a good choice is the Pheylonian Life Lite..it's a beeswax
candle in a can..they have several sizes..mine is the middle
size one about as big as a can of beans..it has a heavy wick
and is said to burn 70 hours..it comes with two sturdy metal
bits that slip on to form a pot holder..they are made in Canada
and the company claims they have been tested by the Canadian
goverment in the arctic and will burn at 60 below..i was given
one of these 10 years ago by a buddy who worked in northern
Canada and he kept a couple in his truck..along with a sleeping
bag..i never used mine for anything but backyard testing but
if you want a cooking candle i would have a look at this..
the web site..www.philoxia.com/survivalcans is somewhat qurky
but enjoyable..

I've been looking at these for a while. They seem to have alot of genuine pluses. I don't own one (yet) but would like to.

They supposedly output alot more heat, making them more useful as a survival candle. Cooking is more viable and apparently they consume a great deal of their waste gas, so it's supposedly better for you. Obviously an objective test would be in order. I guess I'll get around to it eventually but overall they seem pretty solid.

These candles looked interesting, but I was turned off when I started reading the "information" about them on the website.

"Cappings beeswax is also a pure fuel, which burns up its own emissions, without the toxic fumes that contribute to asphyxiation from paraffin."

Huh?

Don't get me started about the "negative ion" nonsense.

Now how can I be sure they are not distorting the info I really care about, like burn time and heat output?

Paraffin is a petrochem derivative, it's combustion is dirtier than beeswax.

But it is no scarier than any other petrochem fuel.

WTH???

Combustion consumes oxygen in all but a few cases, most of which are impractical or have other negatives.

Burning beeswax generates hazardous emissions, and consumes oxygen. If you are going to use that candle in a confined space, ensure you have some means of ventilation (such as opening a window slightly in a car).

Even with the new catalytic propane heaters, they still recommend some amount of ventilation so the oxygen doesn't run out. No CO emmissions, but if the O2 level drops too low, the heater will extinguish (so they say).

HI TOM..
thats why i said the candle site was "qurkey"--fun but maybe
a bit off key..but a candle is a candle and i offered it up
as another option to the Nuwick system..i see these in
whatever form they take as a last ditch item..the stove is
out of fuel--the wood is wet..ect--the candle comes out of
the bottom of the bag and gives you something--which is better
than nothing...

"...the candle comes out of the bottom of the bag and gives you something--which is better than nothing..."

You could not be more correct. I was just put off a bit over their price. A 44 hour Newick goes for $9.99 at Campmor...

CANOEDOGS -

I hope I didn't come across as overly critical of your post. It DOES look like a neat product. I guess I was a bit put off by they way they say that maybe you don't need to allow ventilation when using their candle inside a car.

I went and wrote the company regarding a specific BTU value of their beeswax. I was hoping they might have some of this info from possibly some tests but I doubted it. I should mentioned I checked at length the internet to try to find any type of BTU value for beeswax of any sort and could not find any. It makes sense to me theirs should be pretty consistent (if not more potent by using pure cappings wax versus standard wax). It's higher grade and more expensive at least.

I am not sure if it's filtered at all.

Anyways here are some excerpts from said email:

"I'm not sure I can answer your question with detailed facts on the BTU rating of beeswax. I can tell you however, that beeswax has a melting point of about 45-60?C and using our plant fiber wicks, temperatures can reach 85?C."

"Our original (1 wick) can, can boil a cup of water in about 15 minutes, providing the container being used is a camping style pot (thin light aluminum) with a lid, and no draft is upsetting the flame. Our larger Omega can has four wicks and can boil a quart of water in about 15 minutes, providing the same conditions are met as mentioned above. There are all approximate figures and I cannot offer a guarantee on them, but I have been
burning these cans myself for over 20 years and can personally vouch for the cooking properties of our survival cans."

There's more where he points towards some items I had already found on the internet that didn't quite answer a specific BTU/LB rating.

I was very impressed by the straightforward and fast answer I received; I've done alot of customer service (through email many times) and this is exactly the type of correspondence I like to receive.

Now using these figures I'm going to attempt to approximate the values of their 1 wick candle; the only real factor I do not have is an ambient temperature (which admittedly is quite important). However, assuming 60 degrees should be relatively accurate and at least give us an IDEA of the BTU output. Any engineers want to give this a whack? It's been a long time since I've taken high school chem class

Or better yet, someone buy a small 1 can candle, measure it's mass, do the test for thermal energy output and get the actual BTU/lb rating. This way we can see how much radiant heat these things can put off.

Further I found this:

www.heatstick.com - an interesting (albeit backwoods) method of creating a small grade heat radiator for candles using terra cotta plant pots. While it's cheap in construction the guy has a good price (comparable to the cost of DIY) and the mechanics on it seem pretty sound.

The two combined may make an interesting "emergency heater" (high btu output, non toxic candle + candle radiator)

This is very nifty. But they shouldn't have put the design on the website, it's too easy to rip this off. With a good base, I'd be curious what it can do for boiling times, for bugging in.