Heating your tent with a candle or oil lantern

I used to always take candle lanterns in the winter.  I have a 1980s Early Winters lantern and a 1970s French lantern.  I seem to recall calculating that lightweight LED lights give more hours per weight than candles, although I don’t have the numbers handy.

But I agree the ambiance and small amount of heat from candles can’t be beat!

Right Roger, just had a “senior moment” there and really meant to type CO poisoning.

I was a Ski Patroller for a long time and know the signs of CO poisoning. If one is solo camping you must be extremely cautious of this problem.

Another problem is partial CO poisoning where you think you’ve avoided it but actually have a CO buildup in your blood. The next day you will notice lack of strength and endurance,  varying on how much CO you inhaled the previous day. CO binds to your red blood cells, blocking their uptake of O2 and creating hypoxia when exercise begins.

When camping in snow caves, we used to light one to three tea light candles, partly for the ambient light and partly because it did something to keep the moisture levels down. I swear it felt warmer too, but that may have been placebo.

Tea candles in a snow cave: very nice light, and if you have a good exhaust hole in the roof the hot air going out it may even limit the build up of humidity. But you must keep the air vent open if there is a storm outside.

Cheers