2005-10-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

In an emergency situation, there are few things beyond food and water which comes up to the value of a good lamp.

I am referring to an oil lamp that does not work with petroleum fuels such as liquid paraffin or kerosene, but rather with vegetable oil and/or liquefied fats.

Lamps designed to burn Olive oil, and other vegetable oils and fats can be gotten from Oil Lamps at Lehman’s

or, Merry Corliss at cabinindustry@aol.com mention olive oil lamps in subject bar.

LIGHT, WARMTH, and FLAME STORAGE are among the many values attached to having a good lamp. In addition, a good lamp can be used to start a grander fire such as a camp fire to keep warm.

Here are some TIPS:

Most animal fat will work fine in an oil lamp designed for heavy fuels. Kerosene is a light fuel, and it is actually evaporating all of the time. When burning animal fat in a lamp, the oil must be liquefied. Heat is needed to do this. Once the liquefied fat is burning in the lamp, the lamp keeps it warm enough to stay liquid. If the lamp is shut down and the fuel supply hardens, It must be liquefied before the lamp will work again. A way to circumvent this is to add liquid vegetable oil to the top of the hardened fat. Be careful to not swamp the wick. A small portion of the wick holding coil must be above the oil level for the lamp to work. The oil will work allowing the lamp to warm up and liquefy the fat. If liquefying fat is no problem for you, it might surprise you to see how well lard works, or rendered butter fat. Butter lamps are used extensively in oriental cultures, and are very beautiful. Our olive oil lamps work fine as butter lamps. We've burned bear fat, chicken fat, bacon grease,(surprisingly quite odor free with a properly trimmed wick) butter, and all kinds of vegetable fuel. (Corn oil DOES NOT WORK WELL)

One of the main considerations on what are the best fuels to use is how well they wick and how odor free is the fuel. Here's what I mean. Oils and fats contain non-burnables. These do not interfere with a good clean wick properly trimmed, but after the lamp has been burning, these impurities collect, and clog the wick. The wick then has to be re-trimmed. Some oils are richer in these non-burnables than others. Olive oil is perhaps the finest fuel to use with regard to this consideration. Linolenic acid (the source of linoleum) will clog the wick, but not for up to 20 hours. It is therefore more pleasant to use this fuel. It also burns odor free. Actually olive oil is very economical to burn, In many cases cheaper than candles. Rancid olive oil burns fine with an odor free flane. Almost all other fuels will clog the wick sooner. In an emergency however, these considerations can be set aside, and therefore many, many fuels may be perfectly acceptable and appreciated.

It is essential to wicking for light that the wick be clean and properly trimmed. Our lamps seem to work best with about 1/4 inch showing above the wick holders. It is also desirable to clean your lamp fairly often. This is easy to do with dish soap since we are never talking about using toxic fuels.

Our lamps are designed to sit on the bottom of the oil vessel. I know there are floating wicks etc. Which wick oil, but they do not work well compared to our system. The long part on the lamp is a handle for the user. The lamp does not hang on the side of the container. It sits on the bottom. Usually this container is a jar or glass.

It is possible to start a camp fire, or survival fire by using our lamp elements in a disposable container such as a tuna can, or jar lid. One need only put oil into the disposable container and turn it into a lamp. Build your fire properly around this flame, and it will kindle a full fledged fire. Fish your element out of the going fire, dust it off, re-wick it, and it can go right back into your light lamp.

Note: Never adjust your coil's height. It is the perfect height to accomplish wicking heavier fats and vegetable oil. ALSO, NEVER USE PETROLEUM FUELS as these will flash and create a dangerous situation.

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BE PREPARED FOR EMERGENCY! EVERYONE'S ELECTRICITY WILL GO OUT SOONER OR LATER