I may already be preaching to the converted but for the last couple of years I have been lighting my lamps and stoves with a standard long nose lighter, one of these: However, something of a revelation and like I say, some of you guys might already be using one, however, if you're not I cannot recommend them enough for lamp lighting..for just over £8.00 (uk) or £5.50 from HK/China...The 'projected' flame reaches the spirit cup in an instant working so much better than the aforementioned device. Martin
I have seen others using one but havn't tried yet myself. I still use the lighter like you first mention. One day I'll get around to buying one. I try to avoid matches as the sulfur (or whatever it is) from them causes corrosion around the lighting hole.
I've been using a cooks torch like this for years. Better than anything else for reaching a flame into the globe cage of Coleman Instant-Lites and tends to be what I use to light most lamps. ::Neil::
Trevor, I was just wondering what your success rate is with matches lol I think mine is something like 3 tries each time. The wind normally gets the first two and how annoying it is when you finally get a near dying flame to the meths and it expires arhhhh! lol Oh those heady days .. Martin
Hi Martin The number of matches used depends on where the lantern is lit. Inside a building or tent is ideal and outside it is best to have some shielding from the wind. The number of matches used does not matter to me. It can often be just one match, but if it takes more then it does not worry me. If I am lighting a lantern from say, 1950, then I prefer to use one of the lighting methods used at that time. For me it is matches.
Some things ain't what they used to be. Bryant & May were the favourite once, but lately matchbox sizes - and the thickness of the sticks - have been a retrograde step. No longer do any boxes fit Granddad's brass matchbox holder (made from WWI cartridge brass) - the fall through! And you might need three sticks before finding one that doesn't break in half when striking. Swan Vestas have remained the same size though. I remember when Dad was a heavy smoker making buildings and forts with empty matchboxes.
Lol, I'm obviously missing the point and should be using a flint or a bow and a stick just to keep it real But of course, everyone to their own.
Martin, I think that you have certainly missed the point. Using a bow and stick to produce fire started about 600,000 years ago and using a flint with pyrite rocks was in use about 4,000 years ago. However, these methods were never used to light pressure lanterns since their invention. On the other hand the friction match was invented in 1826, about a mile and a half from where I was born. For the major part of the history of pressure lamps matches were (and for me still are) used to light them. If people want to use the latest 21st century blowtorch with electric ignition to light their classic lanterns, that is up them. If the aim is to produce light as easily as possible then maybe they should just buy a battery powered multi LED lantern.
If I'm lighting just one, two, or even three lanterns, I do tend to use matches. Lighting more than three, e.g. for a display, then a cook's torch is the way to go. I can easily go through two boxes of Swan Vestas (average contents 85 matches) over the weekend when at a rally. Henry.
I just love you guys, straight talking and not a hint of sarcasm anywhere lol..just wondering whether i should advertise for man servant, I'm obviously going to need one to run in front of my automobile waving a flag before I can drive to work in the morning.
You could save yourself the petrol and ongoing maintenance costs by holding the flag and running/walking yourself. Might get some strange looks though.
