Wilderness Survival: Differentiating Hard & Soft Woods

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is John Stewart, and this is how to tell hard woods versus soft woods, and the way they're beneficial. OK. Hard woods, types of woods that they are, you got oak trees, maples, hickories, these are the most common three. They're going to be a lot stronger than your soft woods, OK. They're going to burn longer, they're going to put off more heat, and they're going to be, help you. They most of the time a lot more buoyant than soft woods, so they're really good for building rafts, floats, stuff like that in case you have to float down a river, or you're going to build your raft. Soft woods, you're going to look at pines, long leaves, short leaves, all those types of pines are going to be your soft woods. Soft woods are not as strong. They're a little more flexible. So, they're not going to be as sturdy, OK. They don't burn as well, they put off a lot of smoke. Now, if you're looking for something that's going to crackle, burn pretty, you know, fast, it's going to not last as long as the hard wood. Then pines going to burn and stuff, so it's not bad, but it's not going to burn as good as a hard wood would. And this is some of the difference between hard wood and soft woods, and how they can be beneficial to you in nature."