Hmmm, I was wondering if it would be cost-effective to make my own 'crackle logs'. There's a candle workshop I go to occasionally, which sells waste parafin wax at £1 for a carrier bag full. I don't produce a lot of sawdust, but I do have lots of twigs, pinecones, etc. which might make something useful.
Crackle Logs
- Thread starter Wayland
- Start date
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Not sure what to think about these. On the one hand it sounds light and convenient but on the other it goes against most of what a real fire is about for me. Whilst it may look like you are burning wood it sounds to me like the sawdust/chip is simply acting as a wick for a petrochemical. I know firewood bought from garage forecourts is wet but for me getting wood in and drying it in advance is all part of the experience.
I must say these logs are a great bit of kit for a backup. Like Gary says we used ordinary logs for most of the evening, but we tried the crackle log as an experiment (niether of us had seen one used) and they were awesome. Good amount of heat and light, easy enough to start with no waste afterwards. My initial thoughts were that it would be a huge morale booster if you brought someone off the mountain wet and cold, gave em a blanket and sat them in front of one of these. It immediately lifts the spirits and is just nice to sit and talk by. I'd stick one in the boot without a doubt 
I know what you are saying Robin and largely I agree with the sentiment.
It's certainly not like sitting around a good dry log fire.
Unfortunately, good dry logs are not what is being sold at garages.
The sort of places I find myself on landscape trips are usually devoid of natural firewood.
I don't have the room to store large quantities of wood for it to dry out and transporting it from one end of the country to another burns more of those petrochemicals in my van.
These burn longer than a bag of logs, are cheaper, take up less space and weigh just 1.1 kilo. They are more or less smokeless and made from recycled materials and by products.
For the sort of application I generally have, these seem ideal.
It's certainly not like sitting around a good dry log fire.
Unfortunately, good dry logs are not what is being sold at garages.
The sort of places I find myself on landscape trips are usually devoid of natural firewood.
I don't have the room to store large quantities of wood for it to dry out and transporting it from one end of the country to another burns more of those petrochemicals in my van.
These burn longer than a bag of logs, are cheaper, take up less space and weigh just 1.1 kilo. They are more or less smokeless and made from recycled materials and by products.
For the sort of application I generally have, these seem ideal.
I'm just home from a weekend away at Morch's, and Triptaka brought one of these logs along. Absolutely brilliant......fast start charcoal for cooking and heat and one of these logs boosted this with lots of extra light. I was impressed, and I'll be acquiring some to add to the 'take when out' pile.
I quite fancy having a shot at making my own, I can get mountains of hardwood sawdust, does anyone have any idea of what kind of proportion of wax to sawdust though ?
cheers,
Toddy
I quite fancy having a shot at making my own, I can get mountains of hardwood sawdust, does anyone have any idea of what kind of proportion of wax to sawdust though ?
cheers,
Toddy
I picked up one from Wilkinson's months ago but never used it, I will now though, thanks for the heads up on these
This last winter, one trip the wood was soaked, even the bag from Tesco's, the only way I got a good hot fire going was to make a 2Kg charcoal bed and set the wood on top of that
I've made sawdust/candle wax fire starters before now using egg boxes as a mould, this works fine but would be a bit pongi for anything bigger than half an egg?
This last winter, one trip the wood was soaked, even the bag from Tesco's, the only way I got a good hot fire going was to make a 2Kg charcoal bed and set the wood on top of that
I've made sawdust/candle wax fire starters before now using egg boxes as a mould, this works fine but would be a bit pongi for anything bigger than half an egg?
slack wax (as to approximately 55 to 60 per cent of the total weight) and hardwood sawdust (as to approximately 40 to 45 per cent of the total weight); If you have enough coffee grounds that are bone dry you can of course replace some of the saw-dist with coffee grounds. al la Java log
Fire logs are great. Over here some are made from peat and some from saw dust. When I take the family camping, we often burn some in the evening (using the BBQ as a fire pit)
if any one frequents centre parcs for their hols this is the only log you can use in there chalets but alot cheaper to buy on the outside.... (great things) to use though.
Would beeswax be any good for these? My dad's a beekeper so I can get my hands on plenty of wax and sawdust!
Yes, good point. Just think there's less risk of being environmentally unsound! Mind you there's never huge amounts produced so I'd probably only get 3-4 logs per year so hardly seems worth it.
Just a quick warning.
Asda have just changed the brand of these that they sell to Duraflame and the price has risen from £1.60 to £2.50. :bluThinki
The new logs also say "All natural product" instead of "Recycled", make of that what you will.
Anyone know a cheaper supplier?
Asda have just changed the brand of these that they sell to Duraflame and the price has risen from £1.60 to £2.50. :bluThinki
The new logs also say "All natural product" instead of "Recycled", make of that what you will.
Anyone know a cheaper supplier?
My dad brought me up a box full of them from cost co dont know how much they are but could find out may work out cheaper buying them by the box.
According to the internet the Bio waxs used in the duraflame logs are made from vegetable wax made by the process of hydrogenation of soy oil and palm stearin a by-product from palm oil refinery industry (the crude palm oil is split into liquids Olein and solid stearin)
I use "Flamefast Firelighters" Instant Lighting Firelog. It does burn for over 2 hours, as it says on the packet. The website is http://www.euroliters.co.uk. I buy them from "Home Bargains" where they cost 99p each
They tell you not to put any other fuel onto the fire with the firelog, but when at Fisherground Campsite using "petrol station" firewood I found that a couple of lumps of dampish wood on top burned well and caused no problems.
However when I poked the firelog to break it up a little (so I could set a grill over it to boil my zebra kettle), it flared up to the point that I had to move away and give it 15 minutes to die down before I could get near it to put the grill on. To be fair it does say "don't break the firelog whilst burning" in the safety advice - and I now follow this advice!!!
They tell you not to put any other fuel onto the fire with the firelog, but when at Fisherground Campsite using "petrol station" firewood I found that a couple of lumps of dampish wood on top burned well and caused no problems.
However when I poked the firelog to break it up a little (so I could set a grill over it to boil my zebra kettle), it flared up to the point that I had to move away and give it 15 minutes to die down before I could get near it to put the grill on. To be fair it does say "don't break the firelog whilst burning" in the safety advice - and I now follow this advice!!!
I picked one of these up in a Co-op near work last week
Can remember how much I paid but it wasn't more than a couple of quid.
Made by Bord Na Mona, Ireland
Not sure what it's made of but it's odourless and smokeless aparently.
I've never used one before but Gailainne had one up at Loch Lomond and I was dead impressed.
Can remember how much I paid but it wasn't more than a couple of quid.
Made by Bord Na Mona, Ireland
Not sure what it's made of but it's odourless and smokeless aparently.
I've never used one before but Gailainne had one up at Loch Lomond and I was dead impressed.
Sometimes when things come to work on pallets the skids are made out of compressed chipboard stuff thats about four inches square by about four foot long.
They break down into shorter lengths with ease and really burn well for a long time.
I suppose its kind of the same thing.
They break down into shorter lengths with ease and really burn well for a long time.
I suppose its kind of the same thing.
I get mine from save stores for 99p ish and i think they are great i've been yousing them for about 4-5 years when camping with the missis and kids .
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