Osage orange wood made me rethink my whole firewood setup

Took a trip to Missouri last month and grabbed some Osage orange from a downed tree near the Mark Twain Lake. Everyone online raves about oak for campfires, but this stuff burned hotter and longer than anything I've used, easily double the burn time per log. The downside is it sparks like crazy, so you need a screen if you're in a tent vestibule. Has anyone else dealt with the spark issue or found a way to tame it?

1 comments

1 Comment

barbara_jenkins6611d ago

Oh man, that Osage orange is no joke, I got a couple logs from a buddy in Kansas once and thought my stove was gonna melt! The spark issue is real though, I ended up mixing it 50/50 with seasoned ash just to keep the popping down, and that helped a ton. Also, if you let it season for a full two years instead of one, the sap dries out more and it throws way fewer embers, but you gotta plan ahead for that. Honestly, the burn time is so good I just deal with the screen and keep a spray bottle of water nearby for any rogue sparks that land on the tent floor.