Best Kudlik Fuel?

[Legalize_Marinara]

I've become partial to using olive oil for my lamps/stoves but I've heard suggestions for everything from vegetable shortening and lard to hammered pig fat.
What gives off the most heat for the longest period of time and for the least money/weight? It's nice if the oil has another use as well. Like olive oil, which i use like ketchup.

 

[alukban]

In general, animal fat is the best because it has the most calories per mass. Calories are a unit of heat just like BTU's. There is not a huge difference between lard and vegetable oils however. I think it's something like less than 5%.

What's more interesting to me is which is cheaper per calorie. At the end of the day, it's still the FREE WOOD :dblthumb:

PS. I'm the first one to thank you bro!

 

[Bucketosudz]

I would suspect that any rendered Tallow would work in a Qulliq reasonably well, although I am not certain. Do you have one? Soapstone?

 

[randyt]

I would have to say either whale oil or seal oil.

 

[Legalize_Marinara]

What I use is one of these:

Sometimes I fill the entire reservoir with tinder to give myself a large enough flame to boil water/cook over. Most of the time I use it simply as a lamp and for the modest heat it gives off to warm improvised shelters and drive away insects.
I cant abide modern stoves or unnatural materials so this is the closest I can come to that without a campfire, which are often banned during certain seasons where I hike.

By the rule of calories I reckon lard would be the best material, which I like because its relatively solid at room temperature so it's easy to carry.

 

[Legalize_Marinara]

I would have to say either whale oil or seal oil.

Maybe T-rex oil?

 

[randyt]

Maybe T-rex oil?

probably about as rare for most of us LOL.

Although maybe a far northern member could come up with some seal blubber to experiment with. For most of us though beaver fat is probably the closest alternative to the traditional seal blubber for kudlik fuel, at least for me. Typically a water mammal will have a oily fat as compared to a land animal.