5 Make-Shift Urban Survival Lights When the Electricity Goes Down
It’s impossible to be perfectly prepared for an imperfect world. Sometimes you just have to go MacGyver and solve common problems by using the resources you have on hand – combined with a little ingenuity, of course. I’ve always said that the ability to improvise is one of the most important survival skills.
This article is a collection (not all my own I’ll admit) of a few, creative, makeshift lighting solutions you may have to deploy as a last resort if the grid goes down. You just never know when one of these innovative ideas might shed some light into your darkness one day.
Shining Sardines
Sardines are an excellent survival food. They have a long shelf-life and are full of protein and fats. Maybe you have some sardines packed in your emergency food storage. If not, consider them.
On a different note, oil lamps have been used for hundreds of years. From rendered whale blubber to modern kerosene lanterns, oil lamps are excellent “off-grid” lighting solutions. What do sardines and oil lamps have to do with each other? Quite a lot, actually, if your sardines are packed in olive oil.
Once you’re done smashing those tasty bites of fish, place a natural fiber wick into the remaining oil and slightly over the edge of the sardine container. The wick, in this case a cotton string from a mop head, will absorb the oil. Once the wick is fully soaked, simply light the end. A sardine lamp with just a little bit of oil will burn for many hours. Sure, it’ll smell like fish, but that’s what you get for not including emergency candles in your “bug in” supplies. Running low on oil? No problem, just top it off with some more olive oil from the pantry – or any cooking oil for that matter.
Glowing Crayolas
Games and toys are excellent items to pack in an emergency kit – especially if you have small children. Simple toys such as crayons and coloring books can help keep their mind off of the misfortune that caused the lights to go out in the first place.
But if you’ve focused only on toys and no essentials, like candles and flashlights, then you may have to sacrifice some of their least favorite crayon colors and make some Crayndles. I made that word up. Crayons are basically colored wax. If you’re in a hurry, just break the point off and light the paper label at the end of the crayon. As the wax melts, the paper becomes a wick and one crayndle will last about 30 minutes. Not too bad.
You can also get a little more creative and sandwich a natural fiber wick (like a shred of t-shirt material) between three crayons that have been stripped of their labels. Bind everything together with two short pieces of wire. Paper clips work well. Then, simply light the wick. I got one of these to burn about an hour. Not too bad for a 10-second makeshift crayndle.Click here to read the full article on All Self Sustained
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
You barely touched on the candle venue, one of the best true-survival candles can be made (and used over-and-over again) by just taking a paperclip, some COTTON string, a smooth straight stick or twig just slightly larger in diameter than the string, and some oil that will burn (like petroleum jelly, crisco, corn oil, etc.)
Wind the paper clip 3-5 turns around the stick, then dispose of the stick. You won’t need it again. Make the bottom of the paper clip into a small stand, where it can stand on it’s own (or, alternatively, make the top end a small hook, to hook on a tin can). Insert the string through the paper clip until about a 1/4 inch is sticking out, gently twist the paper clip ‘coil’ to barely hold the string in place. Now, put your new ‘wick’ assembly into a glass or tin can, fill with oil to the top of the paper clip’s top ring (if using crisco or petroleum jelly, roll the string in it first, until the first melt lets the jelly liquify and wet the wick).
You can blow the fire out and trim the wick not to smoke, as needed, then relight.
Also, instead of cutting your mop up, you CAN get 50-ft ‘solid cotton’ clothesline at the dollar store. If you do this, you can make all the wicks you will ever need, as well as firestarter tinder wicks. Just cut the clothesline into 1 inch segments, and using a metal cup or pan, melt down a few ounces of petroleum jelly until it liquifies. Now, put the cut wicks into the pot with the liquid petroleum jelly. Use a spoon to stir the wicks, and mash them, causing the oil to soak into the wicks. Now, take it off the stove, using a fork or tongs, remove the wicks from the pot and place onto a piece of aluminum foil to cool. Once cooled, the jelly will re-jellify and your wicks will be completed. Put them in an old de-labeled medicine bottle, etc., for use in starting fires when you need. They will burn 5-7 minutes each, and will help start fires even when your wood kindling is wet.