Bushcraft Stuff

Candles have cast a light on man’s progress for centuries. However, there is very little known about the origin of candles. Although it is often written that the first candles were developed by the Ancient Egyptians who used rush lights, or torches, made by soaking the pithy core of reeds in molten tallow, the rush lights had no wick like a candle. It is the Romans who are credited with developing the wick candle, using it to aid travellers at dark, and lighting homes and places of worship at night.

 
Like the early Egyptians, the Roman’s relied on tallow, gathered from cattle or sheep suet, as the principal ingredient of candles. It was not until the Middle Ages when beeswax, a substance secreted by honey bees to make their honeycombs, was introduced. Beeswax candles were a marked improvement over those made with tallow, for they did not produce a smoky flame, or emit an acrid odour when burned. Instead, beeswax candles burned pure and clean. However, they were expensive, and, therefore, only the wealthy could afford them.
Colonial women offered America’s first contribution to candle making when they discovered that boiling the greyish green berries of bayberry bushes produced a sweet-smelling wax that burned clean. However, extracting the wax from the bayberries was extremely tedious. As a result, the popularity of bayberry candles soon diminished.

The growth of the whaling industry in the late 18th century brought the first major change in candle making since the Middle Ages, when spermaceti, a wax obtained by crystallizing sperm whale oil, became available in quantity. Like beeswax, the spermaceti wax did not elicit a repugnant odour when burned. Furthermore, spermaceti wax was found harder than both tallow and beeswax. It did not soften or bend in the summer heat. Historians note that the first “standard candles” were made from spermaceti wax.

 
Further developments in candle making occurred in 1850 with the production of paraffin wax made from oil and coal shale’s. Processed by distilling the residues left after crude petroleum was refined, the bluish-white wax was found to burn cleanly, and with no unpleasant odour. Of greatest significance was its cost – paraffin wax was more economical to produce than any preceding candle fuel developed. And while paraffin’s low melting point may have posed a threat to its popularity, the discovery of stearic acid solved this problem. Hard and durable, stearic acid was being produced in quantity by the end of the 19th century. By this period, most candles being manufactured consisted of paraffin and stearic acid.

 

OK, that’s the history dealt with but, what relevance do candles have to bushcraft you may ask. Well, there are several reasons why a candle should be a part of your standard bushcraft kit…

 
• They give light and help to illuminate the darkest corners of any shelter. Another reason for carrying a candle that goes hand in hand with this and should not be underestimated is the moral boost this can give.
• If you have limited matches, it is very wise to use one of your precious matches to light your candle, you can then use your candle to light your fire. This gives you more time and control that the limited burn time of a single match.
• A single candle can raise the temperature in a shelter a surprising amount. You’re not going to be warm and toasty by any means but, it can make enough difference for you to last through the night and see the light of another sunrise.
• I have read that it is possible to eat a tallow candle if you find yourself in a dire survival situation. I must admit that I have never done this myself but, if needs must I imagine I would. I have however shaved flakes off a tallow candle with my knife and melted them in a frying pan and cooked in it instead of oil, butter etc. NOTE: if you do use a candle in this way make sure that it is a candle made of an edible material such as tallow. Tallow candles are now available, made of vegetable oils as well as rendered animal fat. Read the labels when purchasing. DO NOT eat candles manufactured using paraffin etc. they will make you extremely ill.
• Candle wax also makes a good lubricant. I have rubbed a candle on the sides of my saw blade to stop it binding while cutting wood.

 

 

There are probably numerous other uses for candles to help us in the wilds. If you have any that you know of please share them with us.

 

**if there are any points you would like to raise or any information you would like to add regarding this article, please feel free to use the Comments box below**