Illuminating the darkness, warding off that which scares us in the primordial night has always been one of mans concerns............nothing is as comforting on a night alone in the woods as a fire, a torch ya great 0 but a fire now thats a friend.
But what about modern man in our plastic world...........susperstitions bah......... the dark holds no fear for me .............. ya right, Ive camped many a lonely week both near and far and even I get spooked by the boogey man once in a while.
The Native americans called the boogeyman the Wind-a-go spirit, a creature which whispers in your ear, twisting your thoughts - scaring you or sapping your morale - the Indians say the only way to dispell a wind-a-go is to do something positive action .................how on a cold lonely night, in a place where a fire isnt a option I've often found a candle does the job nicely !
Ok, ok SPOOKs aside lets consider the humble candle!
I always carry a pair of tallow candles in my bergen, its a old habit learn from years of experience. Tallow is a edible veg oil so in theory a food source but better than this (you'd have to be bloody hungry to eat a candle) this type of candle has a long life - both on the shelf and in its burn time (typically 10 hours) thats a lot of illumination for a tent or shelter and its a lot of battery power saved!
More importantly a candle is a source of heat - we often burn candles in our teepees on courses to drive out the damp air - they warm the tent by a few degrees (in a snow hole this is critical) but more importantly they warm the tent to the eye casting a comforting welcoming golden glow!
Any candle will do of course - IKEA tea candle 100 for a £1 are almost as good - but I still prefer the long life candles and will often burn the tea candles saving the long life ones for real emergencies .............have you every wished you had a candle in that dark bothy or shelter?
No, next time you venture out into the woods try it - take a candle and see how you get on, not just for light but for the thousand of other uses they can be put to from lubing a bow drill bearing block to waterproofing matches .............
But what about modern man in our plastic world...........susperstitions bah......... the dark holds no fear for me .............. ya right, Ive camped many a lonely week both near and far and even I get spooked by the boogey man once in a while.
The Native americans called the boogeyman the Wind-a-go spirit, a creature which whispers in your ear, twisting your thoughts - scaring you or sapping your morale - the Indians say the only way to dispell a wind-a-go is to do something positive action .................how on a cold lonely night, in a place where a fire isnt a option I've often found a candle does the job nicely !
Ok, ok SPOOKs aside lets consider the humble candle!
I always carry a pair of tallow candles in my bergen, its a old habit learn from years of experience. Tallow is a edible veg oil so in theory a food source but better than this (you'd have to be bloody hungry to eat a candle) this type of candle has a long life - both on the shelf and in its burn time (typically 10 hours) thats a lot of illumination for a tent or shelter and its a lot of battery power saved!
More importantly a candle is a source of heat - we often burn candles in our teepees on courses to drive out the damp air - they warm the tent by a few degrees (in a snow hole this is critical) but more importantly they warm the tent to the eye casting a comforting welcoming golden glow!
Any candle will do of course - IKEA tea candle 100 for a £1 are almost as good - but I still prefer the long life candles and will often burn the tea candles saving the long life ones for real emergencies .............have you every wished you had a candle in that dark bothy or shelter?
No, next time you venture out into the woods try it - take a candle and see how you get on, not just for light but for the thousand of other uses they can be put to from lubing a bow drill bearing block to waterproofing matches .............
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