Like many of you, I see things on the internet and wonder
whether the idea has any merit. I’m not
as easily suckered as I used to be, but I can still be taken in. I’m not to the level of building a fire in my
tent to keep warm (you’ve all seen that image, right?), for which I am
thankful. I’ve doubted the whole
put-a-tealight-candle-underneath-a-clay-pot-to-heat-your-tent suggestion enough
to have never tried it. It may work in a
small tent, though the wisdom of lighting a candle in a tent is questionable,
but it’s not going to heat a modern American bedroom.
One suggestion I have wanted to try was to put a headlamp on
a milk jug to light the room. It
wouldn’t cost anything—we’ve already got the headlamps* and we’ve always got
milk and distilled water in jugs, plus at least a hundred refilled plastic
juice and soda bottles in the garage.
The darkest place in the house in the middle of the day is
Aaron’s closet. It also happens to be
where he hides the dark chocolate covered almonds, so that was super
convenient. Anyway, I filled the empty
milk jug and carried it to his closet. Plopped
it on the floor, put the headlamp on with the light directed through the jug,
and switched the headlamp on. I then
turned the closet light off and closed the doors.
The light is rather bright (I’d say it’s brighter than the photo makes it appear), but diffused so as not to be
blinding, which is a huge annoyance when everyone is wearing headlamps. It lights up the floor, which is what most
people need to be able to see to walk safely.
I love that it is a lot safer than using candles. In any kind of prolonged disaster KOTPE,
Buttercup, Sweet Pea, and Tiger will probably be here, and we’ll likely have
dogs coming in and out as well. Candles
would be something of a fire hazard in some areas of the house.
Give it a try. It doesn’t take long at all, and having done it once will make it easier to remember how to do it in the future.
And just in case you don’t yet have a headlamp, or you need to light up more space, here’s another option (but no photo to accompany it): Get your water container and set it on the floor. Set a flashlight on top, with the light pointing down and going through the lid. A transparent lid is best, but none of my jugs in the garage had one. Tape the flashlight to the lid if it’s in a high traffic area, otherwise you can skip it. This doesn’t work quite as well as the headlamp on the water jug, but it’s still somewhat effective.
*Everyone should have at least one good headlamp,
rechargeable if possible, in the medical kit to provide directed lighting into
wounds, ears, mouth, etc.
