Knot a thing around here that I know of, my Pap used to gather a few pine knots to carry in his hunting coat. It got cold back then, the clothing wasn't like now, and Pap didn't how smart deer were. He built a fire and smoked Pall Malls, evidently our deer didn't go to college back then. He killed a lot of them. He is the only person I've ever known to use them, but pine is not prolific here.
We use paper cores at my work.
Like the one in a roll of paper towels,except they have a 3" ID and 1/2" walls.
Dense and heavy, they look like a paper pipe.
I cut them in about 1 inch chunks, stack 4 rows in a 5 gallon bucket,
then dump about a quart of kerosene in. After a couple days it wicks up through them, they aren't wet or oily just have enough. You can light them with a match, i use a propane torch for overkill. They burn hot and clean for about 15 minutes, enough that any small wood you throw on them goes right up. One per fire, a bucket lasts most of a season, once winter kicks off we don't let the fire go out.
