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Carmex Candle

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Dec 23, 2010 at 3:14 pm #1266895

Michael Reagan
Member

@michaelreagan
Locale: Southern California

This may be the most singularly useless item one could pack, or it might come in handy to a few. You decide. Take a jar of Carmex lip balm, add a wick, and presto: the Carmex Candle.

On the plus side, it smells really nice, and besides offering a bit of light, might help take the edge off any funky odors in your tent just a bit. Enjoy!

Michael

Dec 23, 2010 at 4:08 pm #1677175

John West
Spectator

@skyzo
Locale: Borah Gear

thats a pretty good idea, I use a tealight candle to read. It weighs very little, and gives off a lot of light. How long does the carmex burn for?

Dec 23, 2010 at 4:41 pm #1677187

John Roan
BPL Member

@jroan
Locale: Vegas

Me likes! :~)>

Dec 23, 2010 at 5:56 pm #1677203

David Lutz
Member

@davidlutz
Locale: Bay Area

multi-use gear!!

Dec 23, 2010 at 9:11 pm #1677233

Javan Dempsey
Member

@jdempsey
Locale: The-Stateless-Society

"multi-use gear!!"

If you can exercise both uses simultaneously, I'll be impressed. ;P

Better yet, do it on video, one handed. ;)

Dec 24, 2010 at 1:08 am #1677251

Henk Smees
BPL Member

@theflyingdutchman
Locale: Spanish Mountains

Very cool. Weight???

Thought about using it for cooking? If one flame isn’t enough, may two??? Depends upon how long the candle would last, but this could turn it into triple use. :)

Dec 24, 2010 at 8:06 pm #1677436

Colin Krusor
BPL Member

@ckrusor
Locale: Northwest US

This is an excellent idea. My compliments, Michael.

I had actually wondered in a pedestrian way about things like this before, but never tried it. Fats and waxes have a much greater heat of combustion in air than alcohol. I think Roger Caffin may have authored an article about candle-stoves that appeared on BPL a while ago.

I wonder if you could use a solid vegetable fat like coconut oil for a large candle in a lightweight container. Then it would be quadruple-purpose:

1. skin/lip protectant
2. cooking fuel
3. edible cooking oil
4. light source

Dec 24, 2010 at 8:24 pm #1677440

Weiyi Wang
Spectator

@wwyjedi
Locale: mid

I gotta try this. where can i get some wick?

Dec 25, 2010 at 6:30 am #1677478

Trevor Gwynn
Member

@gwynn1975
Locale: Spokane Area

You can get wicks at most craft stores like Micheals. I've even seen it at WalMart before.

BTW: Great idea to the OP

Dec 25, 2010 at 12:05 pm #1677510

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

Full article on candle stoves at
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/candle_stoves.html

Explorations into Candle Stoves
Mark Hurd and Roger Caffin

Cheers

Dec 26, 2010 at 5:53 am #1677645

James Langford
Member

@ekdog

Great idea! I'm a little concerned, though, because the little Carmex containers, which used to be made of some kind of glass, are now plastic :-(. Would the flame be hot enough to burn or melt the plastic and produce toxic fumes?
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