★★☆☆☆ Easy 20-40 min

DIY Fatwood Fire Starters

Harvest and prepare nature's best fire-starting material from resinous pine stumps. Burns hot and catches fast, even when wet.

What You'll Need

01

Find a resinous pine stump

Look for old pine stumps (dead 2+ years). The heartwood concentrates resin as the surrounding sapwood rots away. Good fatwood is heavy for its size, feels waxy, and has a strong turpentine smell.
02

Test the wood

Shave a small curl and touch a flame to it. Real fatwood ignites instantly and burns with a bright, smoky flame. If it just chars, the resin content is too low — keep looking.
03

Harvest sticks

Split the resinous heartwood into finger-thick sticks 4-6 inches long. The darker and more amber-colored the wood, the higher the resin content. You want pieces that look almost translucent.
04

Prepare shavings for tinder

Use your knife to scrape fine curls off one end of each stick. These curls catch a spark instantly. A single stick with a feathered end can start a fire from a ferro rod in one strike.
05

Store for your kit

Keep processed sticks in ziplock bags. Fatwood is waterproof — the resin repels moisture. Store shavings separately for quick access. A dozen sticks will last months of camping.

Fatwood lasts indefinitely when stored dry. It's been found still burnable in hundred-year-old cabins.
In the Southeast US, pine stumps are abundant. In the Pacific Northwest, look for Douglas fir.
You can also make DIY fatwood by soaking wood shavings in melted wax or petroleum jelly.
A single fatwood stick replaces an entire box of commercial fire starters.