My sister was in college and went on the ROTC camping trip as a guest. Her boyfriend of the time was in and wrangled her the OK to attend somehow. They get to the campsite and setup tents etc. It gets dark and no fire yet. Weather has been wet before the campout and ground wood is wet.

She gets out her flashlight and starts walking around shinning her light up in the trees. Others ask what she is doing. "Gathering firewood" she replies. Lots of laughter and jeers.

She was in a pine forest. She was collecting "Squaw wood". As already mentioned pines often have small branches at the lower levels that are dead but still attached to the trunk. Pine sap/resin is flammable and is stored in dead branches. SInce the branches are above ground, any wind that blows helps them to dry out quickly. Even after rains, the top may be wet but the bottom is often dry. So called Squaw wood because reportedly indian squaw women would collect it. It is available in size from 1/2 a pencil thickness up to about wrist size. Most anyone can easily reach it and break it off the trees. She collects an armload of dry kindling and precedes to lay a fire. Once her kindling was burning well, she added the larger but wet "firewood" that became dried and heated by the fire and eventually burned.