First light up of my Bialaddin 300X after replacing the original cracked fount. Resprayed and rebuilt and running sweetly. Cheers!
This was my second ever restoration and one I was really proud of. Great to have it back in operation.
Great stuff, well done on the fettle and keeping a lovely old lamp running. Top job for enjoying the fruits of your labour, sometimes the best thing to do with a fettled lamp is to enjoy it until it needs fettling again.
Thanks guys. The spray painting is getting easier with practice. I do like the 300X, they take some beating!
It is an intersting point. The 300x is pretty close to perfection but several other models ensued. I am aware of many of the whys but sometimes one has to think - why bother changing ? But as they say hindsight is 20/20 !
Money! Just like with Tilley lanterns, there was a financial push to make the manufacture process cheaper by reducing material costs and simplifying the design. My favourite Bialaddins are the 315, followed by the 300 but for different reasons. The 300 is the best looking and the best engineered IMO whereas the design of the 315 is elegant and uncluttered.
It is sad to see how the design and quality has declined, as you say purely for economic reasons. 300 and 315 both great lanterns in their own way!
I don't think the quality of Bialaddin / Vapalux lanterns ever declined - which is why NATO kept on buying them. What may have changed is the amount of material used or that the manufacturing or assembly processes may have been streamlined over the years...
That's probably true David but it's more of a feeling that they were trying to cut corners and 'cheapening' the product, even if the quality wasn't actually affected. Anyhow, Willis & Bates were nowhere near as guilty as Tilley in this regard. Also, they were able to resist the temptation to make inferior products because they had the military contracts, not the other way round. 'Cost plus' contracts basically allow you to make products without worrying about the cost of materials or processes which was good for us as we got superb (no pun intended) lanterns as a result!
I’m thinking that Tilley saved a pond and lost many pounds in doing so. Sometimes, the bean counters should not be allowed to override the engineer when it comes to quality. Stated as a retired engineer .....
I think Tilley got away with their policy of 'no corner left uncut' because they were the household name when it came to pressure lamps and such. Vapalux and Bialaddin (Willis & Bates / Bairstow Bros. (1985) Ltd.) hardly had a look-in on the domestic market, nor really needed any with their military contracts to sustain the business. Thus Tilley could trot out any old rubbish, safe in the knowledge that folk would know no better and continue to patronise the business. On a personal note, I knew what a Tilley lamp/lantern and heater were from about age 8 in the late 1950s and knew how to operate them. I'd never heard of Bialaddin or Vapalux until I started collecting in 2001 and even then, assumed they must be a pale imitation of Tilley. Until I bought one, naturally, and started using it...
