Candle recommendations

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slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
1,982
934
Devon
I also make my own beeswax candles and found "WickWell NT Candle Wick" works well from these people:


I've yet to find a cheap household candle mould but have used this one for wine bottle candles or to use the candle the other way around.

 

MartiniDave

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
I don't know anything about candle lanterns, but we like candles around the house for a bit of atmosphere. We've recently been using the stearin candles from Ikea. Good long burn time, very little smoke and no wax spill. Apparently they are theoretically edible, but I've not tried!

Dave.
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
4,520
3,460
65
Exmoor
I use IKEA candles around the home too. I find they are much cheaper than prices candles, and I do like the 40 hour ones too. Too big for a lantern such as is spoken of, but I used IKEA candles for a week in an off grid cabin in sweden for a week, and though I had to put new standard ones in each night, they lasted well for an evening. The 40 hour ones nearly lasted a week.
I think its tallow candles you can eat not stearin ones. !!!
 

lou1661

Full Member
Jul 18, 2004
2,179
196
Hampshire
Ill have a look at those, thank you. Do you get much mess and waste with these? I seem to spend more time chipping the hard wax off than I do enjoying the light!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I just got 4 1/4 hours of useable light out of mine. burned right down to the follower with no wax drips
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,053
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
I also make my own beeswax candles and found "WickWell NT Candle Wick" works well from these people:


I've yet to find a cheap household candle mould but have used this one for wine bottle candles or to use the candle the other way around.

I cast a mould in a big yoghurt pot using 1:1 silicon casting stuff. It’s made a pretty decent mould, and has worked much better than I thought.
I used a candle to form the mould hollow
 
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wales1

Full Member
Aug 3, 2011
133
8
dumfriesshire
I have had a uco and also own a bushlite. I do find in all honesty, that you get more light from a bushlite (no pun intended). I put that down to the taller globe which inevitably pulls a longer flame.

I use prices candles and yes, there is some wax clean up required and the trim down factor of the candles though hardly a majoe chore and to be honest... the reason I got shot of the UCO was due to the disappointment with the functional light it throws out. Yes there maybe argument that it's the ambience it's designed for, though why not get the ambience of candlelight and a little more brightness with the bushlite :)

Steve
 
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Brizzlebush

Explorer
Feb 9, 2019
581
397
Bristol
Just to add to this old thread:

I've got a UCO and a Bushlite. The Bushlite closed is the same size as the UCO open. So a bit bigger.

The thing that narks me off, as previously mentioned is the price of UCO candles, currently £3 each!

I agree with Wales 1 that the taller chimney of the Bushlite gives a bigger, brighter flame. Also I use Price's standard candles, currently about £4 for a box of 6!
At that er, price, I don't mind leaving it burning to find my way back to camp.
Also if you have the stand for the Bushlite you can put it on the ground/table with less chance of it getting knocked over.

Now I don't know what the price-per-minute burn time of each candle is, I can't be bothered to do the maths. But I probably get 4-6hrs from the Bushlite/Price's candles, maybe more. Again, I've not timed it. But that's good enough for me.

Anyhoo, the main reason for my post is my top tip: For cleaning residue on any wax candle lantern.
Use boiling water.
Quick, easy, thorough. The Bushlite can get a bit gunked up sometimes.

Now I'm off to enjoy the romantic glow...
 
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Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Take a long look at a "kudlik" (= qulliq) for heat and light. Just 15,000 years of Inuit usefulness in the igloolik but maybe no good for overnight.
I have enough soapstone to carve several but I lack the ambition. I planned to use wisps of cotton grass fuzz for wick.
 
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sidpost

Forager
Dec 15, 2016
214
75
Texas, USA
Dietz "hurricane" kerosene lanterns are a bit bigger but, work well. You can adjust the wick for the amount of light you want. Kerosene has its drawbacks but, compared to candles might be a good option for some.
 

matarius777

Forager
Aug 29, 2019
248
86
58
Lancaster
I have a UCO lantern, a Bushlight lantern, a folding Swiss Army lantern, and a folding Horace Kephart lantern (and, of course, a Feuerhand lantern. I like lanterns!:)
I searched high and low for a candle that would replace the proper (expensive to import) Swiss Army ones. I eventually found these, they do need cutting down to length, and they also fit in the Bushlite, they’re Stearin, so last for hours. At the moment they are showing as unavailable, but may be worth checking for that brand elsewhere on the net, these are the only stearin ones that are thick enough- they’re still, I think, a mil or two thinner, but fit in the holder. I think they’re the exact size for the Bushlite, apart from too long.

 

Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,807
2,893
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
I have a UCO lantern, a Bushlight lantern, a folding Swiss Army lantern, and a folding Horace Kephart lantern (and, of course, a Feuerhand lantern. I like lanterns!:)
I searched high and low for a candle that would replace the proper (expensive to import) Swiss Army ones. I eventually found these, they do need cutting down to length, and they also fit in the Bushlite, they’re Stearin, so last for hours. At the moment they are showing as unavailable, but may be worth checking for that brand elsewhere on the net, these are the only stearin ones that are thick enough- they’re still, I think, a mil or two thinner, but fit in the holder. I think they’re the exact size for the Bushlite, apart from too long.

I use the Ikea Jubla candles in my Swiss Army lantern. You can get about 4 hrs burn per half candle
 

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