Hey! Here’s today’s tip to help you BE PREPARED for an emergency situation… enjoy!

In a natural disaster or emergency situation, you might find yourself  having to rely on a wood-burning fire or stove, to keep your family warm and safe. So in this video, I will highlight 9 of the more common and best woods to burn. But not all wood burns the same – some will burn hotter,  some slower, and some cleaner than others, and some will smoke a lot too.

Even though the wood available to you will vary depending on your  area and situation – it’s a good idea to know some of the basics. The best types of firewood tend to be hardwoods, like maple, oak, birch, beech,  hickory, and ash – well… most fruit trees really.

Hardwood trees burn hotter for longer and will produce more heat. Oak, for example, is a very dense hardwood and will burn hotter for longer. It’s best if the wood is dry, so there’s less moisture in it. Maple is a hardwood that can be difficult to split. It will burn hotter and for longer too, and is also best if it’s dried out, which usually takes at least a year.

Cherry, another hardwood, will burn at a more medium heat but has a nice smell.  It will spark a lot but doesn’t smoke too much, which is great for more enclosed spaces. Birch and Beech are common hardwoods that can burn quickly,  which is why they’re great to use for starting a fire.

They will burn hot and bright and produce a good burn time. Elm is a very dense hardwood and difficult to split.

  Although it burns fairly hot and produces good heat, it doesn’t smell too great. Chestnut burns easily at a low heat and is also easy to split.  It does smoke and sparks a lot though. Softwoods like Fir, Pine, Balsam, Spruce, Cedar,  Alder and Poplar tend to burn faster and can be messier to handle. Pine is best mixed with another type of hardwood for a cleaner burn and less smoke.

  It is also a great wood to use in the fall, as it doesn’t burn as hot or as long as fir. Fir, although a softwood, is more like hardwood. It’s a nice easy wood to split,  produces high heat, and burns cleaner with only a moderate amount of sparks. To avoid hazardous fumes indoors and creosote build-up from excessive smoke,  which can create a chimney fire, don’t burn painted or varnished wood, or green, or wet wood.

You can add a moisture meter to your emergency preparedness kit, so that you can check the moisture content of your wood before burning it.

Wood should ideally only have 15% to 25% moisture content. Let me know in the comments below which firewood you prefer to burn and why. Remember to think like a YoYo Survivor and BE PREPARED for when You’re On Your Own. And share this with your family and friends too, so they can BE smart and BE ready, in case of a natural disaster, emergency, or power outage. Hope you liked the video.

Don’t forget to subscribe to get regular survival updates, and check out my channel to see more. Oh! And if you’re like me, and love my gear, check out the links in the description. Stay Safe!.

As found on YouTube