I have spent more than one gritty evening lighting airstrips in central Oman for various flying machines of the rather unsophisticated variety . Coke cans half filled with kerosene, 4X2 (gun barrel cleaner) wick and you have serviceable runway lighting. The trick was to for the ground party to depart before the lights went out ...
Biggest problem could be camels that found that piece of graded desert more comfortable to sit on ... they will only really move after emptying half a mag of M16 rounds behind their left ear, then run like hell.