Kerosene lantern find

[alfadan]

I also have an old Rayo type circular wick lamp branded Magnetic. The Rayo puts out a lot more light than a flat wick but is very thirsty. An interesting story is Standard Oil developed it and gave one away with the purchase of 5 gallons of kerosene. The lamps were so thirsty, it guaranteed more kerosene sales!

[metricmonkeywrench]

https://lanternnet.com/

Tons of good info here. History. Parts. New lanterns both imported and US made. Also antique lanterns.

Wow thanks for the link, cold blast/hot blast.... I completely had no idea how these lanterns really worked.

Makes me feel even better about my decision to buy.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Wow thanks for the link, cold blast/hot blast.... I completely had no idea how these lanterns really worked.

Makes me feel even better about my decision to buy.

Tons of cool info huh ? The are actually the owners of the Deitz brand which is made on their old machines in China where the WT Kirkman is certain Deitz models made on their equipment in the US.
They’re so cheap to buy brand new that it’s worth having a couple around. Also the spare parts are dirt cheap.

I love my lanterns!

[john.k]

Ive had a cheap pressed tin hurricane lamp since I was a kid.....I keep it filled with diesel ,it doesnt evaporate like kerosine,and the lamp can always be lit ,no matter how long its been neglected......downside is a bit of extra soot on the glass,and a bit of a smell......I used to have a kerosine fridge i ran on diesel too.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

JonB ,
I would have kept one ... Winter Ice Storm is where they ... shine !
Sorry about bad pun ,
Gary

I don't camp anymore, and last time I used one while camping, I nearly set the Big Horns on FIRE
Ice storm? I have a Wood stove and LED flashlights.

I've been trying to sell these at my garage sales for years...I had them marked $10 each.
when I listed them on FB, I seen people listing them for prices as crazy are Primers on GB. I bumped the price a little bit when I listed them. They must be the latest thing that the masses are collecting, for them to sell so quick.

[jonp]

Kerosene lanterns will meet the "mood" lighting requirement nicely but I would have given anything to have had a Coleman Twin Mantle Lantern a few months ago .

Ice storms knocked out power and heat ... those Twin Mantle Lanterns put out plenty of both light and heat and we needed both .

Usually our power is out in Summer , Hurricane season , Usually It's sooooo Hot in the house that I bought two Coleman Lanterns with flourescent tubes powered by batteries , no heat and a little light but Winter Ice storm we were freezing inside the house it was 38 degrees .

Hang onto the Coleman Lanterns , get new mantles and fresh fuel ... one ice storm and you will fall in love with them . I got new mantles and fresh fuel for ours .

I'm better at Hurricanes than Ice storms for sure !
Gary

Camped out one summer cruising timber at 7,000ft in Utah. Only light and heat in my small dome tent was a Coleman Single. Boy, was that a great summer. I cored one Blue Spruce on the edge of a park and dated it to 1492. Counted it several times to make sure

We have a couple of Dietz kerosene lanterns as backups along with the Aladin tall chimneys. Nothing like that soft light glow sitting at camp with the snow flying and woodstove going

[higgins]

A small 2-burner Coleman gas stove is the best deal I ever got at a pawn shop. It looked little used but was on the $10 table, I suppose because people were going propane at the time. I put my thumb over the pump and as expected it wouldn't pressurize. I offered $5 for the "broke" stove and got it for that. A few drops of oil on the leather and it's good as new. Coleman gas appliances used to be dirt cheap at yard and estate sales because so many people had them for hunting, camping, fishing, many "broke" because they wouldn't pressurize. I suppose they're "vintage" now and more expensive.

I even caught one fishing on the bottom once. The globe was gone, tank rusted through and full of mud. The only salvageable parts were the brass nut that held the top on and a couple of other brass parts.

[Brokenbear]

Op
A couple of suggestions and comments ...
The lantern on the left will be your best lantern with the longest burn time, best light and least odor because it reburns the the exhaust of the flame which further burns suspended particulates (unburned fuel) ..Also if you are using these in doors and in particular small spaces do two things please ..crack an opening to outside air source and buy a gallon of pure paraffin oil which will burn brighter and is a ZERO odor combustable
The Blue lantern I would relegate to outside use as it of the 4 will be the lantern that will most contribute to fouling your air ..I know others who use diesel, kerosene and fuel oil but if you get into a major mother nature deal and face many days or weeks of having to use these types of light source you will be very thankful to have odorless fuel available ..
The little lantern you will soon find is going to be very limited to giving off much light ..
The red one which will be foreign made is probably ok but I would fill it and watch it for a tank full to establish it's reliability ..in fact make them all prove themselves before you trust them
(Proving them) means fill the tanks..with a sharp pair of scissors cut the wick square with 3/8" of wick showing above the wind guard ...set them in a big pie plate ..if the lantern was dry let it set a half hour for the wick to soak up fuel to the exposed area of the wick ..turn the wick adjustment knob to insure you can control the wicks movement ..then light.. IN the half hour of wick soak time the biggest thing to be alert for is a leaking fuel tank ...
The rusty looking one is a possible candidate to leak simply because rust can cause pin holes you cannot even see with your naked eye ..on the other hand you may turn it over and the very bottom could look almost shinny new (coating called "Japanned")
Another source for a leaking tank are at the seams like the very bottom edge the lantern sits on is a soldered joint ...
If you do encounter a leaking tank just google "gas tank sealer" ..it is an epoxy based product these car restorers use to fix (from the inside) a gas tank that leaks that no one build a new replacement tank for ..it is an over night repair and works like a charm

Enjoy
Bear

[metricmonkeywrench]

Bear, thanks for the info. Since my last update I toyed a bit with all 4 I haven’t done much with the big one yet. I tried to get the burner out of the blue Monarch, the burner shell popped off but the wick assy stayed stuck to the tank so it got set aside for a later date. We did get the Hope fired up and it works pretty good, but it was not as precise a burn when compared to my Dietz Junior, the downside is that the globe is a bit chipped out around the base which may be a factor. The little Bat was the surprising one, despite its size it burned real well and produced a surprisingly decent amount of light. All of them will be regulated to outdoor use.

So 2 for 2 so far...