DIY camping candle. DIY Finnish candle

" article. Earlier, in the article "How to make wax candles" we already mentioned how you can make your own candles from beeswax (or paraffin - whatever you have on hand 🙂). Today we will talk about wickless candles - a slightly different variety candles, more and more aromatic.

Herbal candles without a wick burn because the role of the wick is played by the dry herb that is part of the candles. Accordingly, if you add few herbs, the candle will burn poorly. If you put a lot of herbs, the candle will burn with a small torch. Well, if you put in as much as you need, you’ll get what you need!

Herbal candles without a wick are great for scenting rooms instead of incense sticks (by the way, we previously had an article related to scents: “Aromas that stimulate the chakras”). Their advantages are that they do not smoke (if you extinguish them, then, of course, smoke will come out), they emit a thin honey aroma with an admixture of the ingredients that are included in them. Candles can be given any shape.

The procedure for making herbal candles without a wick with your own hands is very simple.

Beeswax is melted and mixed with herbs and other inclusions that you wish:

• St. John's wort,
• thyme,
• sagebrush,
• mint,
• oregano,
• Melissa,
• sage,
• etc.

The resulting mass is mixed, and as it hardens, figures are formed from it. After hardening, you can drop it onto the candle. essential oil or oils (this is not necessary) and set it on fire. The candle burns out completely, but one must take into account that the wax flows down as it heats up, so it is better to use a stand.

You can also make your herbal candles more beautiful by using a mold. To do this, in the same way as in the previous case, melt the wax in a steam bath. Grind the herbs in a mill (or coffee grinder). Add ground herbs to the melted wax. For a glass of wax, about a third of a glass of herbs. But it is better to experiment with the proportion first to achieve optimal combustion.

We make a funnel bag from the glossy cover of a glamor magazine. We secure the bag to the jar, for example, with tape. Pour the wax with herbs into a bag. Let it harden. After a couple of hours, we unwrap the bag and the candle is ready to be lit.

DIY herbal candles without a wick are a very original gift :)

Based on materials from http://aauumm.ru/post194449862/

Anyone who is involved in tourism, fishing or hunting has probably already found a lot for themselves in various ways making fire, for kindling a fire. But on a hike you need to be prepared for any turn of events and quick changes hiking conditions. A camping candle, which is easy to make with your own hands, will help you warm up from a sudden frost or disperse the deep darkness.

Camping candle in a tin can:

But when you go on a hike, even for a short time, you never know what might happen along the way. And fire is the main source of heat and light, but it is not always possible to collect enough brushwood to build at least a small fire. Quite convenient and relatively easy to take with you on hikes, fishing and forays, already ready mixture for combustion. The so-called camping or tourist candle will help you warm up very quickly or scare away wild animals, it will give you enough light to collect brushwood and make a normal fire.

Making a camping candle with your own hands is quite simple; you will need an iron tin can (I used an iron can with a lid from skin cream), paraffin and corrugated cardboard.

Cardboard, iron can, paraffin

It is very convenient to use an iron jar of cream, sweets, or just a tin can as a container for a candle; in short, almost anything you have on hand will do.

Example, iron can with lid

You need to cut the corrugated cardboard into equal strips of thickness suitable for the depth of your tin can.

Cut cardboard into strips

These strips must be placed evenly throughout the can; they will act as a wick. They need to be connected according to the honeycomb principle; for this it is necessary to make cuts and insert one strip into another.

How to make a cut in cardboard
Fill the jar with cardboard strips

Cardboard strips laid out in this way form something similar to a honeycomb; with this arrangement of a camp candle, it is convenient to fill them with paraffin, it is easy to set them on fire, and when they light up, they have the greatest efficiency.

The resulting tin can with honeycomb and paraffin
Pour paraffin into a container

It is advisable to pour paraffin exactly to the edges of the jar (just be careful that it does not overflow), because after cooling it will have some shrinkage, this is not scary, but on the contrary, it is quite convenient.

The resulting camp candle

Such a camping candle will be stored for a long time, will not become damp, and even if moisture gets in, the paraffin will not let it through to the cardboard, although I do not recommend keeping it in water and dampness. Lighting such a candle is not difficult; this can be done with ordinary matches or a lighter. The flame will be bright and quite powerful. I haven’t tried setting it on fire yet, but I’m sure that the burning time should be enough to not only warm up, but even heat up water or cook something from dry rations.

If you use an ordinary tin can for your candle, I recommend covering it with a plastic or iron lid (to prevent moisture from getting in), which can be bought at any hardware store. You can also bend a special holder from wire for a mug of water, which can also be useful in camping conditions.

Example of covers and holder

If you use an iron lid, then such a camp candle can act as a heating pad. All you have to do is light a candle, let the flame warm up the jar a little, and then close it tightly with an iron lid, thereby extinguishing the flame. The paraffin will retain heat for a while, and you will be able to warm up a little. Good luck with your fishing, hunting and tourism.

When hiking or traveling as a “savage”, on a picnic or fishing, there is always the question of preparing hot food. Someone makes a big fire, someone drags a primus stove or a packet of dry fuel with them.

I want to introduce you to one old method, or rather a device, with the help of which you can cook food, heat yourself, or illuminate your way. According to legend, it was borrowed from the North American Indians by the colonialists of Christopher Columbus. That is why it got the name “Indian candle”.

The principle of operation of the Indian candle is extremely simple. As in a samovar, combustion occurs in the firebox, and the draft is provided by a pipe. A sort of mini-oven. But in an Indian candle, the role of both the firebox and the pipe is played by the fuel itself - a log that is hollow inside. The inner walls of the log itself are burning.

From my travel experience, I can safely say that an Indian candle is one of the most effective and cheapest ways to prepare hot food.

Anyone can make an Indian candle in a few minutes.

To make it, you need to take any log with a diameter of 10 cm or more. Up to 30-40 cm. Preferably without knots, so that it can be split fairly evenly. The tree type does not have of great importance, but it should be remembered that resinous trees “shoot” and give off a lot of sparks. It is not recommended to use a Christmas tree or pine candle for heating. Birch burns hot and does not shoot, but its flame is strong and you need to be careful. In addition, birch bark contains a lot of tar and the flame smokes a little, especially at the end of combustion. An almost perfect candle is made from well-dried aspen. It burns extremely evenly, the flame is light and colorless.

In any case, it is good to use dead wood (but not rotten wood). Otherwise, the candle or its preparation will have to dry for a long time.

So, we cut a piece 15-40 cm long from a log. If you plan to use a candle for cooking, then it is better to take short but thick pieces. Then it will be possible to place the dishes directly on the candle, and it will stand stably on the base. If lighting is important, then it is better to take a longer and thinner piece. To make it comfortable to wear. And if heating is required, then you need to take a thick and long piece. This candle can burn for many hours.

1. The log is split lengthwise approximately in the middle. This is why it is important to use a part of the log without knots. They are very easy to split. If you come across a hollow log, it’s generally perfect option! This is a ready-made Indian candle; you just need to cut it into pieces 20-30 cm long and clean out the rotten insides of the hollow.

Using a hatchet, the core of the tree is cut down so that a channel with a diameter of 5-7 cm is subsequently formed.

2. Both halves are folded again and fastened together in any way. For example, wire, adhesive tape, nails, glue... Thus we got a wooden pipe. It is important to ensure minimal gaps at the junction of the halves. Otherwise, it is through these cracks that the candle will quickly burn out.

3. To light a candle, a little birch bark (birch bark) is stuffed into the pipe. At the same time, make sure that the free passage of air through the pipe is not blocked, otherwise there will be no draft. If there is no birch bark, you can use several splinters. The spark plug itself is installed so that there is a small gap at its lower end for air to enter. For example, on stones or a couple of logs.

4. The birch bark is set on fire and pushed with a splinter inside the pipe approximately to its center. If it is at the top of the pipe, the candle will burn for a long time, but with a weak flame. This mode is good for heating or warming up small amounts of food. And if you push the birch bark almost to the very bottom (or light the candle from below), then the candle will burn faster, but the flame will be strong. This mode is good for cooking or lighting.

5. When a candle burns, it is enough to simply regulate the flame strength by blocking the access of air from below the candle (for example, with earth or snow). For cooking, a flame height of 10-15 cm is sufficient.

6. The candle can be used as a torch. Wood is an excellent heat insulator, and even a very burning candle can be held freely by hand, lighting your way, or you can install several of these torches to illuminate a tourist camp.

7. To heat food, keep it hot or for heating, it is important to be able to switch the candle to intense smoldering mode. In this case, the candle smolders from the inside with virtually no flame. At the same time, quite hot smoke comes out of it. This is achieved by blocking the air from below the spark plug.

8. It only takes a few minutes to heat up, for example, a can of canned food even in winter. It is enough to place the jar on the candle so that there is a small gap for the smoke to escape. If you need to cook food in a pan, then place it on a couple of wood chips - spacers, like on a burner gas stove. If there is a cauldron, it is simply suspended above the candle at a height of 5-10 cm.

Sometimes, to allow air to enter and gases to escape, appropriate cuts are simply made at the ends of the candle. But this is only possible for candles with a diameter of 20-25 cm or more. Tall and thin candles are not stable and are not worth the risk.

When using a candle as a heater in a tent, care must be taken to remove combustion products.

And absolutely proper heating looks something like this. A burning candle is left outside. Suspended above it at an angle is a short metal pipe. The higher end of the pipe is inserted into the tent. The candle heats the pipe and, accordingly, the air in it, which enters the tent. This way the tent is heated hot, but fresh clean air, not smoke.

Once a candle is lit, it is not necessary to burn it to the end, until it dies. As soon as the food is cooked, the candle is extinguished by blocking the air from both below and above. For example, by covering it with some non-flammable object such as a pot lid or throwing a damp cloth over it. Thus, with the help of one Indian candle you can cook food several times.

Of course, such a candle is much heavier than a primus or a packet of dry fuel. But dry fuel is quite expensive. And unlike a primus stove, which must be carried on both ends of the trip, and also fiddle with a stinking can of fuel for it, a candle has a one-way ticket. It dies, providing us with hot food, warmth and light.

But when traveling by car or other motorized vehicles through wild, and especially treeless and mountainous places, a candle will serve you faithfully. Spend a little time making it and you will always be full and warm.

The original mini-bonfire is also called a taiga, Indian, or Swedish candle. Thanks to the peculiarities of making Finnish candles and the use of intense flame, they successfully replace traditional fires on hikes, at picnics and evening gatherings in the yard. You need a minimum of tools and skills, 5-20 minutes of simple effort, and you will get a source of vertical flame with a burning duration of half an hour to 7 hours.

4 ways to make a Finnish candle

Using any method, a Finnish candle is made with your own hands from chock, sometimes replaced with a block of wood logs. Acceptable use small stumps, if only one piece of log is required. The duration of combustion depends on the length and diameter of the workpieces.

Method 1. Candle with paraffin wick

• Burning time: from 30 minutes.
• Production time: 20 minutes.

Tools and materials:

• drill with drill 20-30 mm;
• saw (manual, electric or diesel engine);
• sawing sawhorses;
• lighter;
• block for a candle;
• chump larger diameter for counterweight;
• paraffin or wax;
• paper or newspaper.

To get a fire with vertical burning, just light the wick. We recommend installing Finnish candles away from trees on paved or concrete platforms, cleared land, fire-resistant tiles, a metal stand to prevent the surrounding vegetation from catching fire.

Method 2. Candle made from logs

• Burning time: up to 2.5 hours.
• Production time: 7-10 minutes.

Tools and materials:

• axe;
• a log or four logs.

Manufacturing sequence

The whole lump is split into four equal parts. The logs are installed vertically in the form of the original log. When a Finnish candle is made from ready-made firewood, logs of the same length and cross-section are selected, which together form a solid log. The design provides good air flow, but is not wind resistant enough.

Method 3. Three logs

• Burning time: from 7 hours.
• Production time: 5 minutes.

Necessary materials: 3 logs of the same height. No tools required.

Manufacturing sequence

Simplest a way to make a long-burning Finnish candle with your own hands. Blocks are installed in a circle with small interval between themselves. Then a fire is built in the inner “well.” Unimpeded access to oxygen contributes to an intense flame, and thanks to large diameter the burning time is extended.

Stands out more heat than with other designs of taiga candles. It also ensures the greatest stability of a disposable oven. Disadvantage (the flame can be blown out by the wind. Tip: as it burns out, move the logs to the center to maintain the burning intensity.

Method 4. Primus

• Burning time: up to 3 hours.
• Production time: 20 minutes.

Tools and materials:

• axe;
• saw (optional);
• wire;
• a log or several logs.

Manufacturing sequence

This design provides intense hot flame. In the first two hours after ignition, you can cook or boil water on the mini-oven. The optimal size is considered to be when the length of the block is twice the diameter. You can create mini-bonfires with a height of 20-30 cm.

Tip: if you plan to cook, then make a Finnish candle with two shorter logs to improve air flow to the flame. Useful uses of a disposable stove in the household

The design represents a vertical furnace pyrolysis combustion. The peculiarity of this type of flame is the simultaneous combustion of both wood and the resulting wood gas. As a result, less soot and ash are formed, and the heat transfer of the flame is higher. Even a two-hour application Finnish candle helps solve many problems of arrangement and recreation.

Culinary uses of Finnish candles

In the absence of summer kitchen and on hikes, disposable stoves can be easily adapted for the following tasks:

• cooking in cauldrons;
• singeing poultry and game carcasses;
• boiling water;
• heating food.

Unlike a stationary summer kitchen, a Finnish candle can be used anywhere on the site, or taken with you on a picnic or on a trip.

Landscape decoration

Mini bonfires are convenient to use for temporary illumination of dark areas without landscape lights. They create a warm cozy atmosphere and can complement the decoration of outdoor seating areas for special events. Finally, the spark plugs will be replaced street fires and fireplaces will help you relax by the fire during your evening relaxation.

Repair and construction use

Concentrated combustion has determined the advantage of using a Finnish candle compared to conventional fires for the following work:

• firing, heating of metal;
• melting of roofing felt or lump bitumen;
• firing and drying various surfaces and blanks.

Easy to manufacture, disposable ovens are compact, simple device, intense combustion and easy transportation. This enhances the attractiveness of Finnish candles for home or tourist use.

Video instructions for making a Finnish candle

On a camping trip, traveling as a “savage,” on a fishing trip or on a picnic, one of the main questions is how to prepare hot food. For some this is even the most main question– they go on a hike to enjoy hot food in nature. Everyone solves this issue differently. Some people make a big fire, others carry a primus stove with them, others use dry fuel.

Tourist stove

It will certainly be useful for you to get acquainted with one more universal device(in Russian - a camp stove), which allows you to cook hot food, warm up, and illuminate the road in the dark. According to legend, this ancient device was borrowed by the crew of Christopher Columbus from the North American Indians. That is why it is called “Indian candle”.

How the Indian candle works

It's very simple to understand how it works. Combustion, as in a samovar, occurs in the firebox, and draft is provided by a pipe. But both the firebox and the pipe are the fuel itself - a log that is hollow inside. Its inner walls are burning. According to reviews from experienced tourists, the Indian candle is a very effective and cheap device. It's easy to prepare in a few minutes. Take any log, preferably without knots, since it will have to be split into pieces. Diameter from 10 to 40 cm. Wood species does not have special significance, but we must remember that resinous wood “shoots” and gives off a lot of sparks.

For this reason, spruce and pine candles are not recommended for heating. Birch does not shoot and burns hot, but produces a strong flame and therefore requires caution. In addition, the flame of a birch smokes a little due to the tar contained in its bark. Ideal material for an Indian candle - this is well-dried aspen. It burns very evenly, the flame is colorless and light. It is clear that it is good to have dead wood (just not rotten wood). The raw material takes a long time to dry.

So, there is a log. A workpiece 15-45 cm long is sawn off from it. If you plan to use the candle as a slab, then a short thick workpiece is preferable. You can directly place dishes on it, and it itself stands firmly on its base. If the candle is more important for illumination, then better preparation make it thinner and longer so that it is more comfortable to hold in your hand. Well, if a candle is needed for heating, then you need a thick and long piece that can burn for several hours.

The workpiece (which, as you remember, does not have serious knots) splits into pieces along the middle. Using a hatchet, the core of each part of the workpiece is cut out so that after connecting the parts, a channel 3-4 cm wide is formed. By the way, if you come across a hollow log, then this is great luck. It is enough to cut such a log into logs with lengths of 20-30 cm and clean the hollow from rotten entrails, and several Indian candles are ready.

The folded parts of the workpiece are fastened in any way (with wire, nails, tape, etc.). It turns out wooden pipe. It is important to ensure that the gaps at the joints of the halves are minimal. You can even caulk them with moss, grass or clay. Otherwise, it is along these cracks that the candle will burn out with unnecessary speed.

The candle is installed vertically with a small gap at the base for air access. You can place the candle on stones or on a couple of logs. To light a candle, pieces of birch bark or dry splinters are stuffed inside the pipe. This kindling must be positioned so that the free movement of air through the pipe is not blocked. If a traffic jam forms, there will be no traction.

The kindling is ignited and pushed with a splinter approximately into the center of the pipe. If you leave it at the top of the pipe, the candle will burn for a long time with a weak flame. This mode is suitable if you need to heat up a small amount of food. The same mode is optimal for heating.

If you push the kindling closer to the bottom of the candle (or light it from below), then the burning will be faster with a strong flame. This is good for cooking and for lighting. The flame strength of a camping stove is easily regulated by blocking the air access through the gap at the base with earth or snow. For cooking, the flame should be 10-15 cm high.

A candle can serve as a torch. Wood is a good heat insulator, and you can safely pick up a candle, even if it burns intensely. You can also place several burning torches to illuminate the campsite.

Heating, heating food, as well as keeping food hot should occur in the intense smoldering mode of the candle. Switching to this mode is achieved by blocking the access of air through the base of the spark plug. At the same time, hot smoke comes out of the candle - the product of smoldering of the candle from the inside - smoldering with virtually no flame.

It only takes a few minutes to warm up, for example, a can of stew (even in winter). You just need to place the jar on a candle, leaving a small gap for smoke. If the food is in a saucepan or kettle, then it can be placed on a couple of wood chips, like on the burner of a home stove.

If the candles are thick (20 cm or more), then to allow air to enter and gases to escape, you can make cuts at the ends of the candle with a depth of up to half the candle. But you should not make cuts on tall and thin candles, as they are not stable. If a candle is used as a heater in a tent, then it is necessary to provide for the removal of combustion products. And this is how completely proper heating is organized.

A burning candle is placed outside the tent next to it. A short tin pipe is suspended above it at an angle. The high end of the pipe is inserted into the tent. A burning candle heats the pipe and at the same time the air in the pipe, and this air rises into the tent. In this case, the tent is heated not by smoke, but by clean hot air. A used camp stove does not need to be completely burned out. It must be extinguished by blocking the access of air from both above and below. You can, for example, cover it with some non-flammable thing like a frying pan or a damp cloth.

One Indian candle will serve several times. You will say that an Indian candle is much heavier than packets of dry fuel or a primus stove. Yes, but dry fuel costs money, and as for the primus, you need to carry it in your backpack on both ends of your trip, and in addition to it - a fragrant canister of fuel. Unlike a primus stove, an Indian candle is given only a one-way ticket; Having served you, she dies. If you travel by transport through wild, treeless places, then with the help of an Indian candle you will always have hot food and always be warm. Just don’t be too lazy to make it in advance.

Let us emphasize once again that an Indian candle is just one log, used for multiple uses. It does not form a fire, it can be moved while burning, and it does not spoil the landscape. A candle prepared in advance can also help out a sedentary summer resident in an emergency situation, when the lights are turned off or there is a problem with gas.

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