Unique Gift Idea: Lightered Wood!

Fat Lighter
   Long before the packaged FireStarter logs came about, everyone relied on the real deal. A natural product of growth and time, fat lighter. You might know it by a few other names such as lighter(ed) knot, pitch pine, fat pine or heart pine. Humans couldn’t remake something this awesome if they tried. It makes starting a fire a breeze, even in a breeze. And most people have a stash that they rely on for their fire starting material.
   This valuable product is created when the sap is high in the pine tree and the tree either is cut or falls. The sap never flows back out of it and over time the moisture evaporates leaving behind a very sticky, extremely hard, resinous wood that is very flammable. When it’s lit and on fire, it drips a black substance that is left after the pitch is burned off.
   The same sap that gets concentrated to make the fat lighter is what was collected from the pine trees for turpentine years ago. If you are ever out walking in our forests that haven't been cleared then you will sometimes see a "cat-face pine". This is a tree with a black scar and "V"s cut into the bark. A cylindrical clay pot would be hung on a nail just below the "V" to collect the sap. People would collect this sap then cook it down to make turpentine. Many old-timers in the area can tell you stories about this practice.
   When an area is logged a lot of the stumps that are left behind become fat lighter. The outside parts like the bark and non-resinous wood rot away and leave the middle only. This will just look like a gray stump and it’s almost as hard as a rock. My husband just told me that there is a guy that comes down here from Georgia and collects stumps to use for making black powder. I looked it up and found that the rosin is also used in tape, chewing gum, Band-Aids and mascara!
   One of my favorite things about fat lighter is how easily it splits if you get a nice straight piece. I still have the image of my dad splitting little sticks of it for kindling when I was a young girl. He always had a hefty stump of it by the stack of wood on the back porch. A nice sharp hatchet was nearby and his experienced hands would carefully split a handful in just a minute. And it only takes a couple of sticks to light a fire with good dry wood.
   I grew up with the thought that since it took so long to create fat lighter and there is only so much out there, we really should only use what we have. As a newlywed to a land clearer's son, you can imagine my horror at watching my new Father-in-Law use whole chunks to start fires! I made sure to hide my stash and keep it out of his reach. But in his line of business he came across more in a month than I would in a lifetime. I probably didn't need to be so stingy or frugal, but old habits die hard.
   We recently had some pine cut into lumber and I discovered something new…a wind shake. This is where the pitch has a void when it hardens. Apparently, during a storm or windy weather, it moves the tree back and forth to create this void. It's beautiful and a pretty cool feature. I used our freshly cut lumber (after kiln drying, of course) in our new home and you can bet I put some of the wind shake pieces in spots where they can be admired.
   It’s funny to think about how many memories and good feelings I have regarding fat lighter. Even now, I absolutely love the smell of a freshly cut piece. I have actually hung it from the mirror in my truck hoping that it acted as an air freshener…it didn’t. But for some reason it put a smile on my face thinking about it. Maybe it’s the good memories of sitting around a fire with family and friends. Or of my mom cooking on the fire while camping as a kid. Or of my dad’s hands doing something so normal to him but so comforting to our family. A nice crackling fire is hard to beat for comfort. Until next time, slow down and take a walk down memory lane. Maybe tell some stories while sitting around dancing flames…it will feel so good.