Render a Light in the Darkness
Turning ordinary animal fats into candles for emergency lighting is one of the easiest self-reliance skills to master. These plain, old-fashioned candles begin by rendering fat into tallow, and then forming that tallow into candles using minimal equipment. The final product requires little to no out-of-pocket expense. And while it’s true that paraffin and beeswax candles have been around for many years, animal fats remain the most reliable candle base in times of need, due to the relative ease of access to leftover fats.
Finding Raw Material
Free to the hunter or livestock owner, and often free for everyone from the local butcher, any animal fat — deer, cow, goat, elk, even bear — may be used for candles. The most noticeable difference is the hardness of the cooled fat. For instance, lard made from pork fat is much softer and faster burning than tallow from beef or venison, and as such is limited to use in container candles. Tallow, however, makes excellent pillars
