend to have areas that are just saturated with resin. Wood cut from these areas is called fatwood and it is a great fire starter. There are many Internet videos on how to locate fatwood and create shavings that will act as fire starters with just a spark. Small sticks of it can be lit with a match and will keep burning far longer than the match would have and so can be used for a fire starter if a match might not otherwise be strong enough to get your kindling started.

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Examples:


A few pieces of fatwood and end grain. One large enlargement is present.


A fairly thin piece of fatwood with a flashlight behind it and another with sunlight shining through it. These show the resin saturation clearly.


more samples of fatwood:


the lower portion of a dead tree in which the stump has accumulated a lot of resin and then the tree blew down and shattered the stump area.


although one normally uses shavings from fatwood sticks as kindling, you can just light one end of a stick and use that as a fire starter.