When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes

by Cody Lundin

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  BURNIN' DOWN THE HOUSE

  According to data from the USFA's National Fire Incident Reporting System and the National Fire Protection Agency, most candle fires (44.5 percent) occur in the bedroom (wink, wink!); followed by the living room, family room, or den (18.6 percent); the bathroom (11.4 percent); and the kitchen (7.2 percent). The most common materials to go up in flames were mattresses or bedding (12.8 percent); cabinetry (10.1 percent); and curtains, blinds, or drapes (8.4 percent).

  Forty percent of the fires occurred because candles were left unattended, abandoned, or inadequately controlled. Nearly 20 percent occurred because a combustible item was too close to the candle. The following figures represent the leading causes for residential candle fire incidents:

  Candle left alone—19.3 percent

  Candle too close to combustibles—19.1 percent

  Candle misused—11.4 percent

  Inadequate control of flame—10.2 percent

  Out-of-control kids—8.7 percent

  Abandoned material—7.4 percent

  Falling asleep—4.5 percent

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  Homemade Primitive Candles

  Fat or Oil Lamps

  One of the most well-known indigenous candles is the Inuit fat lamp or kudlick. Fat lamps or oil lamps, in one form or other, have been around for thousands of years cross-culturally. All indigenous peoples needed to make a fat lamp was a container, fat or oil, and a wick. In ancient Greece and Rome, lamps were fueled by olive oil; in India, ghee was used; and in ancient Persia they used petroleum that was freely oozing from the ground. Olive oil lamps continued to be used in countries around the Mediterranean Sea up until the nineteenth century. A recent experiment in the metrology laboratories of Kodak-Pathe, France, used modern replicas of Paleolithic fat-burning lamps to investigate how much light they put off. It was found that although the lamps lacked the light intensity of a candle, they were still good enough to illuminate the way for navigating through a cave or to light up fine work such as creating a cave painting when placed close to the work. Recent experiments of my own using primitive lamps in various teepees, wickiups, and wall tents have shown the same results.

  You can make your own fat lamp using everyday household items following Robbie Rubbish's instructions. Any sort of noncombustible container can be used such as clean metal cans, bottles, or clay jars, along with an assortment of different fats and oils, such as olive oil, corn oil, vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, liquid paraffin, and others. Even bacon grease and lard will work but must be cleaned first of debris in order to burn reliably. Good wicks, through capillary action, "wick" heated liquid fuel up their length and convey it to the free-burning end without being consumed too quickly. Serviceable wicks can be made from an assortment of items from jute or cotton string to pieces of rag or clothing. Some mosses, lichen, grasses, and fibrous plants, such as juniper bark and dogbane, will work as they are or processed into cordage. Even twisted-up toilet paper or paper towels will work. The amount of light put out by the fat or oil lamp is determined by the quality of the fuel and the length of the wick. More wick usually means more light, at the expense of burning more fuel. The type of fuel, what the wick is made from, and how the wick is adjusted will determine the amount of blackish smoke and smell coming from your lamp, so go for the cleanest-burning fuels possible. In my oil lamps, I use commercially available braided "glass" wicks, as they smoke the least and last for an eternity. Even so, playing four hours of Monopoly around a couple of oil lamps will cause you to have black boogers the next time you blow your nose. All orange and yellow flames produce harmful carbon monoxide gas so use caution.

  Pitch Wood Candles

  Some earthy-yuppie catalog retailers sell resin-saturated wood by the name of "fat wood," or pitch wood. If you live in or around evergreen woods, you can gather it by the ton with no cost other than your time. Pitch wood refers to conifer trees in which, for whatever reason (usually it's because the tree has died), their highly combustible sap has been condensed into focused areas. It's easy to distinguish from regular wood as it's a lot heavier and denser. In an area where an evergreen has died and mostly rotted away, pitch wood might be the only pieces of wood left, as it's fairly rot resistant. Take a knife to a piece of pitch wood and carve off a bit of the outer layer and you'll see a honey color that will smell strongly of sap. Pitch wood burns like crazy. It can be split and made into emergency candles for lighting or used to help ignite and burn wet fuel.

  To make a candle, find a piece of pitch wood in which the grain runs from end to end. It can be a piece as big around as a pencil or your finger or larger, and six to twelve inches long or longer. Make a split on one of the ends about an inch deep. Split it the other way as well so that the end has four distinct "prongs." I wedge a couple of tiny pieces of wood into the splits to keep the prongs away from each other. This allows oxygen to infiltrate your "candle." Unlike a blob of pine pitch, which will burn in a chaotic, bubbling mess, the grain in the pitch wood acts like the wick of a candle, helping to stabilize the flame for controlled burning. Pitch wood candles take some fussing around and put off an intense black smoke, but they may have applications for your family if you're down and out on the back forty.

  Lovable Lanterns

  In general, a lantern is a portable lighting device that's used to illuminate large areas. There are many types to choose from. Some lanterns are used for decoration, others for general outdoor camping, and others are safe enough to bring into the house. Most of these lanterns are fuel-based of one type or another, whether kerosene, white gas, propane, or wax. CAUTION! All fuel-burning lanterns can be hazardous, and the dangers include burns, the potential of fire, dealing with flammable and toxic fuels, and carbon monoxide poisoning. If you have kids or pets, think twice about using fuel-burning means of illumination.

  Candle Lanterns

  Candle lanterns have been around for a very long time and consist of some sort of glass container, which lets the light through but protects the candle flame from the wind. Centuries ago, the Chinese captured fireflies and added them to transparent containers for cool but short-lived lanterns. In the past two decades, candle lanterns have become vogue in the camping and backpacking scene by companies who have designed lightweight, telescoping lanterns for easy packing. You can easily make your own by putting a candle inside a glass jar and anchoring it in sand or dirt. Wire can be wrapped around the top of the jar or around the jar itself so the homemade lantern can be suspended where convenient. Caution should be used with ANY direct flame method of lighting your house, so reread the previous candle safety tips.

  Kerosene Lanterns and Lamps

  Flat-wicked kerosene lanterns, sometimes called hurricane lamps, were commonly used since the late 1800s for lighting homes, barns, and outhouses, as well as horse-drawn carriages, railroad cars, and early automobiles. They were also used as an early method of navigation and signaling on both land and sea and had interchangeable colored globes of glass to signify different needs and intentions. They are still available at discount and camping stores. While these lanterns are cheap and durable, they provide little light and are not suited for reading. They also require a periodic trimming of their wick and regular cleaning of soot build-up from the inside of the glass chimney.

  These lanterns were originally designed as a more portable and durable version of the kerosene lamp. Cheaper kerosene lanterns should not be brought into an airtight house, as they stink (especially when using poor grades of kerosene), can be dangerous if tipped over, and are more likely to cause carbon monoxide poisoning than more expensive and better-burning kerosene lamps.

  Just a few generations ago, kerosene lamps were the mainstay of lighting up almost everyone's life. My grandparents grew up with them and have passed a few on down to me. The king of kerosene lamp makers was The Mantle Lamp Company of America, which was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1908. The company changed its name in 1949 to Aladdin Industries. In 1999, a gr
oup of lamp collectors called the Aladdin Knights purchased part of the company and renamed it the Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company.

  Aladdin created some absolutely gorgeous kerosene lamps for the home that have modern lamp collectors drooling. Aladdin also trashed the poorly performing flat-type wick and developed a specialized cylindrical wick with a central airflow tube that works awesomely with the high and uniform heating demands of mantle-type lighting. Mantle-type lanterns use a woven, ceramic-impregnated gas mantle to accept and reradiate heat as visible light from a flame. The mantle itself doesn't burn, although the cloth matrix carrying the ceramic must be "burned" with a match prior to first using a new mantle. When heated by the flame, the mantle glows incandescently, and some have a comparable light output of a standard 60-watt light bulb or more! To stabilize the airflow and to protect against the high temperatures that are created, a cylindrical glass shield called a "globe" or chimney is placed around the mantle.

  Conforming to modern times, Aladdin later went on to manufacture electrical lamps as well. Even today, Aladdin lamps enjoy a cult following and it shouldn't be hard to buy obscure parts for your lamp with a little searching on the Internet. While kerosene lamps rate high on the nostalgic cool meter, and they do work well, they can be quite complex to operate (and expensive to buy) and must have an owner that doesn't mind fiddling with this and that to get the best results. Unless you already have experience with this type of lighting, leave it to the collectors for use during an emergency.

  Grades of Kerosene

  There are different grades of kerosene, and if you do decide to use a kerosene lamp in the home, you will want the best grade possible. The grade or quality of the kerosene, how clear and clean it is, will influence how often you'll need to replace the lamp wick, how clean a burn and how much light you'll get, and how much the lamp smells. The better the grade of kerosene, the longer your wicks and your health will last. Supposedly the best grade of kerosene that can be purchased for lamps with the least amount of odor is from the Aladdin Company and is called Genuine Aladdin Lamp Oil, which is available from any Aladdin dealer. Although it's called "oil," it's really kerosene in this instance.

  The next-best grade of kerosene is called "K-1" and is usually available at most hardware stores in the paint section. However, due to a recent government law on motor fuel tax, quality K-1 kerosene is harder and harder to find. Rural gas stations may also have bulk, taxed kerosene at the pump. There are different grades of K-1 as well so check to see if the stuff you're about to buy is as clear as water and virtually odorless. If you can, avoid grades of kerosene that have been dyed red, stink badly, or are yellowish in color. These impurities will reduce the light output of the lamp, shorten the life of the wick (the dye clogs the wick), and potentially shorten your life if you use them in tight, enclosed areas. For the lamp collector in you, crummy grades of kerosene can also discolor the lamp bowl itself, and some older Aladdin lamps go for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

  Some lamps look and operate much like a kerosene lamp, but burn lamp oil instead. Commercial lamp oil typically comes in two grades and is available by the pint or the gallon. For indoor use, get the best quality oil you can find such as 99 percent pure paraffin lamp oil. The other cheaper variety is usually reserved for tiki torches or other outside lighting options. Many stores that sell lamp oil only do so during the holidays. Be aware of that limitation and stock up when you can.

  White-Gas Lanterns

  A few decades ago, no camping trip was complete without the familiar, forest green, manually pressurized, Coleman brand white-gas lantern in the one- or two-mantle model. "White" gas is a purified form of gasoline—without additives or dyes—that's not suitable for use as a motor fuel. While still very popular (I must have three or four of them), white-gas lanterns are being phased out for the more convenient propane or electric lanterns. White gas can also be used in camp stoves. If you have and use the white-gas variety, use caution about storing and using the fuel, especially around kids and rambunctious pets.

  Propane Lanterns

  Propane (a fuel that becomes liquid when compressed) lanterns are more convenient, safer to use, and less messy than the older-style white-gas variety. I prefer storing propane containers over white gas any day, as they have a veritably indefinite shelf life if the containers are protected from moisture (which can cause corrosion of the container) and excess heat. Although pressurized propane canisters can be deadly, there is usually not much that can go wrong, as the fuel stays inside the canister until it's needed. How long the canister will last, like any fuel, depends on how high you turn up the lantern, and all mantle-type lanterns do kick out great light.

  Operating a newer camping-size propane lantern is easy. Preburn the new mantles (if the old ones are shot) and put back on the glass globe that surrounds them. Then screw the propane canister directly into the bottom of the lantern. Attach the included plastic base to the bottom of the propane canister and you're ready to turn on the fuel and "click" the automatic sparking lighter, no match required. The Coleman brand lantern also has a really cool break-apart design where everything except the propane canister fits neatly and securely into its own plastic carrying case. Buying the smaller propane canisters is the more expensive way to go (although they do go on sale at the discount stores), and it sucks to throw them all away, but. . .many hardware stores sell an attachment that allows you to refill the smaller canisters from a larger propane container. You know how things work today, so check local rules and regulations to see if your area allows for the refilling of small containers.

  Propane lanterns are my choice for lighting up the night on some of my vehicle-based survival skills courses. Their extreme durability and packability, along with the convenience, simplicity, and relative safety of the fuel, make them great options around potentially "green" and clumsy students in the field. And of course, the same small propane canisters can be used with the forest green Coleman cook stove.

  Battery-Powered Lanterns

  Battery-powered lanterns are a super option for families who have small children. Short of junior throwing one at his little sister, or knocking it over, breaking the glass globe, and rolling in the aftermath, they are as safe as any battery-powered flashlight. Although models are available that use a standard bulb, the fluorescent-bulb models are more battery efficient. Battery-powered lanterns put out a good amount of light (although not as much as their propane and liquid-fuel-powered brothers) and have zero weird fumes or the potential fire danger of fuel-based models. Some feature an adjustment knob that allows the user to choose how much light is needed—from dim to full blast—which will, of course, determine how long your batteries will last. Depending on the make and model, these lanterns may use regular disposable batteries, rechargeable replaceable batteries, or permanently installed rechargeable batteries. Some of the rechargeable battery models must be brought to a full charge every few months whether they are used or not. Some rechargeable battery-powered lanterns can be literally plugged into an electrical outlet to charge, or can be charged using an automobile 12-volt system or by being attached to a small photovoltaic solar panel. Fancier rechargeable lanterns can be left plugged in full time and set up to turn on during a power failure. I know these conveniences are nice, but use caution when setting up your emergency system to rely on grid power when the grid itself is in question.

  Whatever brand of lantern you choose, whether liquid fueled or battery powered, choose a high-quality model with easily available fuel and replacement parts. For parts that are destined to naturally wear out, buy spare parts now and safely store as much fuel as you think you'll need for your emergency.

  Solar Photovoltaics

  At my place, anything that requires electricity runs off my independent solar power system, from an electric cement mixer to a microwave, blender, stereo, washing machine, computer, refrigerator, power drills, saws, and all kinds of lighting. While passive solar involves taking advantage of the sun's free energy fo
r heating through the proper orientation of a structure, active solar requires many more moving parts such as photovoltaic panels that collect sunlight, inverters that change DC current to AC, batteries for storing the harnessed energy for nighttime use, charge controllers, wiring, and a bunch of other doodads needed to produce and maintain electrical power.

  That said, lighting is one of the easiest things to accomplish with a solar power system. Even many of the larger discount stores now carry compact fluorescent, energy-saving bulbs, and with the advent of LED lights, power draw on a solar system can be next to nothing. The compact fluorescent lightbulbs that I use have a light output of 900 lumens, the equivalent to a 60-watt lightbulb, while using only 13 watts of energy! As an added bonus, they have a supposed life span of 10,000 hours. I've been using my bulbs for nearly two years straight and haven't needed to replace one yet. Folks, crisis or not, get your butts down to the store and change out as many of your old incandescent bulbs, when they blow, as you can with these energy-efficient wonders. I've even bought them on sale at prices lower than conventional light bulbs.