Wax & Wick: Choosing A Candle For the Tin Can Lantern

Last week we talked about electric illumination devices and chose one for my pack. This week we're going to be talking about the candle lantern, or specifically the candle inside them.  Now if you want to know the ins and outs of how a candle works, go to YouTube and search "how does a candle work," there is a lot of great information there. I am just going to give you the overview.. A candle is made of a wick and a hydrocarbon wax; that is, hydrogen connecting to carbon. When you light the wick, the wax begins to melt releasing a gas which is what keeps the flame burning. You can prove this by lighting the gas above the candle.

What we have today is a contest between three candles. We have a stick candle, what I call a squat
candle, and a tea candle. They will be competing in four different categories: being lit from a spark, how bright they burn, how long they burn, and overall cost effectiveness.

For the first test we must first char all the wicks of the candles. I then got some ferro rod  shavings on a board and was then going to try to use those shavings to ignite a spark from the candle. The only candle that was able to participate in this test was the stick candle and it did not cast a spark. The next test was to get some charcloth in a char tin and cast a spark. This gave us a nice hot ember to try to light our candles on. This time the stick candle and the squat candle got to participate however both failed. I was able to get an ember on

the squat candle, but was not able to light the wick.

For the second test of illumination, we are going to go back to the same track that we tested out our electronic illumination devices. First up is the tea candle which we have to get right up on the sign to see. The same with the squat candle. The stick candle performed slightly better than these other two due to the fact that it has a larger flame. Now none of these did well in comparison to the electronic devices, but this is what we are working with.

For the third test we are going to take a fresh version of each candle, put it into a lantern and burn them until they go out by themselves. For the stick candle we will be using and open top lantern due to the height of the candle. The tea candle burned for 3 hours and 50 minutes, the stick candle for 4 hours and 6 minutes, and squat candle for 6 hours and 15 minutes. I really thought the stick candle would burn the longest since it appears to have the most wax and there fore the most fuel to burn. However, I think where it was in an open top lantern a lot of the gasses that keep the flame burning simply escaped out of the top. Also the squat and tea candles have a metal base that pulls their wicks down. I think for the stick candle there was a moment where the wax was lighter than the wick and it nose dived.

Now looking at cost effectiveness. The tea candles come in a pack of 50 for about $3-5 so individually they are between five and ten cents. Next is the squat candles which are 50 cents a piece and can be purchased individually. The stick candles are 88 cents a piece and are purchased individually. Two tea candles can burn longer than on squat candle, so if you are looking for over all cost effectiveness, the tea candle is the way to go.

Before we talk about which candle I will be using, let's talk about why each candle got the ranking it did. In third place was the stick candle, which technically got a disqualification simply because it does not fit in the lantern. It's not the candle's fault, it's not the lantern's fault, it's just reality. The tea candle is ranked second because it was always playing second fiddle to either the squat or stick candle. It only really excelled at being cost effective, however, I'm not just looking for a cheap candle, I'm looking for a powerful one. The clear winner to me is the squat candle. I almost lit it with a spark, it was only average in illumination, but it burned for an entire 6 hours. Plus, to me there isn't much of a difference in 5 cents and 50 cents.

You may be wondering why we put so much into working with these candles. Next week we will be reviewing a candle and candle lantern that can supposedly burn for 9 hours and I wanted the best candle I could find to contend with it. This will also be the last blog of the year aside from our Christmas special so you definitely don't want to miss it. As always feel free to comment by clicking the comment link at the end of the blog, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one on Sunday 10pm (est). If you want to keep up with me and what I’m doing, Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Lastly if video is more your style check out my YouTube Channel backpack bushcraft where there is a video version of this with the same title. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.

Bet You Never “SAW” it Coming: Which Saws to Take Into the Woods

When it comes to working with lumber no tool is handier than a saw. With a saw you get precision and ease when compared to knives and axes. A saw is a series of serrated or offset material that cuts when being drawn back and forth over a softer material. The offset or serrated part of the saw is called the teeth. Modern saws are made by sectioning part of the blade off and making a series of cuts in the blade which become the teeth. To make the teeth sharp, they use a triangle file to turn the material into triangles offset from each other which allow them to cut. However, the one big drawback to saws is that the larger they are, the harder they are to take with you on excursions into the woods. However, as with most things in this day and time, items have become smaller, so now you can have the perfect size saw to take with you to accomplish any task at hand.

I’ll be going over four different sizes of saws that I believe are simple and easy enough to use that any bushcrafter will be able to take them along. The first one I will be going over is a pocket saw. With the ever changing Swiss Army Knife and other knock offs being produced, it was inevitable that eventually in the list of small tools that they would add a pocket saw. The one that I own and my knockoff SAK is 2 ½” long. It’s perfect when trying to make small notches or cuts into wood. It allows me to be more precise than trying to whittle a notch into the wood. This is perfect for smaller pieces of wood. However anything much bigger than fuel for your fire and you will need to move up to the next size of saw.

Next we have a folding camp saw with an 8” blade. For this one I am unsure of the brand as it was gifted to me, but you can find these or at least something similar at Walmart in the camp section. This saw has the power to cut wood with a larger diameter, and in the hand of the bushcrafter can accomplish the finer tasks of the pocket saw. It’s also really nice to use to get those overhead branches because it provides a better reach. Even though it can do very well at cutting down saplings and some things bigger, the next saw can cut down the bigger saplings and small trees.

The next one is the UST Chainsaw. Basically it is a chainsaw blade attached to two handgrips.  To use this saw, you place the chain around the back side of what you are cutting and drawing the chain across the back side of it by pulling on the hand grips back and forth. This couldn’t be used in any other process except for cutting down trees. Notch making and precision cuts sort of go out the window due to the process which is used to saw the wood. However the next saw can make notches if you are skilled enough, process wood, cut down saplings, and buck larger trees, and all you need to buy is the blade.

The next saw is called the bucksaw. Bushcrafters have for years knows the benefits of only carrying in pieces of an item, and manufacturing the rest from the land. Using this principle, the bucksaw really stands out. All it takes to begin this project is just a bow saw blade. The basics to making a takedown bucksaw, you will want a good, strong piece of wood, a little shorter than the length of your saw blade, and two uprights of the same size, recommended 16”. You’ll then want to drill, carve, and lash together, the three pieces of wood into an “H”. Next you want to have grooves in the bottom part of the H where your saw will fit in. You’ll want to make sure everything lines up. Finally, using some cordage, you will want to string up a piece of wood in the top portion in the center that can place tension on your upright pieces of wood and that can also be held by the center piece of wood. Once the uprights have been tightened, the saw will be able to cut your material and you now have a bucksaw. Many bushcrafters do this at home, with proper wood, and take all of the pieces into the bush. However, most of them place their bucksaw in PVC pipe to transport and protect the blade. I thought it would be a good idea to take this PVC pipe use for transportation and turn it into the parts for my takedown bucksaw.

I began with a 30” piece of PVC pipe 1” in diameter. I split it evenly into two 15” sections and drilled/carved a ½” hole in the middle of both, 7 ½” up. Next I decided which ends would hold the blade, and which ends would hold the rope. For the end that would hold the blade I split it in the middle along the diameter. I did this to both sides to make sure that the drilled holes would face inward toward each other when set up. I drilled holes perpendicular to the cuts to hold the saw blade. By placing correct sized bolts through then ends of the saw and tightening it down with wingnuts. For the uprights about an inch or two down below, same on both sides, I took out a small section of material so that my rope would have something to hang into. This is on the opposite side of the center hole. For the center hole I placed a ½” in diameter PVC pipe that was the same length as the saw blade. I took ½” sections of this off at a time until the length was to my liking. If you cut off too much you will have to start over with a longer piece. 

Finally after everything was assembled together, I took some paracord and a scrap piece of PVC pipe to windlass tension using the center beam as a hold. Now you have a functioning bucksaw that stows away in its various pieces. To stow away, you will need two 1” slip caps and a 1” coupler. To build the travel tube, disassemble the bucksaw. Take the slip caps and place them one on each upright. Take the coupler and place each end where the blade hold into the coupler. Next, opening one of the slip caps, place the blade and the center rod inside. On top of that you can place your paracord, bolts, and wingnuts. In mine, I am unable to place my tensioning windlass rod. However, this will be the easiest part to create off the landscape.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog about saws. To me they are a lot like a sweater. It’s better to have one and not need it than to need it and not have it. – Roger Smith (American Dad)  Next week we will be going over field maintenance. Your knife is only as good to you as you are to it. (That’s my own quote.) As always feel free to comment, hit the follow button in the top right corner, share this blog, and check back next week for a new one. Follow me on Facebook: @BPackBushcraft and on Twitter @BPackBushCraft. Until next time, keep those fires burning and put another log on for me.