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Burning wet wood.

5K views 14 replies 12 participants last post by  leeroy 
#1 ·
Camping with my wife after a rainstorm, i was gathering wood for a fire when I ran across another bunch of older gentlemen, sitting around a NON-lit cmpfire. I asked them If I could use a large log just outside of their site. They laughed and told me that they had tried to burn that soaking wet tree trunk for 2 days, with no luck. I told them that I could have this log up and burning within 10 minutes of lighting it.
they laughed and bet me $50.00 that I COULD NOT get and keep it lit.They stipulated that I couldnot use gasoline, I agreed.
I took the bet and dragged the item back to my campsite.
I grabbed a tube of PL400 from my truck and slathered the whole tube on the log.
It went up instantly and stayed lit all night long.


And I was $50.00 richer!


Sub Floor adhesive is an EXCELLENT fire starter even for wet items.
 
#3 ·
PL400 is a construction adhesive. "Liquid Nails" is another brand name. You don't want to breathe heavy around either, gives you a chemical buzz.
 
#4 ·
MUSIBIKE
Wood will be gold when there is no other way to heat and cook foods.
Yep, for those of you that have wood burning heaters in your home you will want to stock up on wood this summer. Because heating rates will go through the roof this winter.
So burn wood a tell them oil Co.s that we don't need there oil & gas.
If we can't beat them at the gas pump, we can beat them at heating our homes.
 
#5 ·
Yes, good point that I forgot to mention, SJ, do not breath in deeply or cook on the fire immdeiately after using this. Too many chemicals, ya know...kinda like burning treated lumber/ just wait till the fire has burned for about 30 mins and all traces of the adhesive is gone from sight.
 
#7 ·
Keep you some set aside in a rolled up garbage bag. At least when you get it started, some wood that is sort of wet will burn once you have coals going.

It is starting to get cool enough outside now late in the evenings to cook outside. :) I plan of doing at least one cook out this weekend. Time to do some tree cutting too.
 
#9 ·
UPDATE:

Only Liquid Nails offers the afore mentioned ignition qualities. I recently tried some generic PL400 "no name" and it lit, but subsequently went out immediately...a dud.
I used the whole tube and only wasted it...

There IS NO SUBSTITUTE for Liquid Nails!!!!!!!!!
 
#10 ·
I used to use old tires and fill them with gasoline to get a good roaring fire going.
Never tried liquid nail stuff.
Foo Gas is pretty close to napalm. Mix 2/3 diesel, 1/3 gasoline and make a mush out of it by putting in a bunch of wood saw dust.
Next time yah go camping bring a little container of that with you. Pile your wood up, toss a few globs of that stuff on and sit back and watch the show.
Save yah a few bucks on the liquid nail. :)
 
#14 · (Edited)
Having been a guide on more wilderness canoe trips than I can remember I can say that you never need a chemical to start a fire. I've done spring, summer, fall and winter trips in the BWCAW and Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario. Trust me, I think only the Pacific Northwest gets more rain than we do here. We do have some summers that are so dry that you can start a fire with harsh language. If you use cedar to start a fire and cut, split hardwood that is standing dead off the ground you can ALWAYS get a fire going in fairly short order. I use birch bark to start it (will light when wet) while adding very small pieces of finely split cedar adding bigger pieces of cedar as the fire grows. Lastly I add the hardwood in small split pieces and go to bigger. Have everything ready is a must(come prepared, be a boyscout). I carry a magnesium stick, strike anywhere stick matches and a couple lighters in my pack. I have these things in my small deer hunting pack right now. On the wilderness trips I also carry a small folding saw and a medium Gerber hatchet. Wood that will always burn are cedar, tamarack and white pine knots(from where the branch comes out of the tree, always the last part to rot). Tamarack burns very hot, white pine knots smells like turpentine up close. All three are full of pitch. My favorite hardwood to use is wood that beavers have cut that has washed up high on a rocky shoreline and left to dry. The outside may be wet, but the inside is always dry. These are the types of wood found in my area and work for me. A nice sized blue or silver plastic tarp is really light for it size, can roll up pretty small and makes life much more comfy stung up over your fire pit. Just run a center ridge rope about 10 feet over the firepit, hang the tarp over it and tie the four corners off a little lower so the water runs off well. A dry place to sit by the fire, a hot meal and cup of coffee. One last note. Make sure you tarp is up high enough and don't build your fire too high. Running and screaming through the woods covered in flaming, melting tarp is VERY BAD JOOJOO. :eek:nfire2:
 
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