We got battered by some thunderstorms a couple of nights ago and the power went out for a few hours.

After waiting about a half-hour after the start of the blackout we decided to light up two oil lamps we had purchased a while back. It was our first use of them and they worked surprisingly well. They put out a good amount of light and I especially liked having the round finger-hole glass loop to carry them from room to room.

My wife and I each had one with us as we moved about the house but for the price, well under ten dollars each at a local discount store, we should get at least two more. This would enable us to put one in a room and leave it there instead of carrying a burning lamp around the house.

A couple of details: We used "Lamplight Ultra-Pure" oil but we were not sure how to trim the wick so we experimented.

Last night my wife researched the issue of wick trimming and found some good information: