Hi all, What an amazing resourceful site. I've been enjoying learning about lanterns. My son, my friend and I went camping few weeks ago and it was below freezing. Our propane stoves and lantern didn't work. Since I use diesel and kerosene for a heater, I decided I need a kerosene lamp and a stove. I'm shopping for kerosene single mantle pressure lantern. I'm sure I'll have more than one eventually! If you happen to have any suggestion and/or one collecting dust and willing to let go, let me know. I work on my motorcycle and build mountain bikes for fun. I don't mind getting one to restore and convert to kerosene either. I cannot wait to get one and change my profile picture. Thanks
Welcome to CPL @woodsroamer For kerosene I would suggest one of the Coleman 249's or 201 249, 249D, 249E 201
In my opinion here in the US your best bet for a single mantle kero burner is a 237. There are other options including the 639Cs which are still available new. But I find the newer 639s to be flimsy. The 201s and 247s work fine but have a smaller generator which leads to more frequent servicing, and the 249 is a small package with fat generator, but they can be tough to come by and pricey when found. Happy hunting
I'd suggest a Coleman 639 (kero version) or 635 (gasoline version) for a lot of light as either version really blasts out the lumins! For something a little smaller (the 635/9 are pretty big), I love my Coleman 335 (which I converted to kerosene) and there's also the regular kero version called the 339. It also shines pretty bright. I reckon either of them should be easy enough to find in the US but go for older models if you can find them as they tend to be better built. Good luck and let us know what you purchase!
I like the 639 series and you just missed a great sale on them at the Coleman website. Coleman gas lanterns can be converted to kerosene as well. In a kerosene stove you're going to have to look for an optimus or primus type for a pressure stove. Coleman doesn't offer one in kerosene. Comparitively few makers have vs gas stoves.
Not sure if this floats your boat but quite a few of the Chinese pressure stoves can be run on kero. Some even come with alternative jets specially for the purpose. Quality wise, they can sometimes be a bit hit and miss although the one's I've used have been fine.
For me I love Tilley Lamps, very easy to work on and reliable as well, not sure how easy they are to get US. A X246 Tilley 1950's are great.
A Tilley is on my want list and they are pretty rare here. Best way seems to be to pay the freight from your side of the ocean.
Thank you all for the warm welcome and info. I saw some of those old Coleman kerosene lanterns, and they are expensive. I did know lanterns are such collectors items. They easily go close to $200USD and up. Since I searched more, I can get a 200 or 242 and convert to kerosene with a 201 generator and a preheat cup. And also I'm interested in a Tilley X246, Bialaddin 305 and Vapalux as well. I like the way they look, and also pretty simple to service(?) However, I don’t know how easily I can get some spare parts including mantles in the US. Are there any vendors here?
Smaller parts for Tilleys and Vapallux/Bialaddins like seals etc are not expensive here in the UK and the postage to the US not onerous. Tilleys are not uncommon in the US as many were imported, but even then shipping a whole lantern from the UK is not prohibitive. Vapourisers can be a challenge to find but if you have a good one you are unlikley to wear it out unless you live off grid and rely on it for lighting.
Thank you for the list. This is very helpful! Thanks! I think 639 might be too bright for camp sites. Also nice to know it's flimsy. I'll look into 249. I think I'm interested in little smaller and less brighter than 639, but I just have to try and see how it is as well. I actually started interested in pressure lanterns before I started to post here. I saw a sale on the 639. I decided to pass this time. I'm interested in Coleman Peak 1 550 they have a kerosene generator to swap out. I'll search on Optimus and Primus. I don't know anything about them. Is it easy to get some spare parts here? Is Wenzel Chinese lantern? I saw some new in a nice wooden box for sale. I'm not sure how I can get extra mantles and spare parts. It's really nice to know that Tilley lamps are easy to work on and reliable. They are very beautiful, and looks really good on a table specially with a reflector! Mine too! Yeah shipping could get pretty expensive.
I'm actually interested in Tilleys and Vapallux/Bialaddins! They look really nice, and seems like not that hard to maintain. I saw some at an auction site, and some venders charge GBP 280.69 just for shipping! I'm interested in off grid, but not any time soon. My wife and daughter love city life (we live close by 45 min to NYC). We do use our wood stove often. That's as off grid as we can get for now.
Ah yes I see what you mean - even though I went to Ebay.com it assumed I was in the UK and gave me shipping is USD. Confusing.
With the Chinese Petromax copies, parts are not general a problem and neither are the mantles. I had a look for Wenzel but couldn't find any information. They certainly appear to be a Petromax clone but where they are made I do not know. Whatever is the case, parts are usually compatible on most clones but not all, Mantles, jets, pricker needles, globes, ceramic burners, pump leathers etc should all be absolutely fine however. You say you are interested in going off grid at some point... if you do, make sure the make and model you choose has readily available parts. This will restrict your choices to (probably) Coleman, Petromax and their clones and possibly a Tilley, although it's so much easier and cheaper to change a jet than fit a new vaporiser/generator. Coleman and Petromax have interchangeable jets whereas with a Tilley you have to swap the whole vapo/genny over!
I'm going to be off grid or not in the future, when I get my lanterns(I need to get my first one first), I would like to maintain and keep them for a long while. I know I can get Coleman parts easily here in the States, but they seem overpriced for me. Or I might just have an expensive taste. It's really great to know that Tilley you need to swap the whole Vapo and genny over. How about Vapallux/Bialaddins? How easy is it to maintain? What everybodies take on them? Yes, that's it. Is it the Chinese version of Petramax? Can you use Petromax parts on it? I couldn't find much info either. Looks good in a nice wooden box.
