I’m profoundly grateful to Trevor’s son Daniel and @David Shouksmith for the opportunity to own this particular lantern, which I’ve seen Trevor use over a number of years to add to the night-time illumination (and warmth!) of the Fettlers’ Arms at Newark gatherings. Here’s Trevor with his unused ‘cook-top’ Radius 119 on display in the vestibule of his tent at Newark, flanked by his Optimus 200 and Bialaddin bowl fire. These lanterns are prone to stress-cracked collars evidently, which Trevor had mentioned to me one time. One of a number of cracks had worked its way right across the collar’s width and I used silbraze, rather than soft solder, for strength to join the break and bond some of the other cracks. The high silver content of the brazing rod I used had the two-fold advantage of blending with the nickel better than a ‘brassier’ rod and it melted at a lower temperature than the latter, so the nickel plate wasn’t burnt off or discoloured. Not perfect, but the collar’s no longer fragile, and installed, it doesn’t mar the overall excellent appearance of the lantern. On the subject of stress cracks, Radius didn’t get it right on the hood either. Fortunately, the cook top holds everything in place, corset-fashion. If I were to indulge in a conspiracy theory (!!!) I could imagine that Radius invented the cook top to salvage otherwise scrap hoods. There are surely better ways to heat up coffee or melt snow, not least because a lantern spends at least some of the time hung up, at height, and to reach up for a pot seems inconvenient at best, if not downright hazardous. It’s what Radius made stoves for! Some details. The Civil Defence shield. I do like a fuel gauge. Instructions for jet change and air restrictor for use of alcohol as fuel instead of kerosene if desired. The pricker rod arrangement. Love it, and a poignant reminder of a pal I have the fondest of memories of, as do many, many more. John
Quite an impressive lantern, pity about the stress cracks. Happily it seems they can be repaired without to much bother.
John That’s a very special lamp, being one of Trevor’s collection. It has found a good home. Cheers Tony @presscall
I'm so glad to see what you've done with Trevor's lantern, John and it's great to see it running again - it was looking decidedly second-hand as found in Trevor's garage storage unit. A great job all-round! Yes, unless you're a fan of uncooked food and/or the enemy were happy for you to declare a hiatus in hostilities whilst you waited for the snow to melt! I can confirm, however, that the cook-tops are excellent for warming up sweet mince pies in their foil containers - as long as you're prepared to wait 10 minutes or so. Deep joy...
