Coleman white gas stove and lantern

[frkelly74]

I had my grandfathers old gasoline stove that we had repainted rustoleum silver and that was reliable and easy to use. But the third time I had to clean out a massive mouse nest from it I deemed it unrecoverable, it was quite nasty and corroded by that time. We had used it camping and in a canning kitchen we had set up when we were just starting out. I think papa may have got it used way back.

[lightman]

I've got one of each, probably about as old as yours. I also have a propane lantern that I like maybe a little better.

[skeettx]

Yes and Yes, I use the Colman stove when I go to Mexico on mission trips
Mike

[Petrol & Powder]

I have a real fondness for pressurized kerosene lanterns and stoves but I do have a couple of Coleman gasoline stoves.

There is a REAL benefit to simple gear.

The gasoline/white gas units are a bit easier to start than the kerosene units and they are certainly more common in the U.S.A. than kerosene units. The pressurized kerosene stoves and lanterns require pre-heating to start but they work beautifully once you get them up to temperature. The kerosene units produce very little odor once you get them going but I love the smell when you shut them down; reminds me of the smell of jet exhaust (OK, I'm a little weird in that regard)

I still have a single burner gas Coleman stove that I sometimes use for casting. I pretty much keep that to remind myself that I could cast without electricity if I wanted to. A quart of unleaded gas will make a lot of bullets.

The stoves used for cooking don't come anywhere near lead or the stuff used with lead. .

I'm in search of a gas generator and needle for an Optimus 200P kerosene lantern, if anyone has one.

[Elkins45]

I occasionally use a gas stove to smelt, but it’s been a long time since I’ve used my lantern. The new led lights and rechargeable batteries are so much easier to deal with. No heat and no fragile mantles.

[Petrol & Powder]

I occasionally use a gas stove to smelt, but it’s been a long time since I’ve used my lantern. The new led lights and rechargeable batteries are so much easier to deal with. No heat and no fragile mantles.

You'll get no argument from me about the convenience of batteries and LED's !
In terms of ease of use, run time and safety; the new LED lanterns are hard to beat. A small solar panel to recharge the batteries during the daylight hours can extend the usefulness dramatically provided you have good weather conditions during the daytime.

However there is just some type of touchstone to be around a pressure lantern in the evening and a camp stove in the morning. I think the old pressure lanterns will fade from mainstream use but I'll keep my old Optimus kerosene units going as long as I'm around.

[EDG]

The local thrift store often has used Coleman stoves and such that they sell cheap. I have 3 or 4 like new stoves stored in the attic.
I have 4 or 5 of the Coleman single burner stoves. One of the singles was new in the box. It was never even fueled.

[MT Gianni]

I have a 3 burner and a single burner stove. At least two maybe three gas lanterns.

[Walks]

Started my own Camping setup the first week I seperated from the U. S. NAVY. June 1975
Answered an ad in the "Pennysaver" , got a used 2 mantle Lantern, a small 2 burner stove, an 8'x10' tent and a 54qt steel ice chest.
All Coleman in their boxes, used once.
$100 Cash
Added a used 3 burner stove a couple years later.
$10 , it did need a new generator.
All of it still works great. About every 5 years I buy a fresh gal. of fuel, put a little fuel in each tank & fire them up. Let them run dry.
Have extra parts for every single one of them.

Plus I have a propane Stove & Lantern that I got to make camping easier on my Wife ( me actually ).

Except 4yrs in the Service, I've pumped up Coleman stoves & lanterns ever year of my life since I was about 7-8yrs old. Since about 1961

[WarEagleEd]

I have a dual fuel Coleman two mantel lantern I bought new a few years ago and an old Sears (made by Coleman) white gas camp stove that belonged to my grandfather that still works. I use the lantern on a regular basis in the winter. I fire up the stove ever-so-often just to make sure it is still working. I did have to replace the fuel tank cap on the stove as the original wouldn't seal well enough and, therefore, pressure would not build up in the tank (kept the original, though).

My parents have an older Coleman propane lantern that takes those propane canisters that are no longer available. Coleman made an adapter so that it could run off of a propane tank. We don't have that adapter, so the lantern just sits in a box.

[GregLaROCHE]

I used a two burner on top of my wood cook stove for years, when I didn’t want to start the wood stove.
I’ve had a number of lanterns and a one burner for packing. I once tried a camping gas stove, because it was light. The first morning I tried to make coffee with it, it was almost too cold for the gas to flow. I ended up getting a small flame going and put the canister in the water I wanted to boil. Things slowly heated up and I got coffee. When I got home I threw it in a corner and never used it again.

[mold maker]

My first pair was bought for catfishing in 1958. Carried it on a bicycle 6 miles to the river along with tent and fishing gear. A second set (1966) was bought to camp with my new family. Other stoves have been purchased from pawn shops.
Sometime about 1970, I won an AIDA (German) kerosene lantern. I've since bought a knockoff and use them all in emergencies and a two burner to melt small volumes of lead.
They're just as relevant today as 50 years ago. When the power fails or modern appliances break, Coleman products still serving us as always.
I use reg gas and regularly clean the generators.

[rking22]

Still have my single burner peak1 stove and lanternthat I bought in 1980, and an old 2 burner from a junk store. Daughter and I cooked over the single for a week a couple years ago on a camping trip. I have shifted to a small stainless wood gasifier for my solo hiking and camping with an alcohol beer bottle stove as backup or for just a quick cup of something hot. I just enjoy cooking over open fire, and woodsmoke is good for relaxation! Don't use the lanterns much due to the LED performance, that and I like the dark and use very little light when camping, or outside around home for that matter. I love kerosene lamps, wick type, and use them when we want area light at times. Even then, I almost bought 2 Coleman lanterns in a pawn shop just this week! From the 60s and in really good shape,, may compromise and buy just 1!

[Three44s]

I grew up around family friends at camping time who had gas lanterns and stoves. My father tells a story why he likely never went that direction but instead propane:

Way back before propane weed burner torches were in vogue, there were gasoline fired torches. These torches were notorious about ungenerating. When they did they acted more like a military flame thrower. My dad was working on a old four cylinder gas motor mounted on a land leveler that you pulled behind a Cat. The motor on the pull scraper ran the hydraulics on it.

The gasoline torch ungenerated, lit the gasoline fuel system afire (he was trying to thaw ice out of the sediment bowl), the solder melted on the fuel tank and dumps the tanks contents onto the machine, with plenty ending up on the scrapers four rubber tires setting them on fire as well.

Somewhere in the Malay, my father went from improvising fire fire fighter to save the shop mode. Luckily the Cat was running and he jumped from the scraper to the seat of the D7 and pulled the burning mess away from in front of the shop to the middle of open area and mitigated damage at the new location the best he could.

He was not materially hurt and tells me that in pretty short order he got the scraper running without much supplies bought or heavy repairs, perhaps on the same day even! I am just guessing but I figure that iced up sediment bowl was thawed out at least by the time the fuel tank went. My father loves telling the part about the big Hiroshima cloud shooting above the machine as the tank opened up.

This happened when he was a young adult and I think it jaded him towards propane.

Best regards

Three44s

[Three44s]

I have not told my father about it but I do have a gasoline fired plumber’s burner. I have not fired it up yet and I am very much into propane tools for smelting but as I am also into history I could resist snagging that gasoline model out of curiousity.

You can rest assured it will not be used around any structures ..... lol!

Best regards

Three44s

[atr]

I have both lanterns and stoves. When I was recovering from my operation part of my therapy was to find and rebuild Coleman lanterns and stoves. I kept two stoves and 15 lanterns. I keep them around partly for emergency use and as collectors items, i.e. they were all American made. During the Christmas season I hang all the lanterns outside and fire them up.
I don't think I ever paid more than $5.00 at the local thrift store for the ones I rebuilt.

[dagger dog]

I have a Coleman single burner butane stove for backpacking, a dual burner gas stove, 3 lanterns 2 gas and 1 propane, plus a propane catalytic heater.

[pete501]

I am a recovering Coleman lantern aficionado. At one time I had more than 100 lanterns hanging in the rafters. All types, single, double, Coleman, Sears, Camp Lite, Thermos, Military, Forest service, chrome ones, factory cases.

The affliction came about when I broke a lens and noticed that the price of a new lens was more than I could buy a lantern at yard sales. My mantra was Less than $5 I would buy it. Stoves too.

Liquidating the lantern collection didn't take long. The first victim cherry picked the collection taking rarer and pristine lanterns. The remaining were bundled into one huge lot and sold for about ten bucks each. The buyer traveled 250 miles one way and filled the bed and passenger compartment of his full size truck.

Selling the gas stoves was a bit challenging, the customers responding were mostly homeless and had no transportation.

I still see coleman lanterns and stoves for under five bucks at yard sales. My new mantra is Just say No (in most cases).

[Thin Man]

We have several Coleman stoves and lanterns, even a pair of the early production red lanterns. Every one of these is ready to go to work and may be called on at any time - power outage, fishing trip, camping, etc. My first stove was a small 2-burner that got semi-retired when we got a larger 2-burner. The smaller one sat in the attic for so long it quit moving fuel from the tank to the burners. I considered buying a replacement tank but the prices on these were too high to suit me. With nothing to lose I disassembled the valve and finally removed the valve body from the tank. When I got the stem out of the tank I found that the strainer screen had a solid cover of a white material all over it. This was why the tank would not send fuel to the burners. I sprayed carburetor cleaner on the screen 2 times each from above and below, then reassembled the tank. The stove worked so well after that repair I gave it a detailed cleaning and more respectful care.

We are fortunate to have a Coleman outlet about an hour away in a tourist trap area. They are handy for finding all of the commonly needed parts, as well as several of the less than common parts. Beyond that I have a vendor on evilbay who uses the screen name "auctionthat." He has to have an "in" with the Coleman factory from the vast selection of inventory he displays. There have even been times when I did not see what I wanted to buy on his site, sent him a message and he answered that he had it and would post it as available. Very handy site for the Coleman enthusiast.

[GregLaROCHE]

Does anyone remember how many bugs those lanterns attracted, when they were the only light in the wilderness?