Nice find, Darryl! I didn't know they made them for the military. Do you know about how old the lantern is?
Hello George, I'm thinking 1940 era, WW2, a fella I know has one with a Mica globe, the history of his is that it was used on an island buy a coast watcher during the war.
G'day Darryl, I'm not sure it's original. It looks to be Swift Lite from the collar up but mounted on a Kero Pet fount. Having said that @Tony Press showed me one recently in the same configuration. Are they transition or rebuilds? Don't know. It's still a good find and should clean up nicely.
It is understood that this is the second variation of the SwiftLite. The first had the tank with the combination filler and pump. The second had what would become the KeroPet tank. I believe the handle was different as well, but havn't seen enough of them to be sure. As far as the military having used them, I have no idea. It's quite possible as they had lots of different gear. If they did you would expect to see more of them today, but they are pretty thin on the ground (painted green or not).
@Nils Stephenson @Darryl Durdin Thanks Nils, I hadn't heard of the version 2 before let alone seen one in real life. Darryl, looks like you have another very rare lantern.
Yes, Darryl! Nice find. I believe the really nice ones are still out there, you just have to keep looking!
Nice find @Darryl Durdin This is another lamp that I didn’t know existed. Well done in getting her and I look forward to it being entered into the reference section. We’re learning all the time. Happy fettling. Cheers Pete
Well this lantern has been listed in the PLC for some time. Not common perhaps but I do know of about four or five with collectors. ::Neil::
@Darryl Durdin Three questions about this lantern: 1. Is the tank steel or brass? 2. Does it have a label? 3. Does the spirit cup have a full hole for the generator, or is the gap where the generator fits continuous to the outside edge where the air tube fits? Cheers Tony
@Tony Press , I’ll get it out and check it out tomorrow .I will get back to you all. I have v1 and v2
Hello Tony. The lantern in question has a brass tank with a steel base, I did the magnet test. The aluminium meth bowl has the hole for the generator as one piece. With the allowance for the air intake. I went about checking all my Handi’s that I can get to , they all have steel bases except for one that is a type 3 it must have a brass base. My v1 swiftlite do not have the Handi badges my v2 some have the badge riveted on, my v1’some are shellite and others kero the same with my v2’s. I v2 stood out, it’s kero but the meth bowl has been altered as I’ve not seen this before, a small plate screws to the bowl and contains it to the air tube, I took pictures of everything I have v1+2 this type 3 has a brass base v1 the v2 in this picture has the army olive drab original colour, I have to correct myself my v1’s are all shellite, v1’s the middle one is of the above original thread, it has the military olive drap tank but the hood is black. Some kero others shellite. This is the v2 with the altered meth bowl, it’s had some other bits added. as found, I’ll be looking for if anything I have has a steel tank, I hope this helps you
Thanks, Darryl. The spirit cup with the copper or brass clip at the back is not “altered”. The one I’m working on has the same setup, and so does this one here: Handi SwiftLite Lantern (version 2) Cheers Tony @Nils Stephenson @Darryl Durdin
