Fire Wood.

Collecting / Selecting Fire wood.

All fire wood is not created equal ! Some wood burns slow, some burns fast. Some types of wood smokes more than others.  Wood collected from the ground can be damper than wood pulled from dead trees.  You will not always have your choice of wood to burn, but if you do, it is helpful to know where to find the best wood available.

Dead tree limbs are your first choice for fire wood.  If available, break limbs off dead trees, or limbs that have died on the tree.  Downed trees will have limbs sticking up all along the trunk that can be broken off.  Use caution when breaking limbs, if you cannot break it with reasonable force, dont over do it, it is too easy to get injured doing so.  The same rule goes for jumping on limbs to try to snap them in half, if you cant easily break it, just place it over the fire and burn it in half, or leave it alone and find other wood.   Always remember that energy conservation is important, especially when food is in short supply.

Tree limbs and sticks that have fallen on the gound are your next best bet.  Usually dead fall wood that is on a southern facing slope will by drier than other dead fall wood because of longer exposure to the sun during the day.  If the only fire wood you can find is damp wood from the ground, stack it around your fire and keep your fire going with kindling or whatever material you can get burning until you can get the wood dry enough to burn.  If you have a survival knife or blade of some kind try to split some smaller pieces of the damp wood off so it will dry faster. Fire wood burns best after it has been dead for at least 1 year.  Ususally wood that has been dead for a year or  more will be almost grey in color.  Frequently the bark will be either gone, or loose enough to remove with your hand.  (but dont discard the bark, in most instances it will burn very well as long as it is dry.)  Dead Tree roots often burn well also, and for a long time, but they must be totally dry.  Ask anyone who burns wood to heat their homes and they will tell you they only burn seasoned wood, usually meaning wood 1 or 2 years old, that has been stacked and dried.  Seasoned fire wood burns hotter and cleaner than fresher wood.

Burning properties of wood 

There are plenty of sources listing measured burning properties of different types of wood.   A google search should return plenty of results if you are interested in keeping a list in your survival kit or memorizing that sort of thing.  However, knowing that Ash is a great fire wood, and poplar is not does you no good if you dont know how to recognize either one.  Do yourself a favor, get familiar with the more common trees in your area or the area that you plan to be in.  Then use that list to research which ones burn better. 

Here are some quick tips to recognize good burning fire wood vs. poor quality firewood :

Oak and Hickory Burns great and provides great heat as long as it is dried sufficiently.  Oak or Hickory trees are common in most areas of the U.S., Europe and Asia.  You usually know you are standing under an oak tree or a hickory tree because you will see acorns or hickory nuts on the ground if you kick the leaves around a little.
Sugar Maple Excellent burning fire wood.  Will often have hundreds of holes drilled in the bark from woodpeckers.  Leaves are brilliant orange and red in autumn / fall months, and green in the summer months.
Ash Excellent firewood (also great for making bows).  Leaves are compound, meaning there are 8 to 12 leaflets on each leaf branch.  The leaflets grow off the leaf branch directly opposite each other.  Seeds hang in clusters and look like oars or wings.
Beech An excellent fire wood, easily recognized by its smooth grey bark. You know, the one you carved your initials in when you were a kid.
Cedar Burns very well and has a great smell.  Also the bark can be pulled off live or dead trees and used as a great tinder for firestarting.  Wood can be red and purple on the inside.  Cedar trees dont drop many limbs so normally you will be looking for an entire dead tree.  A lot of fenceposts are made from cedar, but hopefully if you find a fencepost, you will be close enough to civiliztion that you wont have to burn it !
Sweet Gum Poor fire wood, impossible to split, smolders.  Recognizable by the round spikey seed balls that hurt like hell when you step on them.   The five pointed leaf makes it commonly confused with Maple.
Spruce Burns quickly with little heat and lots of sparks.  Think christmas tree.  Sure a dead christmas tree goes up like a firework, but as far as the hardwood goes its not a good fire wood.  That said, the smaller limbs with dry needles can provide a good fire starting tinder.

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For more information on Tree Recognition visit The arbor Day Foundation, they have a great online guide, also a tree recognition pamphlet that can be purchased for just $3.00.