It's the Old Babybel Candle Trick...

So in the excitement of learning ways to create dual purpose items for hiking trips (mainly to reduce weight and just feel all around more MacGyver-y), I present the Babybel candle. 

Babybel cheeses are small wax coated cheese snacks that can be kept outside of the refrigerator for up to a week without going bad (barring it is not of the soft cheese variety; I definitely recommend gouda or cheddar for this).  They make an excellent quick stop snack, but most importantly, the wax has a wraparound tear-away paper tab and when placed correctly, can make for a pretty excellent candle/camp fire starter. 

After gulping down the cheese, flatten the wax in your hand and place the tear-away tab in the middle. I personally like to fold the tab in half and twist once complete to make a stronger wick (as NOT seen in the picture).

Next, fold the wax over the paper tab and begin to roll the wax into a cylinder in your hands. Kind of like making snakes out of Play-Doh back in kindergarten.  Place the wax down on a flat surface with the tab facing up and voila: candle.   Now this candle will burn for approximately three to five minutes, which should give ample time to ignite kindling and get a real fire going. 

The quintessential “twofer” for overnight trips: they’re light, take up barely any space, taste amazing, and come with a built-in emergency candle.