Trench Candles

[Robson Valley]

"Lamp Oil" might be another synonym. Used to really stink in hot (40+C) weather.
There's a warmth from carbon flames which will never be matched by modern lights.

 

[forrestdweller]

I use what we call paraffin but looks like you call it kerosene.

(y) i'm sure that stuff is available around here... last year i saw a version made from empty jam jars at a friend's place - haven't seen him for a long time so next visit i'm gonna ask him how he made them(iirc he used cooking oil as fuel). empty cartridges sound like a good idea, too but empty .50 cal shells are rather hard to come by in a country which disbanded his military in 1948 (which means no civil war since then and the money gets invested in health care and education instead)

 

[Wayland]

(y) i'm sure that stuff is available around here... last year i saw a version made from empty jam jars at a friend's place - haven't seen him for a long time so next visit i'm gonna ask him how he made them(iirc he used cooking oil as fuel). empty cartridges sound like a good idea, too but empty .50 cal shells are rather hard to come by in a country which disbanded his military in 1948 (which means no civil war since then and the money gets invested in health care and education instead)

Sounds like a very good investment now I guess.

It's a shame more countries haven't done the same. Right now it's ventilators that are saving lives, not bombs.

 

[Wayland]

"Lamp Oil" might be another synonym. Used to really stink in hot (40+C) weather.
There's a warmth from carbon flames which will never be matched by modern lights.

I quite like the smell of paraffin, it reminds me of my Nan's house.

She used to have an old paint tin in the kitchen porch half filled with paraffin with sticks of kindling soaking in it for lighting the coal fires.

 

[Toddy]

It reminds me of careful Winter warmth. Little flying saucer shaped heaters under the cistern in the bathroom. Just enough to stop the pipes freezing and make going to the loo not an icy shiver of removing clothing.
It was the smell of the Tilley lamp in my Dad's workshop too, and in the big tent when we went camping with the boat.
Home kind of smell. Very evocative.

M

 

[Robson Valley]

Yes, kerosene = "coal oil." I didn't really mind the smell unless the weather was stinking hot.
I had a bunch of antique coal oil table lamps in my lake house (built for family 1912.).
Left them behind when I sold the place.

One silver-plated monster had been converted to electric light so I took that one with me.
Now, I'm so accustomed to touch lights that I have to think hard about where I put it.

 

[Wayland]

Smell is a very powerful trigger for memory. I always try to include some olfactory element in my historical presentations for that very reason.

I don't know if it's true or not but I once heard that it directly evokes a response in our amygdala, which is a very "primitive" part of our brain linked to emotion.

Haven't heard it called "coal oil" for ages, funnily enough that reminded me of my grandad on the other side.

 

[Robbi]

thought I'd have a go at making a trench candle today using compression fittings but after some internet research I figured that over here it may not be such a good idea.....

'Massive disruption' after pipe bomb found in north Belfast

A pipe bomb has been discovered in North Belfast.

www.goqradio.com

 

[Toddy]

Aye, well, there is that

Shame really, bit like us with knives here.

 

[Broch]

thought I'd have a go at making a trench candle today using compression fittings but after some internet research I figured that over here it may not be such a good idea.....

'Massive disruption' after pipe bomb found in north Belfast

A pipe bomb has been discovered in North Belfast.

www.goqradio.com

Ah, didn't think of that when I made mine

 

[Wayland]

If the police look in my van, a trench candle could be the least of my worries...

 

[Robson Valley]

Carve a kudlik (quilliq), an Inuit soapstone cooker lamp.
The seal blubber fuel might be hard to source. Sheep tallow or bacon fat would be OK.
Just some fuel that solidifies at room temp and colder for the sake of transportation.
You can likely get Brazilian soapstone as easily as I can.

 

[Wayland]

I use historical lamps of all sorts in my work. Usually with oil but sometimes with fat.

They have thier place but not usually inside a lantern.

 

[Robson Valley]

Their multitude always make your camp pictures so warm and inviting. Sparks of good cheer.

 

[Wayland]

I trained as a photographer before ending up as a Viking.

I approach a camp photograph in the way I would handle a studio shot. It's all about the lighting.