# Bamboo kindling?



## mwhitnee (Jun 29, 2015)

I have some bamboo that died this last year and am going to clear some of it as it is sagging into my yard.  Anyone know if it is ok to burn and if it makes good kindling??


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## Oldman47 (Jun 29, 2015)

Bamboo should be fine to burn once it is dry. It is a grass after all. Being hollow, it would need to be split lengthwise to use it as kindling, or even to make good use of the space inside your stove.


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## BamaScroungr (Jun 30, 2015)

Bamboo dries out quick and blazes up fast like flash paper.  I thought it made great kindling and would use it again.


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## Jay106n (Jun 30, 2015)

Burn it. Dont grow it.


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## billb3 (Jul 1, 2015)

Jay106n said:


> Burn it. Dont grow it.


that doesn't sound like a sustainable resource mantra


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## mwhitnee (Jul 1, 2015)

The bamboo here grows like a weed and I heard it can be invasive.  It's kinda neat but a lot of it has died due to the winter.  I thought it being kinda hard, dry, and hollow I could make great use of it, yes??

Question is how to but it I think? I was going to try the chain saw.


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## Oldman47 (Jul 1, 2015)

A chain saw, any chain saw, should cut through bamboo like a hot knife through butter. Once you have it cut to length you will need to split it so that you don't try to burn a 2 inch diameter hole with a 1/4 inch diameter shell of wood wrapped around it. Bamboo is hollow but it also is not. There are individual sections to the bamboo shaft/trunk that do not communicate with each other but the center is always hollow. You will need to expose those individual sections and reduce the overall volume to end up with anything like fire wood. At that point the material will look like so many thin pieces of kindling. You should be able to get there by splitting sections of the trunk down to kindling size.


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## mwhitnee (Jul 2, 2015)

Thank you I'll be cutting some down shortly. Wish I had an industrial apple-corer! I could split it in a hurry!


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## edge-of-the-woods (Oct 18, 2015)

mwhitnee said:


> Thank you I'll be cutting some down shortly. Wish I had an industrial apple-corer! I could split it in a hurry!



What's the diameter of the bamboo you're talking about?


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## barmstrong2 (Oct 18, 2015)

Jay106n said:


> Burn it. Dont grow it.


There are patches of it around here. I'd be mostly afraid of it spreading. It is very invasive and impossible to kill.


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## mwhitnee (Oct 19, 2015)

edge-of-the-woods said:


> What's the diameter of the bamboo you're talking about?



About an inch.  Having tree guys come this summer I asked if I could  just chip it- it was going to be a lot of work.  Took 10 minutes and all gone.


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## blades (Oct 19, 2015)

To get rid of it you have to dig out the whole root system. that stuff is worse than buck thorn to get rid of


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## mwhitnee (Oct 19, 2015)

Don't really care too much about it as it's pretty much in the woods on the edge of my lawn.  It actually looks very nice-people comment on it a lot. I'm surely not digging it out.

Last owner was lazy so this first year I had a little work to do.  Keeping it out of the lawn wasn't difficult, snip here snip there.


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## Paulywalnut (Oct 20, 2015)

My experience with bamboo is it's never gone. My SIL has been fighting it from a neighbors plants for years. A chain saw actually gets tangled up in it and sometimes stops the chain. Some is 3 or 4 inches in dia. Make sure you split it though
so it doesn't roll out of your stove. Warning. Even though you snip it it's still rooting underground and creating a bamboo monster to emerge when you least expect it. Good movie idea.


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## FishKiller (Oct 20, 2015)

it'll burn fast as heck when dry. like everyone said, split it for ease of loading. personally, i like to use a machete... start the blade with a tap and you can literally finish the split with your hands.  i personally feel that all bamboo should be destroyed on sight. even in a northern climate it will get out of control, just takes longer.


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## mwhitnee (Oct 20, 2015)

Whoever wants to dig out the root system in the woods here PM me, u can get all the kindling you want lol


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## Isaac Carlson (Oct 21, 2015)

Mythbusters did a show on bamboo.  The myth was that you could tie a person down on a bed of bamboo and it would grow through them.  Turns out it is true!  It grew right through the body they used.  I have used bamboo for kindling and it burns hot and fast.  Mine was not home grown, but was a broken cutting board.  I was able to split it with my pocket knife.  Wonderful stuff for starting fires.  It would be nice to have small bales of it.


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## mwhitnee (Oct 21, 2015)

When I run out of the pine strapping I have taken out of the cellar and barn, and also the splitting remnants from this summer (wood pieces and bark), I will probably be using the bamboo.  It looks like it will be great kindling.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Oct 23, 2015)

mwhitnee said:


> Don't really care too much about it as it's pretty much in the woods on the edge of my lawn. .



It won't stay there.  You *will *learn to hate it.




Paulywalnut said:


> A chain saw actually gets tangled up in it and sometimes stops the chain.




Yep.  It's hard on the teeth, too.  Nasty stuff.

At an inch thick, you are probably better off with a sharp machete.


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