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  1. #1

    Default A candle In The Tent

    I have started experimenting with a candle in my tent in the evenings and mornings. Anyone else worked with this?


    The intent is 2 fold for me:

    Evening Use: Mainly ambiance really, I would rather have a candlelight in my tent than to deal with a campfire.

    Morning Use: Mainly to attempt to reduce or eliminate the condensation gathered from the night but on cold mornings to maybe knock the chill out of the tent for packup


    Iterations thus far:

    Trial 1: Tea candle in a cat food can.
    Results:
    • Ambiance there
    • lightweight
    • No physical effects


    Trial 2: Tin can candle, small wick
    • Ambiance there
    • Less lightweight
    • Possible physical effects?


    Trial 3(Not Started): Larger Wick?

    Trial 4(Not Started): IsoB Lantern
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  2. #2
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    Decades ago we used this style of candle lantern: https://www.rei.com/product/206556/u...-lantern-kit-2
    They worked OK, but eventually the melted wax gummed up the sliding action of the spring mechanism. Today I wouldn't want anything with an open/exposed flame in my tent.

  3. #3

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    Ambiance fine. WRT condensation, a candle puts out about 25 watts of power so unlikely to help out in that issue. Spillage and potential fire are the big negatives that need to be managed. My 2 cents.

  4. #4

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    I've had a candle lantern since the 70s. Still bring it car camping. Would never use it inside a tent.
    Teej

    "[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.

  5. #5

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    I've been using candles in the tent for many years but only in winter to keep the fingers thawed and to add a little heat inside. An open flame is safe if you use common sense and pinch off the flame with wet fingers instead of blowing it out (loose embers).

    I've found the best candles to be Shabbat candles with a burn time of about 3 hours---available at most grocery stores.

    aaa5a47f-c184-40f4-8a53-57e0d3cdb4b6_1.893c7758a198e542ae09252a0ef58bfc.jpeg

    A candle can be bottom melted and placed in an empty Blistex container for a stand---
    index.jpg

    TRIP 153 211-XL.jpg
    My setup.

    TRIP 172 225-XL.jpg
    These candles are great but sometimes you run into manufacturing defects like a double wick.

  6. #6

    Default

    Other pics---

    TRIP 153 168-XL.jpg
    A little nub glues easily to a piece of paper for final burn---snuff out before finishing.

    TRIP 127 085-L.jpg
    Keeping a journal at 10F is easier with a warming flame to keep fingers thawed.

  7. #7
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    While folks might think candles can be used in tents safely, the potential for fire is certainly not zero. You could easily fall asleep, knock the candle over, etc. Why take an unnecessary risk when there are plenty of safe electronic options available?

  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by fudgefoot View Post
    While folks might think candles can be used in tents safely, the potential for fire is certainly not zero. You could easily fall asleep, knock the candle over, etc. Why take an unnecessary risk when there are plenty of safe electronic options available?
    Because the electronic options neither heat the tent nor reduce humidity.

    Yes, there is some risk. But used cautiously, candles do have a place.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by CalebJ View Post
    Yes, there is some risk. But used cautiously, candles do have a place.
    Well a fire extinguisher is a bit heavy to carry but have an escape plan. If in a floored tent have a sharp knife to allow you to escape your tent if it catches on fire. You do not want to be messing with a zipper. Zippers are fussy enough sometimes, more so when on fire too. Although I would imagine a lightweight tent is going to burn pretty fast. These are my untested thoughts.

    When I saw your post title a Palmer Furnace immediately popped into my mind.

  10. #10

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    A tent can completely burn in 60 seconds. An open flame in a tent is not worth the risk.

  11. #11
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    I've learned about the candle-in-a-tent trick to warm it up a bit, ages ago while at the Boy Scouts (but, we didn't use it then).
    Some 30yrs ago when I did some winter hiking&overnighting with a girlfriend, I tried to provide some special feature by burning a candle in the tent.
    Within seconds, the candle was burning through the tent (luckily it was only one decent hole in the inner, no damage to the fly).
    This was the first and last time I'd use a candle in the tent, or around tents at all.
    Similar with water bottles - all my waterbottles strictly stay outside the tent.

  12. #12

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    I also have a candle lantern which is safe to use in a tent. Open flame, no way no matter how careful. It also makes for a nice imitation campfire when one is not allowed. I typically use it in the fall when it gets dark early, but I'm not nearly ready to go to sleep.

    An alternative to a real candle lantern would be a tin can with the side cut open a bit. Use a can opener which allows putting the top back on to open the can.
    Last edited by Slo-go'en; 01-30-2023 at 19:40.
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  13. #13
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    I also used the candle lantern in my tent. (still have a couple somewhere in gear box) I would hang the lantern about a foot below the top of the tent so that the rising heat would not burn the top of the tent (netting). It provided some light and warmed the tent a little (10 degrees?). Have not used them in years --hammock now-but might if tenting in cold weather. Its too heavy to carry all the time though!

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gambit McCrae View Post
    I have started experimenting with a candle in my tent in the evenings and mornings. Anyone else worked with this?
    that's all i used for 16,000+ miles on the AT. i put a candle lantern candle on an upside down sierra cup. don't need no stinkin' fancy headlamp

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Leo L. View Post
    I've learned about the candle-in-a-tent trick to warm it up a bit, ages ago while at the Boy Scouts (but, we didn't use it then).
    Some 30yrs ago when I did some winter hiking&overnighting with a girlfriend, I tried to provide some special feature by burning a candle in the tent.
    Within seconds, the candle was burning through the tent (luckily it was only one decent hole in the inner, no damage to the fly).
    This was the first and last time I'd use a candle in the tent, or around tents at all.
    Similar with water bottles - all my waterbottles strictly stay outside the tent.

    +1. My water bags and alcohol fuel bottle stay outside at the foot of the tent.
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    My experience: I've used two different UCO candle lanterns for the reasons you describe. I've come to the conclusion that, for me, they aren't worth the additional weight even though it is quite small. Having said that, my opinion is that you'd need to be extraordinarily clumsy to somehow knock one of them down: get the flame to somehow escape the glass enclosure; and ignite anything. I've even heard people worry about burning up all the oxygen in their tent and suffocating. I've had one of the 10-hour ones burning all night long, and if I thought it was worth the weight would do so again with no safety qualms. I wouldn't count on any appreciable added warmth or help with condensation, but in terms of cheer or atmosphere: I'd say give it a try and just exercise the bare minimum of caution.

  17. #17
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    A little common sense goes a long way! I've been using candles in my tents for years, make sure its secure and can not fall over. Never sleep while the candle is burning and if your tent is crowded with just you and your gear theres no room for a lit candle.

  18. #18

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    I am not a fan of open flame in a man-made fabric environment that would describe most tents used today. Watching videos of tents burning is frightening to see how quickly the fabric burns in all directions at once, shredding into globs of burning nylon following contact with an open flame. Additionally one can easily see if the tent does start on fire, closed up with the owner in it, the integrated structural integrity of the tent fabric (needed to put tension on and work zippers) quickly fails and burns away so tent zippers may not work and guy lines will quickly burn through to collapse the tent, wrapping the occupant in burning fabric that cannot be removed or extinguished easily.

    While some people have used candles for years in tents without incident, others have died as a quick look into the internet illustrates, like this news story https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/12/1...le-for-warmth/. I cannot imagine the terror and pain of death inside a tent from flying bits of flaming nylon as one gets wrapped in burning fabric. I have seen a lot of people use candles rather irresponsibly in tents over the years, many who do this routinely have a story or two about scoching the tent or gear, or a dramatic narrow escape.

    Knowing the dangers is important for anyone who brings open flame into a tent to do so in a way to mitigate some of the dangers, though there really is no "safe" flame inside a tent. The risk of failure is moderate to high, the consequences of failure is life threatening to fatal. While the occupant may survive the fire itself, it likely will damage or destroy necessary gear like boots, clothing, and packs which puts the camper at risk of exposure unless help can be reached quickly.
    Last edited by Traveler; 01-31-2023 at 09:11.

  19. #19
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    I'm a retired firefighter. I don't even have candles in the house.

  20. #20
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    Default A candle In The Tent

    I love UCO lantern in a shelter, especially when I am alone. also nice on a tree limb at camp, just for effect. I don't use it in a tent though...I'm too worried about my precious Silnylon.

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