In the immortal words of Simon Phoenix, Illuminate…

~ Logan D

Make a crude candle

“A candle can be made in a shell to hold the oil or rendered lard from an animal.  Using the porous stock of a plant or a piece of cloth you can create a wick.  This makes a great light for in your shelter.”

Make a crude lantern

“If you find a drink can you can make a lantern out of it. Cut a slit about an inch from the top and an inch from the bottom. Make the cut about half way around the can. Then cut in the center of the two cuts to join them. The two pieces can be folded out to reflect light. The lantern can be hung by the tab at the top of the can. In the can you can use a small candle or you could have a small fire.”

A Torch

Not as nice as a lantern for walking, because it messes with your night vision. With that said, “a great torch can be made from Cattails. The head of a cattail is soaked in oil or rendered lard. Once it is saturated it can be used as a torch. If it is fully saturated it will burn up to 8 hours. This is a great light for in your camp.”

A Bonus Trick!!! Determining direction with your watch

If it is night, just use the north star. But if it’s day and you can’t remember that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, well this tidbit is for you, if you also happen to have an analog watch.

“You can determine a north/ south line by using an analog watch (one with hands). Hold the watch horizontal and point the hour hand at the sun. Bisect the angle between the hour hand and 12 o’clock to get the north south line.

If there is a doubt as to which is north, remember the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and is due south at noon. The sun will be in the east before noon and in the west after noon.

The time must not be adjusted for daylight savings time. If your watch is set on daylight savings time, use the midway point between the hour hand and 1 o’clock.”

(These tricks were the masterful work of the awesome peeps at barewilderness.com)