Hail all CPL member. I have a lot of glare shields made for Sea Anchor pressure lanterns and they came from the factory in a horrid, Williamsburg, Virginia blue. Sort of a cross between sky blue and flying kite blue. I am not a blue person, it just drives me, as you Brits like to say, ''round the bend'. I took two of them down into the engine room aboard and taped them accordingly after sanding the blue a tad and then applied a good coat of a high temp' sand able primer, then, after two hours, scuffed the finish and applied a good, heavy coat of high temperature, high gloss enamel based top coat in bright red. Now red is a color I can live with. As you know, there are a million varieties of red, there's Cardinal red, lipstick red, et cetera. Well if I were asked what color I painted the glare shields for my Chinese built lanterns, I would immediately respond with, "why Chinese red, of course." There are lots of folks out there in 'lantern land' that won't go near a Chinese lantern thinking them grossly inferior. Well, the same thing was said of cars from Japan not so many years ago. A man named Honda changed the world's opinion of all things 'Made in Japan'. And so it is in my never humble opinion that China can produce high quality goods if she wants to. In another ten to twenty years, China will make just about everything the west uses. Enough of my rants, I like Chinese red on my shields....do you? Thanks, Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia. One thing more, thanks to the English gentleman who sent me the parts I sorely needed for my Tilley.
Personally, I like the blue - I think it just looks 'odd' on a red lantern. The Tilley looks good with the red reflector and seems to be burning well...
Hail to those who read this post. Yes, I too like the red glare shield on the red Tilley. The stark contrast between the black vent and the red shield is dramatic; but it works. Yes, David, I am happy with the way the Tilley is burning. It ran a full 10 hours of one fill up, which I think is great compared to my thirsty Petromax types that only manage 5 hours. You Brits have really perfected the Tilleys, all the bug are out of them. I find a Tilley novel. You who grew up with them on your kitchen tables are less charmed by them than Americans who only had Coleman. Everyone who visits me aboard seems to be drawn to my Bialaddin first, then the Tilley. Thank you, David. Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
Well, I think Tilley had them perfected in the mid-50s and it's been downhill since then due to cost-cutting. My feeling is that that's been down to decreasing demand in the domestic market which was the main focus of Tilley's activities. In contrast, Bialaddin and Vapalux didn't face that downturn in demand because their sales were largely to the military where demand remained higher for longer and cost was less of an issue. Thus they were able to maintain a higher quality product. That's how I see it, anyway...
Mike , its nice to hear of a bit of support for the X246B as its probably the least impressive tilley product and not on many lamp enthusiasts list of favourites,if its a good one it'll last for a long time ,over pumping isn't too hard to do though, also doesn't help that theres loads of them around this side of the pond. I worked in Florida for three months a few years ago and there was a real interest in british made items ,especially old motorbikes and 50's and 60's sports cars,,,also loads of jokes about lucas electrical items that I'd never come across here but most of the blokes has a tale about....
Among other things I run a company dealing in astronomical equipment... For many years way back in the 70s Japanese optics were very much the "Chinese Tilley" of the telescope world - today Japanese optics are regarded among the best in the world. However there's now a price tag to match! I think it's quite obvious in many fields that China is going to go the same way and already is with regard to their optics... PS. Are those shades available in the UK?
But then you probably get twice as much light from the Petromax! Fuel consumption is pretty much in proportion to jet size, i.e. light output, so if that's an issue for you, there are smaller Petromax types too.
Hail Gneiss. Thank you for your comments. Yes, the great nation of China is on her way to the top. I personally refinish the shades in the engine room of my boat and am attempting to market them on Mother Ebay. It's a lot of work to refinish them, but it keeps my 69 year old hands young. At the risk of flattering myself, I manage to put a better finish on them than they had from the factory. I'm thinking about doing them up in high gloss black, too. It's nice having something unique as opposed to just another cookie cutter glare shade in blue. Thanks again, Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
Hail Christer & thanks for your input. Yes, 'spot on' as the Brits say. I live year 'round aboard my all wood trawler and have a nice, automatic diesel fired heater in the engine room that keeps the boat quite comfortable all winter long; however, I've used my lanterns as heat sources for those days when it isn't quite cold enough to turn on the main heater. The heat generated by the lantern is almost too much for my day cabin and I have been thinking about swapping out the 500 jet for perhaps a 250 or even a 150 if it will interchange. Do you know if either will fit into the 500 vaporizer? When it comes to using my fossil fuels aboard, I'm as 'tight as a grape'. One more thought about Tilley lanterns, they are ever so quiet when running and very steady. I can detect NO fume smell at all, which is great and would suggest that the unit is functioning well. Thank you, Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
Hello Skipper Mike, there is more to it than changing the jet. In my opinion, you would be better to obtain a smaller Petromax type of lantern, Jeff.
