How do you make a torch?

D

dd61999

Joined
Sep 12, 2007
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I am going to take the kids camping for labor day weekend and they love building a fire.

I would love to teach them to make a torch. Anybody have any simple tips in how to do this?
 
branch or sapling. cut/split the branch 2 or 4 ways and cram in dry wood/bark, this give a great surface for the wood to burn. birch works well because the bark catches so easily.

cheap old shirts work well too.

you can use green willow to help lash some more burnables to the stick.

haha, the internet agrees with me!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2154351_make-torch-wild.html
 
And if you add fatwood sticks and pine knots to your torch, it will burn long and bright.
 
I was told to use mullien stalks or cattail stalks dipped in wax and wrapped around a stick.. Not sure how the cattail will burn with out wax but dried mullein will burn pretty dang good on its own ...
 
i recall a long time ago Doc posted a pic of him holding two birch(?) bark torches with a mora in a baldric config.

looked pretty cool, hopefully he'll chime in.

when i was in oz. i'd use rolls of paper bark doused in kerosene and wrap it around a long stick.

i've made pine cone torches before where you simple place a large pine cone on the top of a steel pipe set in the ground and light it. the burn for a while and the ash falls through the pipe so you can just set another pine cone ontop as you go.

pitdog also posted a fatwood torch pic a while back.



good luck
 
i make mine by wrapping fiberglass insulation tightly around a stick, make it about 2" thick and wrap with baling wire. Dip in diesel or kerosene and light.
 
meandtorches.jpg


The one on the left is Birch (Betula papyrifera) bark and the one on the right is Cherry (Prunus ?) bark. Birch works much better but Cherry will do the job with a bit of coaxing.

For the Birch torch, take a sheet of Birch bark (this can be off a dead tree laying on the ground if the bark is not too degraded) and roll it in a cone shape, making sure to leave a hollow centre (for air). Secure it along its length with bits of cordage. A foot and a half long torch burns for about 20 minutes and gives off a surprising amount of light.

Doc
 
You can learn a lot through failure. Heres how to not build a torch. The boy and I were going to check out a cave. I wrapped some corn stalk parts to a stick with some bailing wire we found. It was a bad design and only lasted about 30 seconds.

02-24-08018.jpg
 
I cant put my finger on it but theres something about the shape of that cave I like.
 
We used to soak the cat tails in kerosene for a couple days...I guess they would have been dried out, I remember using them in the winter!
 
How long do some of these torches last.

If I was to put bacon fat on a cotton cloth wraped around a stick, how long would the burntime be?
 
after you figure out your torch have some fun with the kids. Take plastic bags like the ones from your bags of ice or those throw away plastic grocery bags. Wrap the bags tightly around the end of a long stick. Light it and keep it away from you. Globs of lit plastic will zip to the ground making an interesting sound. The higher from the ground the longer the the sound and lit glob lasts. I guess it's better than letting the bags blow across the country. We called them drip sticks or torches.
 
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