Every person who from time to time gets out of the house into nature should be able to make a fire to cook food and warm up. However, not everyone can make a “Finnish candle” - a fire that never goes out on its own, even if there is snow, slush and gusty wind around.
Advantages of the Finnish candle
The main advantage of such a fire is that you don’t have to worry about it, even if there is dirt and slush around. In winter, you don’t have to worry that the snow under the fire will begin to melt and thereby extinguish the fire. Finally, a “Finnish candle” is safer than a regular fire in places where there is a lot of dry grass and leaves. Finally, such a fire can simply be moved from place to place. The “candle” will burn all night, and it will only require one log. And the shape of the fire is such that it is convenient to use when cooking - after all, pots or a kettle can simply be placed on top of a log, like on a burner.
How to make a “Finnish candle”
In order to make a “Finnish candle”, you need to have a log 30-50 cm thick, as well as a saw. The height of the log is not that important. The cut is made approximately three-quarters deep. Most often they cut into 4, 6 or 8 parts. After this, a small hole will appear in the log. Kindling will be placed and lit in it.
If you don’t have a saw at hand (and most likely you won’t have one on a hike), you can use an ax. In this case, it will be more difficult to make such a fire. The log needs to be split into four parts with an ax. Each piece will have to be ground down in the middle so that when they are put together, a hole will form. After this, all that remains is to tie the logs with a strong rope, or better yet, with wire.
Finally, a “candle” can be made by simply stacking several logs side by side. Each should be 5-15 cm thick. Uses 3 to 8 pieces of wood.
A spoon of tar
Finally, it is worth mentioning the disadvantages of the “Finnish candle”. Preparing such a fire requires a certain skill and experience. Also, as has already become clear, you need tools. The Finnish candle is not very suitable for heating. You also need to take into account the fact that if the fire has been extinguished, then lighting it again will be extremely problematic, almost impossible. It’s easier to prepare a new candle.
Continuing the topic, which will help in the country and in the forest.
Finnish candle - simple and effective for boiling water and cooking in the field.
Its essence lies in the fact that two longitudinal cuts are made in the log, perpendicular to each other, as a result of which an X-shaped crosshair is formed at the end. The depth and number of cuts depends on the desired time and intensity of combustion. The positive of this configuration is also that you can independently choose the total length of the log and the depth of the cuts, thanks to which you have the opportunity to raise the burning part of the log above the surface or snow to the required height if you do not want your fire to fall into the snow, or left noticeable scorch marks on the ground. Commercial and field representatives of this configuration are often cut with a chainsaw, the chain of which is wide enough so that such a Finnish spark plug can be easily ignited later.
However, my attempts to make it using a folding camp saw were not successful, and I see the reasons for this as follows:
- The thickness of the saw is small, which is why the existing cuts do not provide the proper air flow to ignite the insides of the log.
- Inability to influence the processes occurring inside the log. A log with cuts is a kind of monolith that cannot be moved apart or looked inside. Everything that falls back into the cut is unlikely to be removed, again due to their small width. If you make a mistake, there is no way to correct it and, most likely, you will have to break the existing one or cut another log.
- Smooth cuts of wood inside the cuts, which is why it burns poorly. The flame emitted by the kindling in the early stages of combustion is not sufficient for tangential ignition, and the combustion temperature is not yet sufficient to burn the fibers deep.
- When the cuts are densely filled with kindling (sawdust, leaves, bark fragments, etc.), the air flow is further blocked, thereby disturbing the balance.
In addition to attempting primary ignition (by igniting kindling inside the cuts), I also tried secondary ignition (using coals from another fire), but although success increases, such a Finnish candle requires another fire, as well as an impressive amount of time for burning and fanning. Not that this is a pleasant and 100% reliable option.
In general, I consider this configuration not the best. If you have a chainsaw - yes, but only with tourist saw— it is better to use other configurations. Wider holes can theoretically be obtained by making not one, but two cuts on each side at a distance of about a centimeter from each other, with further removal of the wood between them. But in this case, I consider the labor costs too significant and ineffective to even start doing this. In addition, for this configuration you generally need to have a saw with you, otherwise longitudinal cuts in a log it’s not possible at all.
Finnish candle - configuration 2
This configuration eliminates most of the problems with narrow cuts and the need for a saw, because To create it, you can get by with an ax, or even just a knife if you don’t have any other tools. Moreover, for this configuration, not only a smoothly sawn log will be suitable, but also its severed counterpart, which will not have such a smooth surface.
With an ax or knife using and/or, the log is split into quarters. If they are not completely even, it’s not critical, because... We are interested, first of all, in the possibility of installing dishes on top of a Finnish candle, and not in appearance.
Next, on the inner surfaces of each quarter, using the same ax or knife, many notches should be made, peeling off part of the wood in the form of splinters and feathers. Their direction should be opposite to the direction of fire movement, i.e. the fire inside the log should flare up not along the chips, but “against the grain.” This wood chips will subsequently play the role of kindling for the Finnish candle, significantly accelerating and simplifying its ignition.
In the next step, the treated quarters are usually buried in the ground, tied with wire or rope at the bottom, which ensures necessary support and stability when placing utensils on top of the log. After fixing, the spaces between the quarters are filled with kindling and small combustible materials (sawdust, leaves, pine needles, bark fragments, etc.)
The significant advantage of this configuration over the previous one is the following positive aspects:
- The ability to influence the width of the gap between the quarters of the log. They filled too much kindling and blocked the flow of air - the quarters can always be moved apart and some of the materials removed, after which the soil can be compacted again and one step back. This Finnish candle forgives some mistakes that the previous configuration does not allow.
- Notches on the inner surface of the quarters flare up much faster and easier than the smooth walls from the previous configuration due to the increased contact surface. Thanks to this, less external kindling is required.
Besides everything else, this configuration ignites equally well using primary (ignition of tinder and kindling) and secondary ignition (coals from another fire). So, in the photo above, several coals were simply thrown into the Finnish candle, and then everything happened by itself. There was no need to inflate anything, because... To control the air flow, simply move the quarters apart to the required width. The notches inside the log quickly raise the flame above its surface, and the Finnish candle goes into its working mode.
Finnish candle - configuration 3
This configuration requires the most materials to create, but it also has the highest efficiency and run time in my experience.
For the third configuration of the Finnish candle, you will need as many as three logs of approximately the same length. Fortunately, it is almost always possible to cut them from one tree trunk. The length and diameter of the logs are selected based on the desired operating time and the duration of cooking of certain dishes.
Try to choose a log without bark, or additionally debark it before proceeding. Bark is a tree’s natural protection from many negative factors, including fire, so logs with bark, due to their increased density, flare up much worse. On outside For three of the six log halves you will need to make notches that are already familiar to you from the previous configuration. They, as in the previous case, will act as kindling and help spread the flame over a large area inside the future Finnish candle.
After the notches are made, place the halves with them in the shape of a triangle, with the notches inward. Remember also that the flame inside the Finnish candle should go against the “wool” formed by the notches. With the remaining three halves, prop up the notched halves as shown in the photo above.
Next, the channel inside the three halves should be filled with tinder and kindling and ignited. Until the moment when the logs themselves ignite, you will get some kind of semblance inside the logs, therefore in the early stages you will observe mainly a large number of smoke coming out of the bowels of a Finnish candle.
But as the temperature rises and the coal base accumulates, the logs themselves will light up, and your Finnish candle will go into its operating mode, accompanied by a high flame. This design resembles Eternal flame, with long flames and a clearly distinguishable hum during operation. But this configuration is good not only, and not so much as the ability to replace logs as they burn out. This is not a monolith (like configuration 1), there are no connected or twisted elements (like in configuration 2), so you can replace any of the burnt-out internal logs with one of the spacer halves at almost any time. All that is necessary for this is to lift the dishes from the Finnish candle, take one of the supports, place it in place with the burnt inner log and lower the pot or frying pan back. The place of the support can be taken by the next half, prepared for the next replacement of logs.
In terms of labor costs, efficiency, success and flexibility of the organization, the Finnish candle in this configuration seemed to me the most effective. You do it independent choice, and feel free to share your experience of organizing a Finnish candle in the comments.
On a trip to Lake Chepolshevskoye in July 2012, I decided to make that famous stump with vertical cuts, with which a young Finnish woman surprised experienced Siberian lumberjacks ( funny story!). It turned out exactly like in that story: first I was subjected to public ridicule and criticism, and then the critics themselves used a chainsaw, making more and more logs with cuts...
Take a piece of DRY pine or spruce log at least half a meter long and from one end with a chainsaw two cuts are made “crosswise” along the log at about three-quarters of its height. A certain amount of gasoline or other flammable mixture is poured into the center of the cut and set on fire. The flame spreads upward in the center of the log; the side slots serve to supply oxygen to the combustion zone. The log burns for a long time, several hours, and during this time you can not only warm the kettle, but also prepare serious dishes...
Some people call this type of fire a Finnish candle, some an Indian candle, and some Swedish candle. Sometimes you can hear the word Volya or even "turbopen".
My main mistake in making the first Finnish candle in my life was that I took a damp pine log, almost completely wet by the rains. After several unsuccessful attempts to set fire to its center from below, under the ridicule of friends, I placed this log on a regular fire with the sawn end facing the fire. It only took a couple of minutes for the wood in the cut to dry out, start fire, and my first Finnish candle started working, and how it worked!.... Laughter gave way to exclamations of surprise and approval, people immediately began to offer options with a large number of cuts, even eight
While former critics were extolling the simplicity and genius of this human invention, I cooked food for my fox terrier Bundy, and called out to the camp; “Hey, people, who needs a new stove?!”
It should be noted right away that the pot or kettle stands on the end quite securely and conveniently; putting dishes on and off the fire is also convenient. These are the advantages. The downside is that the dishes still get dirty
We remembered that we need to boil the crayfish while they are still alive
And now the main critic of my idea with the log - Viktor Lobachev - with undisguised pleasure he cooks lake crayfish for dinner on a Finnish candle
It seems that later our women also heated water on a candle for washing dishes. When it got colder, a candle that continued to burn was used for heating.
We’ve just run out of ideas on what else can be cooked on one log.
Already in Obninsk, they told me that one wonderful company has long been going to the forest in winter to make dumplings, having only one pre-prepared log. You don’t have to trample snow in search of firewood, or destroy trees in the forest near the city, but it’s light, hot and the whole company feels good around a big cauldron of dumplings
The more side slots, the more intense the supply of oxygen to the combustion zone, the stronger the flame and the shorter the life of the candle. The picture shows how big the flame is on the Finnish candle with 8 side cuts. One such Finnish candle replaces an entire fire. And pay attention that behind Dasha’s back there is a smoldering old fire that no one needs anymore - everyone has enough light and heat from one pine log
In the near future I will write a note about an Indian candle - a fire based on one log, but with a slightly different design
Before making a Finnish candle, prepare a saw, wire or adhesive tape, nails and a log that will become a candle. And then for production Indian candle follow the instructions:
1. Find a dry log with a diameter of 10-40 cm without knots. The tree can be anything, just keep in mind that each type has its own characteristics. For example, spruce and pine sparkle when burned, so it is better not to use them for heating. You need to be careful with birch, because it burns very strongly, you can get burned, and it smokes a little due to the tar in the bark. Best option- well-dried aspen. When burning, its flame is even and colorless.
2. Cut it depending on the purpose of the candle (15-40 cm). If you will be lighting a fire for cooking, use a log that is thick and short so that you can place the dishes directly on it. The candle will be stable. For lighting, on the contrary, a long and thin candle that can be carried if necessary will be convenient. And for heating you need a thick and long one so that for a long time burn.
3. Split a dry log into four pieces. These will later be used to make a Swedish fire.
4. In each part, remove the middle so that when assembling the log you get a hole with a diameter of 5-7 cm, and make small notches. Perfect option, if you find a hollow tree. After cutting or splitting, you will need to scrape out the rotten middle of the hollow.
5. Fold 4 logs into a single log, wrapping them with wire, trying to leave as few gaps as possible. This way they will not disintegrate and quickly burn through large gaps. So you should be able to solid log with an empty middle.
6. Place the sawdust that remains after cutting off the middle or birch bark into the opening for kindling. The filling of a wooden kerosene stove and its location affects the degree of combustion. Located at the top of the hole, birch bark will burn for a long time, only weakly. This candle is more suitable for warming up food or for heating. Well, if you put the birch bark on the bottom, the fire will be very strong, which is good for cooking or lighting, but the candle will not last long. The best option is its location in the middle. Also make sure that there is draft for combustion. To do this, place the candle on stones or logs.
That's all the instructions on how to make a taiga candle.
Hello, dear users of this site. It's summer. The most convenient and good time for nature trips, picnics, and fishing. In general - the most best time for an active holiday.
Every time, going out into nature, many people take with them a pile of firewood or coals on which to cook food. It is not always possible to find dead wood at a vacation spot to use as a combustible material. Therefore, I want to tell you how you can make the so-called Finnish candle. The good thing about it is that it doesn’t take much time to make and it burns for quite a long time. To make such a device, you only need a piece of log, a drill with a drill bit and a chainsaw.
The author of this master class initially took a small log and worried about making it easy to saw. To do this, he drills a hole in a shorter log, drives a stick into it, and also makes a hole in a second, longer log. He puts on a small log and a longer one and already saws. Here's how it happens and what comes out of it.
Next, he takes a regular paraffin candle and drips paraffin into the cuts from the inside.
Then he takes a newspaper several centimeters longer than the depth of the slot in the log and crumbles candle shavings into it. The edges are also melted with molten paraffin. The resulting part is inserted into the slot of the block.
Then this wick is set on fire and the candle flares up.
This is just one of the options. Usually in nature, my friends and I, having prepared a candle in advance, more thick log and no candles with a wick. A waste of time. We already have small particles poured into the slots in nature. wood shavings, dry grass and set on fire. Much faster and more convenient. According to the author, this candle burns for no more than half an hour. And the production time is twenty minutes. In our case, the production time is no more than five minutes. And it burns longer. But this depends on the thickness of the log. It is easy to install - either stands on its own if the lower part of the log is wide enough, or is dug into the ground. All you need to do is prepare the fish soup and boil the tea. So there you go. But in general, it’s quite a convenient and useful thing. Saves time and effort!