Playing with fire is always fun.  Today I experimented with torches.  I wanted to try out different fuel types and ended up using pine pitch and tallow.  I had a bunch of pitch left over from previous projects.  I also got a bunch of fat that I rendered into tallow from the woodchuck I “sampled” a few weeks ago and used for torch fuel.  For the torches, I used the seed head from the cattail stalk and the same with common mullein stalks.  I made 4 torches total: 2 cattail torches – 1 with tallow and 1 with pitch, and 2 mullein torches – also with pine and tallow.

The tallow, when warmed, easily absorbed into the cattail fluff and I assumed that the cattail would act like a wick in a candle and burn.  Boy, was I disppointed.  I couldn’t get the cattail with either fuel type to light easily and when they did, they immediately went out when removed from the heat.  The mullein, on the other hand, worked well.  But, again, I was disappointed, this time with the quality of burn.  Both mullein stalks (with tallow and pine pitch) burned, but not like I am used to seeing on TV – with a large flame throwing out loads of light.  They burned more like over-sized candles.  Both fuel types had a tendency to drip (pine) or run (tallow) down the stalks while burning.  And both burned down in about 20 minutes.  Not too bad a burn time, I’d say.  Lastly, the tallow torch didn’t smell all that great and lingered on the clothes.  The pine pitch, on the other hand, had a nice piney smell to it.

So, in closing, I wouldn’t want to use either of these by holding in my bare hand and walking through the woods.  But they could be practically used around camp to supplement the light from the campfire if poked into the ground in a convenient location.  Still, I’d like to experiment some more with different torch methods and compare the results.

What kind of results have you had with torches?  Please share your experiences.

UPDATE: During my first attempt with torches, I used common cattail (Typha latifolia) and I couldn’t get that to light.  Today, however, I did have some success using narrow-leaved cattail (T. angustifolia).  I soaked seed head in warm tallow and it burned for about 15 minutes or so.  I don’t know what the difference was, perhaps the smaller size of the heads, but it seems that the narrow-leaved cattail will work for a torch/candle.

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