So, I've g9t Tilley lamps but all seem to be a work in progress, I've bought a few colemans to use for fishing/camping and wondering if they, strategically placed will help keep midges and cleggs away? I'm pretty sure I've seen mentioned somewhere about adding citronella oil to the fuel mix as well but wondering if this is the case and if so what kind of ratio mix? Secondly will that only work with the Tilley lamps rather than a coleman 295 lamp?
@Davy-Mac They won’t keep insects away… And don’t put citronella or other insect repellent additives into your kerosene for pressure lamps. Sadness will ensue as your vapouriser gets blocked with carbon and residues. You might get away with citronella in wick lamps, but I don’t know which wick lamps to recommend for that purpose except for those bamboo garden torches. Cheers Tony
Thanks Tony, I do happen to have a wick burner head that I was going to bin as I've lost the leg for it, guess it will get a stay of execution!
Coleman had a very short run where they sold Coleman Fuel premixed with citronella. I can probably ascertain why this option was discontinued and haven't been revisited since.
@Davy-Mac have you considered using tinted glass? Coleman used to offer yellow tinted globes for their lanterns but they don't work on their own! Nocturnal insects - even blood suckers - usually navigate by / are attracted to the light of the moon so, a bright white light will attract more insects than a light which is not so bright. Now I'm not sure about the practicallity when fishing or how effective they are against clegs but when camping, place one or two lanterns with a clear glass at the perimeter of your pitch and use a lantern with a (preferably yellow) tinted glass next to your tent / eating area. Any insects will naturally go to the whiter light and leave you alone. I was told by someone who had worked in Africa that this works just as well with wick lanterns as it does with pressure lanterns.
"Are pressured lanterns good for keeping critters away?" Literally, I'd say they can be very efficient if you use fuels with certain fuel-soluble fumigants or insecticidal additives. That's if you disregard the undesirable consequential effects on the lantern parts, especially the vaporizer assemblies and jets/gas tips. There are certainly better means to get the job of repelling insects or other critters done, such as portable electronic-type (i.e., UV-types) insect repellers or traps, incense sticks, etc. To attest on the effectiveness of pressured lanterns for such a function, I've actually had, in the past, used kerosene with 5 -10% by weight of dissolved naphtalene(mothballs) as the fuel. I'd say it was efficient enough to keep most living creatures, including myself away.
