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Finnish Candle.

This is something that I’d heard of but only ever seen in a TV program by Ray Mears, He referred to it as a “Swedish Fire Log” but I’ve been told since that they’re better known as Finnish candles, which has a nice ring to it.

Well when someone turned up at a BushcraftUK meet up with a log already prepared for this I was very interested to see how it would actually work.

The log is prepared by cutting lengthways with a  chainsaw to about a foot from the bottom.

In this case the log, pine, was cut three times giving six vertical segments.

Fire Log prepared and stuffed with kindling. - Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure - Copyright Gary Waidson, All rights reserved.
Fire Log lit and starting to catch. - Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure - Copyright Gary Waidson, All rights reserved.

The cuts are then loaded with birch bark and other tinder or kindling and this is lit to ignite the log segments.

In this particular case some small twigs were also added to the kindling which turned out to be a mistake as they blocked the vertical air flow needed to ensure good ignition.

After a slightly discouraging start these twigs were removed from the cuts and with just bark the result was much better.

The original idea behind the fire log is to create a controllable fire which can be lit on snow, as the base does not heat up and can be packed into the snow to keep the log vertical.

Once the fire is burning well, a billy can, kettle or skillet can be placed directly on the top for cooking or heating.

A billy can on top of the fire log. - Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure - Copyright Gary Waidson, All rights reserved.
Fire Log ignited and burning well. - Ice Raven - Sub Zero Adventure - Copyright Gary Waidson, All rights reserved.

This is certainly an interesting technique if you have a chainsaw, but a similar effect can apparently be produced by splitting the trunk with an axe and packing the sections carefully apart.

 

Sub Zero Crew - Bushcraft UK

Unless noted otherwise, all photography, artwork and content on this site is copyrighted. © Gary Waidson 2020 All rights reserved

The Ice Raven Project promotes sustainable and low impact bushcraft and wilderness skills in Arctic and winter conditions. This includes the use of  tents, tarps  and snow shelters where possible. Fires are only used where safe and where use and collection of firewood will not damage the natural environment. We often travel to locations by public transport and then use snowshoes, sleds, toboggans and pulks to transport our equipment into the wilderness.