In preparation of an upcoming trip with our 5th wheel I decided to pull my old Coleman lantern off the shelf, clean it up and get it back into working order (a model dual mantle 288 for those who need the details) The cleanup went well, the 10+ year old fuel poured out, but now it was time for the consumables. The local Wally World had a couple of cans of fuel on hand but no mantles. The nice worker who happened to be in the isle knew exactly what I was looking for said she hadn’t seen any on the shelf in months. In general except for a propane lantern or two most of that isle was cleaned out. As we talked further she said most of the stoves and lanterns have been flying off the shelf since the “pandemic” started.
The closest sporting goods store, Dicks, won’t get my money and the usual others are too far away. So I wandered over to the local “A” named hardware store which usually is my source for the obscure and odd items and sure enough they had 2 two packs left on the shelf. I grabbed both and merely went on my way. I guess I’ll have to start grabbing them when I see them to build up a stash.
Some of my better memory’s are of camping and hunting trips and the distinctive hiss of a Coleman lantern lighting up the area.