Emergency Candle

G

guitardemon

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
288
Hi guys,
I was sitting in one of my classes today, day dreaming and came up with an idea. Most of the time when I'm hiking or camping I carry chapstick somewhere in my gear. I was thinking that since chapstick is mostly wax then adding a small piece of string or cloth could make it into a pretty effective emergency candle. Anyway I gave it a try a little while ago, and it worked really well. I used a small piece of hemp sting which burns very poorly by it self, but after pushing it into the center of the chapstick, it sparked up and burned very well. I also found that all my chapstick conveniently had a small hole already bored down the center, making it very easy to introduce the hemp wick. I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with this, but its another double purpose item to keep in mind if you ever get stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just thought id share.
 
How long did you let it burn for? My concern would be that with how soft it is (in your pocket on a warm day = melt) it wouldn't last very long (like, minutes if that).

But it is pretty convenient to have it already hollowed out.
 
That's a really good idea. I'm going to try it. It is amazing how creative the mind can be when bored to death in a class you just can't leave.
 
Does this also mean that Chapstick would be a great firestarter? Maybe lop off a section to use to start a fire? How does it hold a flame without a wick?

a great idea by the way...
 
Guitardemon- great idea!
I'm going to try out a chapstick on cotton ball tinder the next chance I get
 
guitardemon said:
Hi guys,
I was sitting in one of my classes today, day dreaming ...
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Lol! I do that a lot, but hardly ever come up with as great an idea as this!

Now I gotta start carrying a piece of wick with me. I alway have chapstick.

Sometimes I carry the carmex in the sqeeze tube, and that can be used to add to your tinder, just like you put PJ on a cotton ball.

Now I have a usefull second use for when I carry chapstick.

P.S. how long would it go before the outer plastic case melts?
 
Great idea!!! I will try this with different brands. I am going to try to find some with a high beeswax content to try first. They may burn better.
 
But have you actully thought of after the maybe an 1 hour of light from your chap stick you now have nothing, for your lips. in a long term survival, this would be a bad idea. short term yes it would be ok, but you never know how long it would take to be rescued
 
Blood_Grooves said:
But have you actully thought of after the maybe an 1 hour of light from your chap stick you now have nothing, for your lips.
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Well, my Uncle Buz always said to rub horse manure on your lips. Keeps you from licking them and making them drier.
 
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