Pine Pitch as stove fuel?
Have any of you cooked on pine pitch? It is a renewable resource in the wilderness and I can find decent amounts of it... Have tried burning it and refined it once into a candle in which only the wick burned (the whole thing did not catch on fire like p.p. normally does)... But with all that heavy black smoke, I don't know if I'd trust food cooked over it... Any thoughts?
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
So how do you collect enough of it to be a reliable fuel sourse.
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
Cut the branches off a medium small pine tree, close to the trunk, for about the first seven feet... as high as you can reach. Leave it for a couple months, and the branch stubs rot and fall out, leaving holes full of pitch. Another method if you have an axe, is to chop into the tree at random angles... keep the wood close enough together so that the tree tries to 'heal itself' and the pitch should start leaking fairly soon (days?). I haven't messed with these methods more than a couple times each, as I don't want to damage the trees unnecessarily, but a tree I did with method 1 two years ago can be expected to ooze about an ounce of sap a week... I harvest it with a stick...
If it's a big pine woods, you should be able to find 'leaking trees' without having to hack any up, which is damaging to the environment.
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
Seems like a lot of damage, a lot of work for a small amount of fuel.....They are YOUR trees right?
I have been at my cabin since Thursday, not really cold out and burned a 1/2 cord of wood already.......for heat not cooking, of course.
If it works for you, cool, but it isn't something I would depend on.
Another tool in the box, to be used if nessessary.....Thanks for bringing it up.
Last edited by hunter63; 11-04-2012 at 07:22 PM. Reason: splin'
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
Yes I have (just to try it). I collected excess pitch that was running down the tree, lit it and boiled a cup of water. Lots of soot. A plain ole fire with sticks would have worked as well or better, been easier to collect and easier to clean up.
One ounce a week? Pine pitch is fairly dense is it not? So 16 trees would make a pound of fuel a week. How long would a pound of cooking fuel last, a day?
I have made little tin-can stoves with pine pitch as fuel, and I have to say that the odor and the soot trump the viability, for me. I would not cook over it with an open flame as it will impart a bad taste to the food, but cooking in a container, like a pot, or pan (as in soup) would not leave such a taste.
We have a problem with pine beetles, so it really is only a matter of walking around enough to find infested trees, and having a container to break/rake it off into.
Probably the best use for it, is in fire starting, and then using a regular stick-fire for cooking.
It would almost definately not burn continuously for a full day, no. Perhaps if you used it more like a candle, with a wick and some stones to keep it warm and melted..How long would a pound of cooking fuel last, a day?
Pitch is a great resource, but is unreasonable as a single fuel source.
Thanks for the ideas, and yes, they were my trees. They were in the way and about to be cut down anyway. One or two got left standing with their branches cut off when I had an 'axe-adent', and when I saw all the pitch oozing out a couple weeks later, I just left them standing as an experiment.
Using the pitch as a fire starter does make sense, though.
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
Learning how to use any resource is a good thing.......
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
Yeah... I REALLY need to figure out my bow drill... Have gone out at least 5 separate occasions to try it, and got smoke and black dust... drilled through a few fire boards till they looked like swiss cheese... but never got a 'coal' that smoked by itself. Once I do get one, I better have some pine pitch nearby because I'll be MAD if the thing goes out.
I have a can of pine pitch at my 'survival shelter' I'm building. If it ain't stove fuel than I guess I'll have plenty to start fires with.
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
Hopefully you are not using some of those pine limbs with resin in them for your bow drill - too much resin - makes it difficult, not impossible.
I don't think any of my bow drill parts are pine. Mostly tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipofera), but I think that needs to change...
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
The reason I brought up, YOUR trees is simply that we get a lot of young people that would read this and head out with their new survival or ax and start chopping on trees no matter who they belong to.....'cause ther seen int on the interweb.....Originally Posted by Mozartghost1791
You can do what you want with YOUR trees.
Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
Evoking the 50 year old rule...
First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27
I have used liriodendron tulipfera on numerous occasions with much success. Pay attention to your notch. If it squeaks, add a few grains of sand. I do not recommend using tulip poplar as the spindle and the same as a hearth. Start with something a bit more "sandy" like willow until you get the hang of the mechanics. Once it has become muscle memory, then experiment with others.
Also, your tinder bundle needs to be some fluffy material, like dried grasses, leaves, pine needles, or the like. Then once you get a small flame to start with, drizzle a little pitch on top as you add larger and larger sticks. Friction fire and fat lighter go hand in hand.
Well, maybe I need to carve a new spindle... The dust I am getting is very 'coarse' looking more like eraser 'crumbles' that come off when you erase something.
I don't know what wood the spindle is. The board is most definitely L. tulipifera, though. It does not squeak. Just drills through with no coal.
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
Yep. Grab up a different spindle wood. Yucca works well and should grow in your area. Linden is also said to work well. I have a list somewhere of woods I've gotten a coal with, but not sure if they all grow that far north. I'll do some checking.
It should grind to a very fine powder and not be "chunky" like eraser rubbings.
Maybe Juniperus virginiana?
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
I have had limited sucess with red cedar. It is a bit harder than I like but I have gotten a coal with it a few times with the bow-drill. I don't recommend starting out with that one, as it takes a particular balance of the elements to make it a viable kit, i.e. proper drying/aging, good posture and finesse with pressure/spin. You should be able to dent the wood with your fingernail.
You could try it, but be looking for something a little lighter.
I don't have yucca or linden on my land... Maple, oak, hickory, dogwood, tuliptree, holly, and a tiny little sycamore, not to mention pine and red cedar... But most of these are way too hard or else pine.
"Sometimes the best spear is the one you don't throw."
-Johnny Whitefeather, Self-Proclaimed Native American
"Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head!"
-What you can usually hear when I try to demonstrate the above quote.
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