Thought I'd start a parallel tread to db's fireplace one.

I recently burned a few fires in the Q, used some Eastern White Cedar. The stuff's like burning tires,,,flames up nice as a fire starter, but it puts out a heavy black smoke. Splits nice.

I prefer the beaver sticks for cooking. Nice control of heat, little or no sparks. You can do a lot with pine cones and small trash wood too.

Pines OK, if you're far from the tarps and tents.

Pine twigs + birch bark is how I start most fires. It will flare up even when it's wet, and can be lit with a spark pretty easily. Little dead pine twigs can be found at the base of the trees, where they're off the ground and protected from rain. I try to grab a few handfuls when I can (from trees that are well off the trail, etc.), along with little scraps of birch bark, so I am always carrying ready tinder. They go into a little dry-bag so no matter what happens, I can always make a small fire at a moment's notice.

But once you get the fire going, pine is sub-par. It burns too fast, and becomes a smoky, sparky waste of space in a matter of minutes. Once I have a good fire going, I like to use anything but pine... oak or cedar if it's around. Birch isn't half bad either.

But I'm not too picky.

I use All of the previous methods and agree with them.
I still carry my dryer lint/paraffin wax/trick candle fire starters for times when it's so wet you need to split wood and need a super hot ignition source.
I'm always amazed too see people try to start a fire with forearm size pieces of wood instead of getting a base going with twigs/pine cones/ birch bark.
I've seen people throw/waste Coleman fuel on large pieces of wood in the futile attempt too ignite them :-? Even after the fuel burns off, they refuse too give up, and think they need even MORE fuel :(

S_T -- I made some of your lint/wax/egg carton fire starters and used them this year.  Thanks for the tip.  They worked fantastic, and like you said, were great during cold, wet periods like I had in June.  

I'll be making more this winter.  One question: what do you use to melt the wax?  I found that the wax temp has to be just so...too hot and it melts right through the lint and the egg carton.  Too cool and it want really absorb at all or set up.  Any hints on the wax part of the deal?

prouboy

A handful of freshly dropped, sap sticky pine cones and a little birch bark and I'm good to go. I seldom burn anything too large to break by hand or with a good stomp. I'm not too picky about the type of wood, although I like to use the dead hardwood saplings for cooking if I can find them. Even for an evening fire, I'm usually ready to hit the sack pretty early, so I don't want to wait for giant log to burn down.

Puckster wrote on Oct 11^th, 2009 at 12:17am:

S_T -- I made some of your lint/wax/egg carton fire starters and used them this year.  Thanks for the tip.  They worked fantastic, and like you said, were great during cold, wet periods like I had in June.   I'll be making more this winter.  One question: what do you use to melt the wax?  I found that the wax temp has to be just so...too hot and it melts right through the lint and the egg carton.  Too cool and it want really absorb at all or set up.  Any hints on the wax part of the deal? prouboy

I take an old tin coffee can, and put the wax in after I break /cut it into smaller chunks. I put a inch or so of water in a large pot, and set the coffee can inside. I bend the tin coffee can, so it has a "spout". I used a wooden dowel rod and just stirred the wax till it was ALL melted.
Meanwhile I have the cardboard egg carton on a metal baking sheet, in-case of spills. I take the lint, and use my hands too ROLL it into a small ball,  and set in egg cups. I have all my TRICK candles cut in half and ready to go. I pour just ONE egg cup, and see what happens? Either heat some more or let cool down. Once its right, I pour All the cups and then insert the Trick candle and let cool. I don't use a thermometer or anything, but I suppose you could. More of a FEEL thing.
 Word of caution too anyone who wants to make these, Paraffin wax is EXTREMELY flammable. that's why I use the water bath method, rather than heating in old pot, over a open flame.
 For those who are curious, TRICK B-day candles that you can't blow out, are that way because the fuse is made of powdered Magnesium which once ignited is almost impossible to put out, unless you deny it Oxygen. You light that fuse and even in pouring rain, it will ignite lint/wax, and even the most stubborn fire.

For melting old candle wax I use a coffee can set inside of a slow cooker. Cover with a pie plate. Temp seems about right and there is no open heat source to worry about.

My preference is whatever makes a sweet sound instead of that thud when two pieces meet. You know, that warm, (never fuzzy) snap-happy sound. It's normally white pine - fallen, dead, consistent size ... tarp poles the bark is falling off of. Cedar is great in the rain but it also burns away so quick. Beaver sticks offer a steady flame for a good long time, I just don't like the odor they produce. They stink IMO but he only time I'm that picky is when steak or baking is involved.

Broken branches are fine if they are more convenient or over abundant although they do tend to leave ugly remnants and pop/spark more than split trunks plus they don't stack nearly as nice. ;) Come to think of it, a snap is good but punky logs have well seasoned branches.

Size wise, I'll saw 2, short ~3 inch diameter chunks for a base but almost never expect decent flame from anything more than a third that size unless I plan on sitting there the better part of a day.

For starters I just put three juicy pine cones on a handful of long/fat/stiff pine needles with a birch bark wick between that's long enough for my bic to catch. The wick is the only thing that really NEEDS to be somewhat dry ... have I mentioned being a little fire bug as a kid lately? <insert "tool time" series of three grunts here> Some carry matches and stuff in the food/cook/ditch pack, I do too but I'll usually find some dry bark and foil before I ever get down deep enough for the emergency stuff.

Knock on wood

I’m not too picky. Dead and down with a good dry “snap” to it is good.  Mostly I use breaking size wood with a few sawn wrist size pieces. I use the homemade egg carton/dryer lint/wax firestarters.  I just light the candle and let the wax drop onto the lint.

I see that beaver wood is mentioned.  I don’t know about the Q, but the BW frowns on its use … to the point where you could get ticketed. From page 2 of the BWCA Rules and Regulations under “Campfires”,   (You need to Login or Register  “When making a fire only use dead wood found lying on the ground; collect it away from campsites, portages, and shorelines to prevent enlarging and defacing these areas.” Rangers will interpret driftwood, as well as beaver wood and overhangs falling under this rule.

In their “Angler Ethics” brochure,   (You need to Login or Register , they spell it out better. Page 3, Item #4 Minimize Campfire Impacts: “Don't use driftwood, snags arching over water, or wood from beaver dams and lodges.”

I'm sure three are other references.

So it's the branches doing all or most of the sparking. Good to know, db.

Bannock, Interesting rules you sight. I might be a bit of a scofflaw by BW & USFS standards.  8-)

I'm with Bannock.  I just use a candle to make my lint/pinecone/eggcarton starters.  Great for long winter evenings dreaming about canoe country.  I had also heard that using beaver wood is frowned on, I'm guessing as an effort to leave the lake shores in their natural state.  
I just spent 4 nights on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage with a couple of friends.   It rained a lot and was pretty chilly (had a great time, though).  I used birch bark to light all of our fires but the last.  On the day we left (last Tuesday) it was about 40 degrees and pouring rain.  We still had a decent woodpile and were all chilly with breaking the wet camp so I started a nice blaze with one of my starters.  Worked beautifully/impressed my friends.  I usually save them for emergencies, but it sure was nice to have a good fire near the tarp to warm up next to as we broke down.
Cheers,
gp

solotripper wrote on Oct 11^th, 2009 at 3:43pm:

Puckster wrote on Oct 11th, 2009 at 12:17am: S_T -- I made some of your lint/wax/egg carton fire starters and used them this year.  Thanks for the tip.  They worked fantastic, and like you said, were great during cold, wet periods like I had in June.   I'll be making more this winter.  One question: what do you use to melt the wax?  I found that the wax temp has to be just so...too hot and it melts right through the lint and the egg carton.  Too cool and it want really absorb at all or set up.  Any hints on the wax part of the deal? prouboy I take an old tin coffee can, and put the wax in after I break /cut it into smaller chunks. I put a inch or so of water in a large pot, and set the coffee can inside. I bend the tin coffee can, so it has a "spout". I used a wooden dowel rod and just stirred the wax till it was ALL melted. Meanwhile I have the cardboard egg carton on a metal baking sheet, in-case of spills. I take the lint, and use my hands too ROLL it into a small ball,  and set in egg cups. I have all my TRICK candles cut in half and ready to go. I pour just ONE egg cup, and see what happens? Either heat some more or let cool down. Once its right, I pour All the cups and then insert the Trick candle and let cool. I don't use a thermometer or anything, but I suppose you could. More of a FEEL thing.  Word of caution too anyone who wants to make these, Paraffin wax is EXTREMELY flammable. that's why I use the water bath method, rather than heating in old pot, over a open flame.  For those who are curious, TRICK B-day candles that you can't blow out, are that way because the fuse is made of powdered Magnesium which once ignited is almost impossible to put out, unless you deny it Oxygen. You light that fuse and even in pouring rain, it will ignite lint/wax, and even the most stubborn fire.

Thanks S_T -- I haven't used the candles, but I'll try them when I make the next batch this winter.

prouboy

Bannock, thanks for the rule clarification.  I usually find all the wood I could ever hope to burn in downed or hanging dead trees & branches less than 20' from the shoreline, at least 100' away from a campsite.  I typically won't take wood thicker than 4" in diameter, unless it's cold and I want a long buring fire.  I often find hanging limbs in the trees.  Seems like everyone is missing them because their eyes are down.  However, if the wood is off the ground, it's much more likely to be dry, in my experience.

I'll echo the tinder, pine cones, twigs around camp sentiments on fire starting.  I travel with a fire steel   (You need to Login or Register and a film canister stuffed with cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly.  I also carry matches, but this is the fail-safe.

Jim J - I'm not 100% positive about my branches comment. Trunks (especially ones that have that natural split and splits go flying at the mere sight of a hatchet) are always nice.... Anything gray and barkless is, as always, a sure winner when if not spongy if dripping wet as far as sparks go.

As for beaver stick rules, personally, I've always had a bit of an ethical(?) problem taking anything from someone's house when they weren't around, even after they've volunteered and assured me I could "help myself to whenever I wanted" - which a beaver certainly couldn't and a sane human would never do.

When no one is looking, rules, suggestions and serendipity all go in the blender and come out one end or the other seemingly right or wrong. The beauty part is knowing the difference.

Anyone ever try simple wax paper as a fire starter? Easy to come by and I bet it would work pretty well, kinda like oatmeal packets only bigger and twice+ as good.

In a recent article from Field & Stream, the author tried suggestions for various firestarting materials sent in by readers. According to him the winner for the best tinder was underwear. Ahh, the old Fruit of the Loom trick, eh!

No mention of how long he'd been wearing it or any suggestion of it's flammablity being aided by some sort of volatile gaseous infusion.

I hope not too many people read that fire starter trick ;D
Last thing I want to see in the fire pit is a half burnt pair of some guys/gals funky Fruit of the Loom's :P

Contrary to the Forest Service, the Quetico handout suggests "looking for deadwood along the shoreline before you make camp".

Sometimes I think it compares to the difference between Andy or Barney,,,,the Ontario Parks and US Forest Service.  ;D