Whether you’re sitting around the house in your man-cave, and having a few beers, or you’re going fishing and you’ll have a few beside the water, make sure you collect the empty bottles as well as the lids. No, you weren’t going to leave them on the ground, but don’t even throw them in the trash. You can recycle those bottles into cool camping or fishing torches, or into lamps for your man cave. It’s fast, it’s easy, and you’ll find the torches or lamps very useful.
Any size of beer bottle will work to make a torch or lamp but the best type is one without a twist-off cap. Caps made for removing with an opener are perfect. Remove the cap and take care not to bend it severely. Drink the beer, allow the bottle to dry, then you’re ready to make the torch.
You can order a candle wick online or you can make one from material you might find at home. A cotton mop strand is a good choice but you could also use small-diameter, cotton rope. If you are using a mop head strand, wash the strand well to remove cleaning products that might be on it. Dry the strand and you’ve got your wick. Cut a piece to be about twice as long as the bottle is tall.
Take the lid of the beer bottle and lay it on a flat surface. Position it so that the inside of the cap is facing upwards. Tape a hole in the middle of the lid to create an opening for the wick. Thread the wick through the bottom of the cap, and up through the top. The hole in the lid should be a little smaller in diameter than the chosen wick. The wick should fit tightly in the hole but not so snug that you have to tug on it to raise it.
Fill the beer bottle about two-thirds of the way full of lamp oil. Snap the lid back onto the bottle so that it fits tightly. Light the wick and you’ve got a man cave light, or an outdoor torch.
Use the cardboard carrier that comes with a six-pack of beer to carry the torches. Just make them ahead of time, put them in the carrier, and take them with you when you go camping or fishing. Or, just make some up, set them around your man cave bar, and enjoy.