paraffin power! (Homebase Garden Torch)

Member Name: timtom

Product:	Homebase Garden Torch
Date:	10/05/01 (1618 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: economical, adds atmosphere to the garden, cost

Disadvantages: bit smoky, fire & small chilren does not mix

I would like to extoll the praises of another form of garden lighting other than the electric kind, ( albeit that I am eco friendly, and love the idea of solar powered garden lights, they do seem a tad pricey). Another alternative, and not pricey at all, is the Homebase garden torch.

These are made of a wicker frame on a bamboo stake, the wicker concealing a plastic bottle with a rope-like wick arrangement. All one does is simpy fill the bottle with a paraffin type substance, (oh, what a surprise, also available at homebase) and then adjust the length of the wick to produce a relatively smoke free flame. Another advantage is that the paraffin stuff available from Homebase also has a Citronella content, thus providing some relief from the horrid flying & stinging things that seem to populate an english garden whenever slightly warm.

We bought two of these torches for our garden last summer, plus two bottles of the paraffin to fill them, and, despite having used them on numerous occasions, we still have one full and unopened bottle of paraffin to take us through the impending summer. This is unusually good value for money, I feel.

I can reccomend these torches from personal experience, we have a small back garden, attached to our equally small terraced house, and the flares are so atmospheric after dark, and enable the evening to stretch out much longer than would otherwise be the case. So, fire these up, add a crate or two of vino potento and some friends and you have all the ingredients for some fantastic and memorable summer evenings. Now all we need is a summer to go with it . . . . .!

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