Everyone here talking about how to start fires. I am looking at that beautiful fungus that looks like succulent plants.

Best piece of advice he gave "Now how much shavings? Well make as much as you think you'll need, and then double it!"

Another tip...when using your knife/flint hold the knife still right where you want the sparks to land and pull flint back towards you to make sparks. That way you don’t scatter your tinder all over the place.

If you build a man a fire he stays warm for a night, if you set a man on fire he'll stay warm the rest of his life.

Another possibility is pinecones. They burn a long time also and are readily available in most (northern) places. Me and my son used them once when camping in Colorado, it was damp and couldn't get a fire going with the trusty "bic" until we tried lighting pinecones wrapped with weeds/grass. Worked a charm.

Have to remember this. Most people I know can’t start a fire with a full Bic lighter and half a newspaper.

I was taught a similar trick by my Great Grandfather in the Aussie Outback using a stick/piece of a Eucalyptus tree Mate.

My 90 year old Mom, from Mississippi, used to go to the woods to find pine knots. She always called them lighter knots.

Did y'all notice how his knife was also useful in knocking that sliver into the crack? I learn something new every time I watch one of these guys.

A remarkable trick worth knowing! Thank you for sharing :)

Off-topic, but I find the way Mr. Thomas speaks very interesting. It has some very compressed phrases, like at 2:02 where he says "Whut ah'm on do", which expanded to the official English I was taught would be "What I am going to do". That interest is because I am from New Zealand, and here English can also be very compressed as well. You might hear " Waddyano, a biddiva mess" but I would intend "What do you know? It's a bit of a mess!" Discuss. :-)

Wow! That’s the best technique I’ve seen for getting a fire going. I’m going to use this all the time from now on. Thank you for sharing this awesome technique.

In the cold of winter I realize how much I love hearing those bugs. Reminds me of the farm I grew up on and how much I have always hated being cold. LOL

Personally, I use dried deer droppings as a started; compact pellets, that break apart when "cured"; easy to store and carry. Grass and wood is add on!

Been using Georgia fatwood for 40 years to start my fires with. When I didn't have any of that, I use road flares they will start your fire up in no-time just have to be careful not to inhale when you first light them because of sulphur in the smoke but they work great as well. Fatwood is my favorite though.👍🔥

We call it Pine pitch. Any tree that produces pitch will produce this type of wood. When a tree is damaged it sends extra pitch, sap, to the area effected. In pine the affected area stays saturated with pine so it burns like a candle wick. And will even burn in the rain. This is the only way I start my fires and I go through about 4 to 5 cords of wood every winter. If you find this type of wood put it aside to split it into small pieces...this stuff is great

I grew up on a farm in the Appalachian Mts. I have a tendency to take such knowledge for granted. Amazing how much has changed in 57 years. Good job. Everyone should have basic survival skills.

That was a great fire starting tip. In fact I knew about feathering the wood. But not like you did it. Very interesting and I thank you. 💖🇬🇧🙏👍😍❤️🙏

I had to chuckle to myself, all that hard work, the stick caught and lit the tinder lol, that's one of those "awww sh*t" moments.

Nice little tip, thanks buddy. When we can't get and dry tinder I make a pure fatwood fire. Just enough to boil the billy can. Works in rain to.

I've actually never thought about standing a piece like that. Thanks for the excellent tip.

We have birch bark in Canada. you can old it under water, shake it off and light it. No Big box store required.

Very nice. I was being a smart ass watching you build your fire until the end when i saw what you made. Very nice trick ive added to my arsenal of fire starting tricks.

Thank You Blackie. Have an awesome day.

I love all the "just use lighter/zippo/matches " comments and the "magnesium striker cost vs. 25¢ matches" ! O.k. kiddos here ya go. You take a canoe trip. You can take a knife and your choice of matches lighter Zippo or magnesium striker and the knowledge that you gained in this video. 15 miles down river canoe flips, you go for swim, loose canoe, it starts to drizzle rain and sunset is in two hours. You need to get dry and warm. Good luck with your big, Zippo, or strike anywhere matches! I'm gonna be getting warm and dry, because I'm not to arrogant to open my mind and learn something new. Thanks for the vid!

When I was in Boy Scouts we all carried one of these fire starters when we went hiking or camping. The 2 boys that lived next door to me wouldn't believe my best friend and me that you could start a fire with it. My friend and I started a fire in our BBQ pit and got it up to 3 feet tall before mom saw us and put a stop to it.

.....when I lived in Forrest Home Alabama , USA , I learned how to get " fat match " wood . It's old stumps of the pine family ! Maranatha !

One small idea... Bic lighters are small, nearly infinite shelf life n weight next to nothing... Doesnt kill ya to have a couple in the go bag, glove box n even edc...🤔 Just a thought we have the tech, lets use it!👍💜

The reason I subbed and liked was because of the knife designs in your intro... Looking forward to watching your vids.

Thanks. I learned the secret. If you have the right wood, and make little shavings of it, and you have a means of lighting it... you can have a fire. Amazing trick.... thanks!

Kick ass idea! One for the fire kits all over the world.

I like to think I know my way around the woods, but I have never used this technique. Thank you, sir.

When they shut the grid down some better get this knowledge😁thank you

Thanks for sharing that great tip Blackie. God bless. John

I learned something new about firemaking, thank you! That's a rare treat these days!

My late father used to teach me how to look for downed rotted pine trees using your nose. The grub worms are great at decomposing wood of those rotten trees white, yellow, scrub pines . The highly rich sap knots are easily pulled out of the logs. A bucket full was a sure fire in his maws wood stove. He called them Pine rosen torches. A few of those in a pile can burn in a downpouring rain.

Hey mate, great video. I live in Southern germany and the forests are mostly out of pine trees. (They cutted down the mix forests in the middle ages for everything and just replaced the trees with pines) Now, when you go through these forests you will find some tree stumps. And when they are like 2 to 3 years left in the bottom they will continue to pump resin. All you have to do is take a shovel and search for the big single root in the middle. When you get it you can form it with a hatchet and the smell of resin is everywhere. The whole root wood is red/ orange. With such a big roots you can start fire daily for over a year. Best to use are old roots of evergreen trees, best for me (european area) are pines. Works also with dead branches hanging from the tree itself, the very base of them are still pumping resin. Just take a knife and cut it of a thumb wide before the tree. You‘re method if sticking it in a little slit is superb. Really I‘m so often in the forests but it never came to my mind to do this. Thank you sir, I will definitely try this out.

I've never seen anyone do this before, thank you for passing this knowledge on 👍

Great idea, used to camp used newspaper rolled tight, tied to hold shape, soakedin melted wax using double boilers pots. Could start wet wood right now. An 84 year old former camper, love the woods . Old age and Arthur dont help. God Bless. Ol Bear.

Awesome trick. Can I add a word... clear out the surrounding dry material and prepare you a few thin branches and logs to keep close by so theres no running around while its lit. Just saying....be safe always is top priority yall.

Bushcraft is a thing of natural understanding of how nature works and how to work with it thru your own invention. Something gained from an early youth that grows to an adult understanding without limit. Like my use of fatwood in making nails. They will only work in softwood like cedar that is easily split to any dimension. But secure it just like a nail. With most being hardwood. But in cases where you need it to stay solid like a bench or holding a hinge the end of a nail made of fatwood is heated to release its sap. Then cut off after it cools. Best when used more as a dowel but not limited to it and is just driven in. Other forms of construction is better when dowelled this way but to frequent for things like shingles. That really hold each other more than anyone by its self so is not required. Built an 8/6 cabin way back when using this technique. And did not use one metal nail. And was not just some fort. It had a fireplace and windows plus a door. Later I added a second layer and insolated it. And yes I should do a video but am now old and broken. Might show the basics but could never put that much effort into anything again. Just thought I should pass it on. With this note. Cedar is an incredibly versatile wood for building with. As it does not need to be sawed It can be just split. And adding in hardwoods makes very long-lasting in keeping its shape so the cedar does not rot from the inside out. I often wonder if my little cabin is still standing? But it's in Canada and by what I see on Google probably destroyed when the area was logged off. If not for that it would still be there. And I built it 40 plus years ago.

Great tip Blackie, years of playing around in the woods developes a woods like common sense. Thanks for sharing and will deffo use this method from now on..

I LOVE HICKS! another great show!

That is a nice trick. Even more effective than the modern day wet fire products. Another arrow for the quiver. Thanks.

I really like how you left the fungus on the stump for aesthetics. Down and dirty rough and tumble like.

Brilliant tip. Thank you from North West England UK.

It shouldn't be claimed as No one knows. Were also doing that in our province (im from Philippines) but it's great that you shared such a useful information. keep it up!

Pretty neat, that's a really quick way to get things rolling in the wet. I never used Fat lighter that way. Thanks!!

That is brilliant! I wish I knew that a few years ago. Brilliant!

Excellent information! Thanks for sharing this, sir ... God Bless

Genius, really impressed. Usually you see titles like this and it’s some rerun or variation. Learnt something new today

"SLIVER ME TIMBERS AARRRGGG"

Thank you for teaching me. Helpful knowledge. God bless you.

It's a good tip for snow ....I was so cold I always started with that "lean too" on the cleared earth for windy conditions..this is good for none windy conditions ..

Thanks that actually helped me out during rain one night

This just came up in my feed. Happy that it did too! Thank you, Blackie. Sometimes, we can't see the wood for the trees!

I've been fascinated with fat lighter since I was a little boy. It, along with cabbage palm fronds have saved my bacon a lot of times in the many years since.

I like to watch things like this. You never know when you might be in a jam and something like this comes in useful.

I see this in my KZfaq suggestions. Interesting video. I have learned something new. Thank you for posting. Date Stamp: 11mar21

Nice one Blackie ,I have been around a while and that tip never actually occurred to me ,just goes to show you can't know everything and you are never too old to learn .Thanks mate .

What a great tip! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for teaching me something I didn't know!

Back in the early 70s in NW Florida, "they" used to do a lot of tree and turpentine "farming", so there were a lot of pine stumps and pine trees that had a small part of the trunk stripped of bark. In that stripped part, they'd drive a small sheet of tin into where the bark had been stripped, so the sap would run out into a pail that was hung above it. The stumps and trunks of those trees would get hard as rock, because the sap had dried. We had almost an unlimited supply of "lighter". We used it for starter, but mostly, we'd break off a big enough shard to use as a torch to find our way through the woods when we went camping. The smell of that lighter was almost exactly like Pine-Sol. Great memories.

I gotta wonder about the 2k + people who gave this video a thumbs down ! Great video in my opinion.

I stumbled into this video and just for that excellent tip man I sub and turned on the bell icon. Great job looking forward to more awesome video's

That stump never knew it would be a youtube sensation!!!

Thanks for the video. I will try that up in our wet woods on the west coast. Good job.

Look like a dancer of a Native. Great picture. God Bless your soul…….

Every day a school day. Great tip👍

Good job Blackie!

Great...Excellent explanation Blackie.

Absolutely love these guys who willingly share survival skills..

Great knowledge brother. Thank-you. I hope I never need it. But, I will certainly be thankful if I do👍

I will definitely put that in my memory bank.Thanks for that idea.

Good to know! I keep fire starter equipment in my backpack. I have cotton balls covered in Vaseline in a medicine bottle. I keep drier lint in a zip lock. Keeping a piece of birch bark works too. I store them in zip locks to keep it all dry. I have chemical starters too, like quick fire cubes.

Blackie I just spent 18 days running route 66 and allot of it I could not burn outside because of the dry spell we have been having but I was able to have several fires and used fat wood and flint to start my fires and that would have been use full not starting a stump on fire but just making a slit in the dirt to make a fire for supper or watch the sunset. Maybe even a drink of good old moonshine :)

Awesome tip Blackie! You got another subscriber! 👍

The way you decorated a drab looking stump with a subtle understated elegant selection of spring flowers is the hallmark of an true artist. Bravo.

Cool. Awesome. Good for wet or wet and windy conditions.

Nice one. Simple but effective. I like that.

That’s so simple it’s brilliant! ...good work and an idea that’s millennia overdue, I’m sure!

I showed my brother this method four or five years ago only using the garden fence to hold the piece of fat wood in midway through the demonstration I had to take an important phone call so doused the flame and forgot about it as I discussed a job with a customer on the phone around ten minutes or so later a neighbor came banging on the door to inform me that someone had set my fence alight 😂😂 luckily it hadn’t caused too much damage and there was no danger to any other property than my fence thanks for sharing bro

Really good tip Blackie. I've built hundreds of fires and never seen this. Real basic, common sense there. Thanks. I've subscribed.

Cool, that worked really well. I usually go with a teepee for the wood and some Burch bark to get the flame lit. I’ll give it a try.

thanks for the info... im going to try that today....very cool.

Gathering tips for camping in the rain and this was helpful thank you!

A very valuable tip. Thank you.

I thought I’d seen almost everything when it came to woodscraft/survival skills.. till I found your channel. Thank you

This is a great idea, and I will be using it in the future. I use fatwood all the time and never thought of this. Thanks for the tip.

2:47 anyone else noticed he put it in a completely different hole than what he just made with the knife?

Good idea. We always called it lighter pine or rich lighter . Thanks for sharing the tip . Have a good one

Very nice tip. Thanks for educating and sharing.

Thanks for sharing back to basics its a movement get with the program

Outstanding demonstration on starting a fire. I'm now a subscriber thanks. Pass on all your knowledge brother. Sharp professional woods men.

Darn good idea! Will try it out. Cheers from New Zealand.

Now, that was KEWL!!! Thanks SO much!

When I was a kid where I grew up we didn't call it fat wood. We called it lighter wood.

I think we called it rich-pine when I was a kid here in Sevierville, Tn. Thanks for the fire starter tip.

Always good to learn new ways to light a fire. I just rake out a bit of ash or charcoal, wrap in some lint into a sausage and rub it between two stones. Instant fire.

THANK YOU very much Prometheus!