Candles and Torches

by Tom Brown Jr.

Candles and torches can be manufactured easily in a survival situation. Take either a cattail or a dried mullein stalk, or any pithy stemmed plant and soak it for several hours in warm tallow. Make sure that the tallow soaks up inside the plant. After soaking, bring the stalks out to dry upside down. Wipe off the excess from the outside of the stalks. Now, whenever you want a candle light the stalk and let it burn. A cattail stalk will last from 6-8 hours if well saturated. A mullein will probably last half that time. Other pithy stemmed stalks such as sedge, burdock, giant ragweed, etc. will produce serviceable candles that can last up to 6 hours.

From The Tracker magazine, Summer 1982, published by the Tracker School.
For more articles from The Tracker magazine, visit the Tracker Trail website.

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