Your Favorite Lantern for Reliability,Dependability and all-round use.

+1 on the Primus 1020. It must be the most reliable and versatile lantern out there.

That being said, I enjoy the Coleman instant lighting gasoline lanterns like the 242, 220, 236, 288 and 295. A lot of light in a hurry, but not used for long because of the higher cost of fuel.

 

Phil, for me it's the opposite!
Alkylate petrol on pump is much cheaper than paraffin so I find myself more often be using petrol stoves and lamps.
Not that it matter much. I don't use these things so much that the fuel cost is a real issue. But it's always nice to choose the cheaper option.
Or perhaps I'm fooling myself... maybe paraffin lamps consume so much lesser fuel per kW compared to petrol, so it evens up despite the higher cost per litre for paraffin, but I doubt it.

 

Here in South Africa, a liter of paraffin currently costs about 2/3 the price of a liter of unleaded petrol. Naphta or white gasoline is unavailable and preclean costs about 2-1/2 times as much as petrol. Distilling unleaded petrol is the cheapest way for me to use gasoline lamps and stoves, but with my setup it takes about 7-8 hours to produce 10 liters.

I'm in the habit of lighting at least one lantern or lamp every evening just to relax and enjoy the ambience they provide. If I were to use e.g. a 236 every evening I would have to run the still 3 days every month, which is not really how I want to spend my time. So I mostly use paraffin lamps and save the petrol for stoves, table lamps and special occasions

 

I'd like to see your unleaded still - any chance of some pictures, Phil?

 

I posted two photos here: My Collection Primus Stove, Coleman Lamp and Miners Lamp

It is a standard laboratory glass setup with a 2000ml flask and Liebig cooler. The flask is electrically heated in a basket shaped heater. I start getting distillate at about 30 degrees C and I end the process at about 135 degrees Celsius to prevent the green dye in the petrol getting into the end product. End product is about 90% of what I put in. In use, the setup stands on my BBQ in the garden near the shed . You should see the tarry black gunk that is left over! (and hence will not clog my lamps and stoves).

 

Have you tried power paraffin or voco? Is it still available. I imagine that it's pretty close to Coleman fuel if memory serves me correctly. It used to be available from the co-ops.
Steve

 

@goldwinger11

"Power kerosene", when it was available in Australia (long gone), was made to be run in tractors and similar machinery; and was specified by lantern sellers to NOT be used in lanterns.

I have a Voco box: it says it is "kerosene". So, in the Australian context, neither of these would translate to "Coleman fuel".

In Australia the Coleman fuel equivalent has always been "Shellite" (now sold as both "Shellite" (as fuel), and "Recosol" (as a cleaning agent).


Cheers

Tony

 

I’ve been out of South Africa for 24 years and my recollection of power paraffin was a product that had a flashpoint slightly higher than gas but lower than kerosene. That was the reason for my question. Idle curiosity

 

Power paraffin is still available here for tractors and engines that start on gasoline and are then switched over to power paraffin when they reach operating temperature. These tractors are colloquially known as "vaaljapies" probably because they were mostly a dun grey colour. But power paraffin like illumination paraffin will not light with a match although it could probably be used in a paraffin pressure lamp. I know from experience that it does not burn well in a wick lamp. It is certainly not volatile enough to be used as a substitute for Coleman Fuel.

 

Thanks for that info

 

So where in SA were you, Doug? And how long were you here for? Always nice to hear from an ex-pat

 

I'm guessing you meant me. I grew up in Johannesburg and then moved to Nelspruit. From there to Southern Oregon.
Steve

 

Sorry, Steve! Dunno where I got the Doug from I grew up in the Boland, studied, lived and worked in Johannesburg for 14 years then moved back down to my home town. Best move I ever made. Sea, climate, mountains, wine all in one place. What more could a person ask for

 

Jo'burg isn't my favourite place at all. I loved the lowveld.

 

Collectors do find some amazing lanterns there. Seems like there were many imported and lightly used for a while before being stored away, all paid for with goldmine money. Here in the Cape the farmers squeezed every last hour of life out of their lamps before hanging them in the barn for the last time.

 

My favourite is my Coleman model 236 - 500cp made in Canada. I have a few from the 40's and one from the 50's. Very bright, easy to use and dependable. They call this model a " barn lantern ".

 

Austramax 3/300

 

If I had to pick one from scratch, it would probably be a Primus 1020, or maybe the 991 (I like the size). The Austramax 3/300 would be a very close second. What I actually use is a Primus 981 that had had a hard life before I found it. It's been my go to lantern for years and still with the same mantle.

 

the coleman 242/243 series.

 

When this thread opened five years ago, I was quite new to this, and a lamp was a lamp was a lamp... Things have changed since then .
If aestethics are of importance, I'll pick my very first lamp, an Optimus 200P with shade.
When I need light, and nothing more, my no-nonsense Petromax 821 will do the work. Coupple of dents, slightly out of plumb, a crack in the globe, but it works.
Nils introduced me to the 1020 Spirit conversion. If I need something to be used in-door, this will be the choise.
BUT: Recently I got a coupple of 1060' going. What a treat to start, especially when you learn how to avoid the "Whoomp". As I've written before, I'm rather skeptical about contraptions with petrol at one end and fire at the other. But, maybe, in the future...

 

Wuss...

 

Says who?

 

I guess my favorites will be Bialaddin, Petromax and Coleman table lamps. Not really sure which one..

 

I've not had any electricity in my house for some years. I'm using pressure lanterns as workhorses at present...just as what they were made for during their heydays.
I can't say its my favourite, but the Butterfly is currently what i rely on for illumination...every night.

 

Aeroplane made in Hong Kong is my most used lantern. It does not require much attention after the initial light up.

 

Being a "newbie " I make my first post, I have two lanterns a Coleman 295
powerhouse, bought in the 90,s , it lived in Ireland in Co Waterford in my caravan.. but now with me at my home in St . Helens UK.... a fine lamp just a glass, and generator replaced... I use Peerless mantles on it.

My second lantern and I consider just amazing for light / heat generation is
an ex "Bundeswehr " 829 Petromax bought in Germany from a ex NATO surplus dealer...It is more complex to fettle then the Coleman but is the tops for tinkering with and such power and build quality ...

I cannot identify its age and is unmarked save for advice word warnings etc, stamped on it Made in Germany , has 10 star points on the motif to render it German made, virtually unmarked .. a real solid lantern, using a Peerless 24A mantle to illuminate all around and using 28 second CH kerosene. My German language has come on leaps and bounds by the way
although PC online translator makes it so easy ..It is addictive collecting lamps.. bye for now.

 

On the bottom of the font should be a 4 digit number. First 2 digits are the week it was manufactured. 3rd digit is the last number of the year from 1961 to 1970 as I understand it. Last digit is the day of the week. Example 3614 = September 1961 Thursday.

 

Thanks so much for this piece of information .. hey but I have looked all
over the Pmax lantern .. there are no numbers embossed or marked at all
on the metal ..could they have omitted these for military lamps...only
word warnings etc.. thanks again

 

We are expecting some wild and woolly weather with a severe weather warning issued, including being prepared for blackouts. So...

I’ve topped up the fuel in:

1x Coleman 242B
1x Coleman 237
2x Coleman 214
2x Tilley X246

Plus some table lamps and Aladdin wickies...

And my kerosene kitchen stoves...

Cheers

Tony

 

hope you weather the storm allright.