Bushcraft and camping in the snow with some cooking and woodcraft. Using the Polish Lavvu poncho as shelter. Second night the wick was too short in the lantern so made a candle the next day. Last time I did this candle people said you can't make a candle out of sap without beeswax in the mix. So this time I made sure to prove them wrong. So let me tell you about it.

This candle have a strip of birch bark as wick. It doesn't really work as a normal wick where fire cling on to it. The wick burns up fast and leaves like a small elevation of carbonized residue on the surface in the warm sap. That is the place where the flame holds on too. This candle is a bit slow in the start when you light it and sometimes needs to be relit a couple of times. In wind it won't work. The downside with not having a real wick is it is very sensitive to the slightest wind. As with fatwood you harvest, sap will also have different amount of resin in it from time to time. Every time I make this candle it burns a bit different. Normally, the point with mixing wax to the sap is to make it burn slower. Uncontrolled fire on spruce sap burns too much and too fast. But I have never found beeswax in the wild so I had to think of a way to make it work anyway, as always fast and simple or else I don't see the point in making it. The stones on top work as dampers where you can control the burn to your liking. This time the burn was a bit sparky because it was snowing when I made it. Moisture got into the sap mix. The tiny explosions of water evaporating made the flame more erratic. Im not sure if this shortened or prolonged the burn time. On one hand maybe the moisture slowed things down, on the other I know erratic burn is never good. But I normally have heating and cooking in mind when it comes to fires so who knows. But if the point with a candle is to see in the dark you want one without moisture to avoid the flickering light. There is also the idea to mix other things in the sap like ash or dirt to slow the burn but I have not tried that yet. Of course a small piece of cotton etc also will work as a wick in an emergency.

The optimal use of this candle are in calm dark places. In a cave for example. I would light it when I need it and blow it out directly. This way it would last for days. The total burn this time was about an hour. Last time I made one was in summer. That one burned longer, but there can be many circumstances explaining why. It was another piece of sap, different temp, season, wind, a steady burn that led to I could put the stone ring in real tight, making a small steady flame that at times burned so controlled it almost looked frozen in time. Like a picture. It was really cool. The smoke from this candle is pretty nasty so bear that in mind if using it in a smaller tent. It would need good ventilation above.

Thanks for watching!

#bushcraft #survival #hiking #camping