Coleman lantern

My Grandpa gave my his old lantern and stove this last fall. I'm pretty excited about it still. Camping smells and sounds that i never want to disappear!

We have three lanterns. One, a new wazoo 4-D cell LED one that's pretty good and also somewhat versital in that it can sit or hang. The second one we have is a somewhat modern Coleman one that still uses mantles and it has a clear globe. It works too, very nice. as for those that claim they're too bright, THAT'S WHAT THE CONTROL IS FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can turn them down to a low glow!

Then, the third one we have is from what we can determine, a 1925 version. The mechanism inside the globe is ancient and has a cleaning rod that you rotate a small handle and it moves up into an orifice to clean out the burn tube. And, get this, the air pump, is separate from the tank. Yep, that little air pump is attached via a chain and is like a little syringe with a nipple on the end.

When we first light that thing off, sometimes we're afraid the neighbors are gonna call in an FD first alarm. It flames and goes nuts for about 30 seconds or so. Then, all that heat from the flames, heats of the main burn tube inside the globe and that heat, begins to generate the gas that's needed for a cleaner burn and what creates the light from it. It's a cool little lantern.
Scott

Light pollution is an issue in public campgrounds in the summer. The old Coleman's are good for task lighting like reading or skinning a deer, but they are too bright for regular use. Some groups have one or two of them going all the time. Every kid has a flashlight. Some have laser lights in the trees. One guy kept turning on his bright headlights aimed right at my camp fire. It is too much. Keep enough light so you can see.

When fires are legal, I use the firelight to see. I set up a canopy frame and use old canvas tipi liners to block the wind and reflect the light. A couple of cheap solar lights can help people avoid tripping at night.

suprz wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I keep my lantern and stove in the MH. I use the stove every trip but I find the mantles on the lantern crumble during travel so I rarely use it any more. I still have leather cups and other parts from a WW2 lantern I had. The stove requires a lot of maintenance lantern not as much.

You can try something that has worked for me, after I use the lantern and it has cooled off I spray the mantles with hairspray. It works to make them a bit less susceptible to movements and a bit more sturdy

I would never have thought of that, I will have to try that one. I store my lantern in the basement storage area in the rear right next to the rear tires, and the pot holes and frost heaves in the NE causes a lot of vibration.

Still have my stove and lantern(s), but now use them very little. Space in my 'Trek is at a premium, so moved to smaller outdoor gear.

I have not used my Coleman stove in a long time but I use my double mantle lantern when I surf fish. Very dependable and I always keep a ample supply of silk mantles on hand.

This, except with me it was 60's and 70's, and we cooked on 3 Burner Coleman Stoves in addition to using Coleman Laterns. Dad was pretty good a rebuilding them every couple years as required.

myredracer wrote:
Still have a single mantle white gas Coleman but don't use it.

When I was a kid in the 50s & 60s, my parents had a cabin with no electricity and no telephone, running water and a stinky outhouse. Heat and cooking was a wood & coal stove. The municipality came by every year and oiled the gravel road. A totally different era.

In the earlier days, dad used kerosene lanterns. Not that bright, they smelled (I liked that tho.) and they emitted smoke if turned down low. Then dad got a couple of Coleman lanterns that used white gas. Things got a lot brighter after that! Played many many hours of checkers and cards under a Coleman lantern. I miss the hiss they made.

At some point in the 60s they brought power down our road and dad had a electrical service installed. No more lanterns after that. Last time I was up there, there's now residential subdivisions where there was just forest or summer cabins. Progress sucks. :(

Gjac wrote:
I keep my lantern and stove in the MH. I use the stove every trip but I find the mantles on the lantern crumble during travel so I rarely use it any more. I still have leather cups and other parts from a WW2 lantern I had. The stove requires a lot of maintenance lantern not as much.

You can try something that has worked for me, after I use the lantern and it has cooled off I spray the mantles with hairspray. It works to make them a bit less susceptible to movements and a bit more sturdy

still have a 2 burner coleman in the motorhome, as well as have two lanterns one was made in 1946, and still use it as well as the newer one.. cheeper to run than the propane canasters.. less waste, i also have a propane adapter to run a 20lb bottle in the naptha stove. The leather pump they sell separate, should be lubed with Neats Foot oil, good sporting goods shop for baseball mitts leather to keep it soft

I keep my lantern and stove in the MH. I use the stove every trip but I find the mantles on the lantern crumble during travel so I rarely use it any more. I still have leather cups and other parts from a WW2 lantern I had. The stove requires a lot of maintenance lantern not as much.