Traditional way of lighting - making rush lights.

[mcprepper]

So after reading some apocalypse ‘doom and gloom’ fiction I started to give some thought to alternative lighting methods if the grid went down for a longer period of time. I’ve got loads of torches/batteries and have shares in ikea candles but, after watching a video about traditional lighting methods in Cumbria, decided to have a go at making ‘rush light’ candles. As I live on a moor and am surrounded by them, this seemed like an obvious thing to have a go at (both from a prepper and traditional hobby point of view).
My daily dog walks turned into picking handfuls of rushes (with Mr mcprepper becoming competitive and declaring his were bigger than mine) and leaving them to soak in water in a baking tray. Then, we would romantically sit at the kitchen table with our leathermans, peeling the green outer skin off (leaving one thin strip down the side for strength. The final part of the process was to soak the rushes in fat. I, rather stupidly, heated the lard too hot and ended up ‘frying’ the first batch but soon learned the technique. Mr mcprepper then kindly bought me a rush light holder (v expensive antiques on eBay but replicas are on various websites - ‘get dressed for battle’ was the one he used - I’m sure handy people could just make something with a crocodile clip).
Result - light is as bright as a candle, they don’t drip if you angle them correctly, they don’t smell much (I hate scented candles anyway) and, best of all, they’re free (I’ve since discovered you can use any used cooking oil etc) as we have an endless supply on our doorstep. I haven’t figured out how to post links/photos on here yet but YouTube have some nice short little videos showing how to make them.
Mr mcprepper reckons he’s going to stick to his headtorch (he’s only partly on board with this prepping lark) but I found the process actually quite relaxing
Anyway, sorry this is a long post - it took a bit of explaining - it might be interesting to somebody, somewhere … or not!!

[Arzosah]

Definitely interesting, thank you! There are no rushes round here, except for a dozen or so in the village pond, so I doubt I'll currently use it, but I'm always interested to hear of experiments like this, that's great.

[pseudonym]

Thanks for sharing.

[GillyBee]

It never hurts to have this sort of skillset. And it is flippin good fun as you have found out. Mr Gillybee is able to have a stab at stone tools and had a lesson in making a bronze age furnace - but the back garden is not really able to cope with the mess those 2 activities make so we dont do a lot of it. I have been gently learning more skills at making twine/yarn by hand. Next stop may be learning to spin with a hand spindle.

[mcprepper]

It never hurts to have this sort of skillset. And it is flippin good fun as you have found out. Mr Gillybee is able to have a stab at stone tools and had a lesson in making a bronze age furnace - but the back garden is not really able to cope with the mess those 2 activities make so we dont do a lot of it. I have been gently learning more skills at making twine/yarn by hand. Next stop may be learning to spin with a hand spindle.

They also sound interesting - yes you do need both time and equipment for these interests but very rewarding when you do have a go. I tried spinning as a child as my aunt had all the kit and used to spin her own yarn from the wool from some Jacobs sheep - it was very relaxing but I don’t think I could remember how to do it now. I love it that these old traditions are having something of a revival and you never know when you might need them …

[GillyBee]

Depending on where you are in the country there are a number of "Bushcraft" shows that tend to include teaching and demonstrating a lot of these skills. I know of the Wilderness Gathering in Kent and the Bushcraft Show in the Midlands. There must be more further north but I am too much of a southerner to know of them.

[grenfell]

I’ve made these as part of the re-enactment I do . I’d heard t something people saying they smell but I’ve never noticed anything too objectionable. It might be when using old used cooking fat that some smell may occur . They don’t last as long as a candle although to be fair while I’ve never tried it I would think that side by side with a candle of the same thickness the burn time would be similar.
I’ve never properly used them for lighting as such , re-enactments generally don’t take place at night but we do light a couple ever so often during the day to demonstrate and also show off the rush light holder one of our members has made.
Unfortunately on a lot of re-enactments most people use battery lights or another favourite seems to be a lamp made with a roll of toilet paper soaked in lamp oil . Decent light and burn time but I just don’t like the idea of burning perfectly good toilet paper…

[mcprepper]

Unfortunately on a lot of re-enactments most people use battery lights or another favourite seems to be a lamp made with a roll of toilet paper soaked in lamp oil . Decent light and burn time but I just don’t like the idea of burning perfectly good toilet paper…

I can’t imagine any prepper burning a toilet roll!

[grenfell]

I hate the waste so yes I’m uneasy about it.
Going a bit off topic but there’s also some in the group who are really fussy with food too saying how any food with a short bb date should just be chucked “ because it’s cheap enough to just replace” . Needless to say it doesn’t get chucked it comes to our house . Incidentally going back to the toilet rolls I have noticed that at the end of an event or for that matter when one is collected from a site any part or opened roll in the ports loos gets chucked so a few of those have found their way home too.

[mcprepper]

I don’t throw anything out! It has to have legs and walk away by itself. I’m with you on the tins front though I’ve never made it to 12 years … I bet it didn’t taste that much different? We regularly eat stuff well past its BB date and it’s always fine. Sometimes just loses a little flavour. We never eat anything from a tin that has rusted/bulged etc and also if the tin is dented it gets used first. I read somewhere that new tins with a ring pull won’t last as long/well as traditional ‘sealed’ tins so I try to buy without a ring pull (not always possible and is usually the ‘value’ ranges). Good for you for ‘rescuing’ those toilet rolls - I would do the same!