You can use them to make homemade versions of this “survival candle.” Don’t know that I’d bother with any exotic waxes. Plain old parafin works pretty well. The main thing is to have several wicks so that you can vary heat/light output.
I used one to give a mugger a black eye.
True story… I carry a leather Klein Tool bag as my man-purse. It’s about the size of a zipper-top bank deposit bag. One of the items in it is a tin of cinnamon Altoids.
Walking into a shopping district of St Augustine FL from a parking lot a few blocks away, a skinny, scruffy fella runs from behind me and attempts to snatch the bag out of my left hand. If he had gotten a solid hold on it, he’d have been long gone as there’s no way I could have caught him.
He turns around to face me, tries to put one of his hands into his hoodie pocket (did he have a weapon?) and says “all I want is the bag, man”. I make like I’m going to give it up… still holding it by my side in my left hand, I grab the corner of it and backhand-swing it hard and fast to the right side of his face. He spins a full 540 and takes off away from me. My heart’s beating like crazy and I’m panting.
I walk a few more steps into the shopping area and, about a half-hour later, I see the same guy sitting with a panhandler and chatting. He and I look at each other and it takes a few seconds for each of us to realize who the other is…maybe longer for him since his right eye is swollen shut.
After I got home that night, I found that my Altoids tin had been collapsed in the middle; no doubt from the impact against this dude’s head.
I keep it as a souvenir.
I use them for the tiny specialized pieces of toys, the kind of pieces that always seem to get lost first – like the single Lego, Barbie shoes, etc. The tiny ones in the Altoids tin, that goes right in the box along with the larger pieces.
It occurs to me that I’ve never finished a can of Altoids! I’m gonna go have one now, seeing as I have about 3 half-finished cans in the pantry.
EDIT: It was 4! 2 Wintergreen, a Lic and a Cin!