The Bottom Line, Up Front
The Woodhaven Fire Starters provide excellent material for igniting a useful blaze. Each disk is four inches in diameter, one inch thick, and weighs 4.2 ounces. They are composed of cedar sawdust bonded together with refined paraffin. One full disk burns for 20 to 30 minutes. It can also be broken into smaller pieces to start multiple fires.
The fire starters are safe to use in fireplaces, firepits, wood stoves, and similar applications.
The disks come in packages of 12, 50, or 100. At the time of this writing, those packages cost respectively $19.99, $65.00, and $110.00 at the LogOx website [1]. The fire starters are made in the U.S.A.
The fire starters function very much like fatwood as an ignition material. They are easier and more versatile to use than fatwood, since they can easily be broken up with your fingers. The disks cost roughly twice as much as fatwood per ounce when purchased in 25-pound boxes. When purchased in smaller quantities, the prices are about the same.
Background
LogOx stocks some excellent products for firewood processing, forestry, heating with wood, milling, and related tasks. In the past, I have enjoyed reviewing their hauler [2], sling and gloves [3], and their bushcraft knife [4].
[5]When I saw that LogOx had stocked The Woodhaven Fire Starters, I was interested. I contacted LogOx to see if they could provide a sample for testing and evaluation. LogOx, in turn, contacted The Woodhaven on my behalf. Not long afterward, a box of 12 fire starters arrived at my door.
Ignition
The first thing that I wanted to test was how easily the fire starters ignite. So I told my wife “Kari” that I was headed out to play with fire. Then I made my way to the pole barn.
I put an old cookie sheet on the workbench in the pole barn. I then took one of the fire starter disks, opened the plastic wrapper, broke about a tablespoons worth of material off of the disk, and set that material on the cookie sheet.
The first ignition test involved an older but unused LightMyFire Swedish FireSteel Scout. I had recently discovered that particular ferro rod in a box of tools that I had inherited from my Uncle and Aunt. The box had sat unopened in the pole barn for a decade or so. The FireSteel gave good sparks, but it could not ignite the material from the fire starter.
Next, I tested a “Forever 50” Fire Starter from the Minuteman Provision Company. This huge ferro rod uses a .50 BMG brass cartridge case as the handle of the rod. I had received the rod when I reviewed the Minuteman Rocket Stove on SurvivalBlog in May of 2023 [6]. The “Forever 50” also produced good sparks, but was unable to ignite the material from the Woodhaven fire starter.
[7]The next fire starting tool that I tried was the Lightning-Strike Fire Starter [8]. The use of this tool was met with success! The aluminum tube of the Lightning-Strike focused the sparks from the integrated ferro rod and successfully ignited the material from the Woodhaven fire starter. The tiny pile of material burned brightly for in excess of two minutes.
I cleaned off the tray and placed some new material from the Woodhaven fire starter on it. I then added some magnesium shavings from a Purefire Tactical Fire Starter [9]. The ferro rod on the Purefire ignited the magnesium shavings. The shavings ignited the material from the Woodhaven fire starter in turn. So the Purefire tool also worked well with the Woodhaven Fire Starter material.
Once again, I cleaned off the tray and placed some new material from the Woodhaven Fire Starter on it. I then ignited the material with a Frog & Co. Tough Tesla Lighter 2.0 [10]. Ignition using this plasma lighter was quick and effective.
Yet again, I cleaned off the tray and added some material from the Woodhaven fire starter. This time I used a paper match from a book of paper matches. The matchbook had been sitting in a sealed plastic container for about 30 years or so. The match lit well, and the material from the Woodhaven fire starter ignited immediately and burned well.
Basically, any open flame will easily ignite material from a Woodhaven fire starter. A source of sparks, like a ferro rod, on the other hand, may need a little help. Success is possible with something to concentrate the sparks, like the aluminum tube on a Lightning-Strike Fire Starter, or an accelerant, like the magnesium shavings provided by a Purefire Fire Starter.
If you are planning to use a standard ferro rod to ignite the Woodhaven Fire Starter material, I recommend the use of a small piece of cotton ball to convert the sparks into flame. A small piece of water-resistant tinder [11] made from a cotton ball soaked in a mixture of melted paraffin and petroleum jelly would be even more effective.
The testing process produced minimal smoke or odor.
Water Resistance
I cleaned the tray one final time and added some more material from the Woodhaven fire starter. I then thoroughly misted the material using a spray bottle containing water. I misted the material so thoroughly that there was about 0.1 inches of water left standing on the tray surrounding the moistened material.
I then attempted to light the material using a paper match. The paper match was unable to produce enough heat to overcome the dampness of the material.
Next, I tried a wooden penny match. The extra heat produced by the wooden match was sufficient to cause the material from the Woodhaven fire starter to catch. I could hear the sizzle of the water cooking off as the fire starter material burned.
The level of difficulty involved in igniting the dampened material caused me to believe that it would be a challenge to ignite material that had been exposed to water for a longer period of time. So I would rate Woodhaven Fire Starters as somewhat water-resistant rather than waterproof.
Lighting the Wood Stove
I used The Woodhaven Fire Starters to start fires in our wood stove on several occasions.
I began by preheating the chimney with some burning cardboard. This would help the chimney to draw when I ignited the stove. This draft, in turn, would prevent clouds of smoke from drifting into the house early in the lighting process.
Next, I arranged the two pieces of cordwood, one along each side of the wood stove. I then added two pieces of cordwood perpendicular to and across the top of the two side pieces.
After breaking off a quarter disk from the fire starter, I ignited it with a plasma lighter, allowed it to start burning well, and then placed it under the wood.
The dry cordwood caught quickly. No muss, no fuss: it worked great. The first few fires of autumn started well in this way.
Lighting the Outside Wood Boiler
[12]Lighting the outside wood boiler was a little more challenging. The wood was damp from an overnight rain, and not as well seasoned as I could wish. I grabbed the damp, less-well-seasoned wood because it was a bit buggy, and I wanted to get rid of it before the bugs started spreading to other wood. That was poor planning on my part. I should have grabbed a load of dry, well-seasoned wood from the shed instead.
I arranged two pieces of cordwood along the sides of the boiler, laid two pieces perpendicular and across the two side pieces. Then I added additional pieces parallel with the sides of the boiler on top perpendicular pieces until the combustion chamber of the boiler was about two-thirds full.
I broke about one fourth of the disk from a fire starter. I ignited the piece of fire starter with a plasma lighter, allowed it to start burning well, and then placed it under the wood. It burned for about 15 minutes. It did not generate enough heat to ignite the damp, poorly-seasoned wood.
When the original piece was almost fully consumed, I added the remainder of the disk. It burned for about an additional 25 minutes. It was also unable to ignite the damp, poorly-seasoned wood.
When the first disk was almost completely consumed, I added a second disk. It was also not powerful enough to ignite the damp, poorly-seasoned cordwood.
When the second disk was almost completely consumed, I began adding small twigs to the fire. They caught quickly and burned well. After about a half hour of adding gradually larger twigs to the fire, the wet cordwood began to burn.
The moral of the story is that even a good fire starter is not always sufficient to overcome sloppy fire-building practices. It is best to begin with smaller, dryer pieces of wood and to gradually work up to larger and more damp pieces only after a good bed of coals has been established.
Lighting the Fire Pit
[13]On a couple of occasions, I used The Woodhaven Fire Starters to ignite fires in our fire pit. The wood that I use in the fire pit is often damp and typically green, so I used a whole disk each time. The fire starters worked well, effectively igniting fires in the pit with a minimum of effort.I did find that the fire starters were easier to ignite when broken in half. The more acute angle at the edge of the break ignited more effectively with a plasma lighter than the rounded side of an unbroken disk.
Conclusions
The Woodhaven Fire Starters are easy to ignite with any open flame. A full disk provides a hot and steady flame for a period of up to 30 minutes. The fire starters are easy to use, and at least somewhat water-resistant. They are reasonably priced at about $.25 an ounce, are safe to use in wood stoves and similar applications, and produce minimal smoke and odor. They are made in the U.S.A.
If you are looking for an effective commercial fire starting material that is easy to use, The Woodhaven Fire Starters may be a good option.
Some Thought-Kindling, In Closing
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
(Robert Frost, Fire and Ice, 1923)
Robert Frost was correct that the world will end in fire. As God’s word tells us in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Indeed, all who are not found written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever with the devil, the beast, the false prophet, death, and hell (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:8).
But the flaming destruction of the lake of fire is insignificant in comparison with the blazing glory of the fires of heaven. There, on a sea of glass mingled with fire, those who have gotten the victory over the beast and his image and his mark and over the number of his name will stand giving praise and honor and glory to God for all of eternity (Revelation 15:2).
In the meantime, with careful oversight, fire is a wonderful servant. It gives us light in the darkness, warmth in the cold, and the comfort of a hot meal. Neglected, abused, or misued, fire can become a terrible enemy, sowing destruction, pain, and death.
Disclaimer
The Woodhaven provided me with a box of 12 of their Fire Starters for testing and evaluation. LogOx had provided me with samples of their Forestry Package, Gloves, Sling, and Bushcraft Knife for previous reviews. Minuteman Provision Company had provided me with a sample of their “Forever 50” ferro rod for a previous review. Lightning-Strike provided me with a sample of their Fire Starter for a previous review. Purefire provided me with a sample of their Fire Starter for a previous review. Frog & Co. provided me with a sample of their Tough Tesla Lighter 2.0 for a previous review. I tried not to allow the kindness of these vendors to interfere with my objectivity in this review, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.