Oil Candles & Lamps

The other day, I came across someone who was talking with great passion about oil candles and/or improvised oil lamps. They had a lot of information on how to improvise at need, provided you had wick material. Honestly, good to know if you are out of position when disaster strikes, except for the wick part though you can improvise that at need (pure cotton shoe laces for example).

While looking at their post, an odd feeling hit, and I began to smile. The next morning at Church, I double checked some things. Later, I checked in at the nearby religious bookstore, and frankly grinned a bit.

While you may have to hit a bookstore associated with one of the more traditional branches (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic), there is no need to reinvent the wheel as the monks have you covered. You have brass and twisted wire wick holders, floating holders, and a variety of containers and container holders. Most of what I have turns out to be from Holy Cross, but am also hearing some good things said about Holy Archangel Candles.

With a trimmed wick and filled oil source, you can get a surprising amount of light out of a simple oil candle. Go with a holder that can handle a wider (lamp) wick, and you are doing good. My advice is to keep the wick trimmed, and if you keep the candle/oil source filled you can get a lot of life out the wick even as you get a lot of light.

Two other things to keep in mind. One, do NOT use extra virgin olive oil. It does not burn well, to be polite. Regular olive oil has a higher smoke point and is the way to go, though in an emergency you can use almost any vegetable oil. Two, provided it is not rancid, out-of-date olive oil still burns quite well and does not smell. You may can even find some restaurants willing to give you, or sell cheap, olive oil that is headed out of date.

Oil candles and lamps give you another layer in keeping the lights on, so to speak. Flashlights, camping lanterns, wax candles, candle lanterns, and chem lights all have their place and are good things to have. Adding one more layer is just insurance. Fairly inexpensive insurance too, as I don’t think I paid over $3.50 for any holder or packet of wicks, and some of the holders you can find for $1. Finally, to be honest, oil candles are pretty insurance at that.

Just thought I should throw a bit of light on the subject.

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