What kind of wood to cut for camping?

[cantoo]

JakeG, make some money off that dead pine.
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[echoshawn]

If I can find some, Tamarack will always be my camping wood of choice.
You can make the roaring campfire to sit around and enjoy a few barley pops, or cut it small for cooking wood. Even having a camper, I still prefer to cook over a fire whenever possible. Tamarack also gives a great flavor to steaks, very unique, and very tasty. Rivals a lot of the hardwoods for flavor IMO..

 

[H 2 H]

It really doesn't matter what type of wood you have as long as you have wood

 

[Wood Doctor]

Bark is OK

Not sure why you need the bark to fall off fast. Bark burns rather well in a campfire.

I generally mix cottonwood with elm and maple for campfires. All three are easy to light and burn without sparks. Nobody complains. Really dense wood is heavy to carry in bundles and very few of my customers appreciate it for campfires because dense wood is also harder to ignite. People who burn campfires want flames.

 

[Woody912]

Indiana state parks are very stringent about what they let in because of the emerald ash beetle, the local municipal lake/park does not allow outside firewood at all so you need to check regs where you plan to stay. Think I would vote for poplar, cottonwood or sycamore if you have time to get them dry.

 

[fields_mj]

Indiana state parks are very stringent about what they let in because of the emerald ash beetle, the local municipal lake/park does not allow outside firewood at all so you need to check regs where you plan to stay. Think I would vote for poplar, cottonwood or sycamore if you have time to get them dry.

Thanks Neighbor! I'm in the Brazil area, folks live up your way. Thanks for the advise. The folks we bought the camper from camp at Lieber quite a bit, and I'm mostly going off that. He usually takes ash, which I figured would be a no-no even with the bark removed. He's taking it because the EAB has already killed it. Either way, I'm planning on avoiding ash all together. I can burn it at the house and not have to worry about spreading it. Plenty of poplar and sycamor available though. I can cut a load or two and stack them for next year.

 

[PLAYINWOOD]

no bark and dry = skids

 

[Woody912]

Thanks Neighbor! I'm in the Brazil area, folks live up your way. Thanks for the advise. The folks we bought the camper from camp at Lieber quite a bit, and I'm mostly going off that. He usually takes ash, which I figured would be a no-no even with the bark removed. He's taking it because the EAB has already killed it. Either way, I'm planning on avoiding ash all together. I can burn it at the house and not have to worry about spreading it. Plenty of poplar and sycamor available though. I can cut a load or two and stack them for next year.

Went thru Brazil couple months ago, took grandson down to Goose Pond to see the whooping cranes etc. Lieber is great but long haul with $4 gas and my boat. Lot of people around here(The Shades) are selling "certified" wood but I don't know the procedure, Lake Waveland does not allow any outside wood at all but I suspect that is to promote their own sales. Situation seems to change constantly so I would check the DNR website before I packed. I have seen a lot of firewood dumped at the front gate!

 

[Woody912]

Not sure why you need the bark to fall off fast. Bark burns rather well in a campfire.

I generally mix cottonwood with elm and maple for campfires. All three are easy to light and burn without sparks. Nobody complains. Really dense wood is heavy to carry in bundles and very few of my customers appreciate it for campfires because dense wood is also harder to ignite. People who burn campfires want flames.

Indiana seems to be banning "barked" firewood in the state parks

 

[H 2 H]

HJ

Indiana seems to be banning "barked" firewood in the state parks

Last month I went to the great white north (Canada) and I had a few pieces of fire wood in the bed of my truck and the border guys really didn't like that I had to go and clean out the bed and wash the bed of the truck before interning Canada

 

[rarefish383]

Some one else mentioned cutting a bunch of noodles for kindling, a friend showed me a little trick years ago, that works well. Stuff a bunch of noodles in a paper lunch bag, staple or tape it closed. Put it in the fire pit, tear one side open, build a pyramid of kindling over it and light the bag on fire. One match fire every time, Joe.

 

[Wood Doctor]

My Fire Lighters

Some one else mentioned cutting a bunch of noodles for kindling, a friend showed me a little trick years ago, that works well. Stuff a bunch of noodles in a paper lunch bag, staple or tape it closed. Put it in the fire pit, tear one side open, build a pyramid of kindling over it and light the bag on fire. One match fire every time, Joe.

Shredded paper also works the same way. Sometimes I throw in sawdust or planer shavings from my work shop. I'm "blessed" with about 400 cardboard book boxes from a production over run, about 9" x 2" x 10". I pack these and tape them closed with a label on the outside--Fire Lighter. These are free with each bundle purchased.

 

[fields_mj]

Went thru Brazil couple months ago, took grandson down to Goose Pond to see the whooping cranes etc. Lieber is great but long haul with $4 gas and my boat. Lot of people around here(The Shades) are selling "certified" wood but I don't know the procedure, Lake Waveland does not allow any outside wood at all but I suspect that is to promote their own sales. Situation seems to change constantly so I would check the DNR website before I packed. I have seen a lot of firewood dumped at the front gate!

Thanks for the heads up. I had thought about Waveland, but hadn't checked it out yet. It's been YEARS since dad and I did any fishing up there. I think he still fishes it some though. The moss is always a killer though. I'd heard they had ATV trails and thought about looking into it. I refuse to buy their firewood though, so it may be a deal braker. Racoon seems a little more likely only because the wife has mentioned it a few times. Aside from the lake and pool though, there doesn't seem to be very much to do there (I only have an 8' jon boat). We'll have to see. Either way, I will check in advance on the firewood issue.

I've also thoght about Glendale. I bird hunt down there in the fall with a BUNCH of old college buddies. We all used to shoot and train together, and we trust each other in the field. Their's supposed to have really good fishing, and an 8' jon would work well there. However, I'm pretty much convinced that when it comes to fishing, all the local strip pits have me absolutely spoiled. If I can't put 20 nice gills (6"+ min) in the fish basket in an hour or two, then the fishing must be terrible. Around here, I can do that with beetle spins and small artifical grubs. After trying to fish a few of the state properties in the last few years, it seems to take all morning, or all afternoon/evening to do the same thing with live bait. That's insane!