is there any benefits to gas or keroscenne laterns?.

[Poppy]

I bought one to light my grill. It fell apart pretty quickly. Didn't last a single season. Maybe it was a clone? because the Coleman one listed above seems to be well rated.

 

[John Spartan]

Another tip about kerosene lanterns: besides providing warm lighting, they, with the right accessories can warm up food and drink. Nothing like hot tea and baked beans on a cold night.

 

[turbodog]

I imagine that this is what you are referring to:

View attachment 17761

This is what I had years ago. Thought it was some off-brand thing, and maybe it was back then. Could have been bought out by coleman since then.

 

[raggie33]

i have some old school thyroim mantles for sale

 

[seadial]

Long run time; surf fishing at night on the beach they can provide light for hours as you rebait hooks, remove the catch and re-rig lines if something big busts you off.

 

[Chrontius]

i mean i have a sofirn if25a latern i charge with solar i do miss the hiss of gas . but is there any reason to buy these relics ?

I choose to read nothing but this prompt and respond; I'll edit this once I've read the thread in its entirety, but this is me without any groupthink.

I just dropped $60 on a Kosmos burner kerosine lamp from India by way of Amazon. A couple weeks after that, a tree fell on the power lines. A flashlight found my way to the pyrotechnology stowed in the kitchen -- a butane stove and a kerosine lamp -- and in the warm glow of the lamp, I prepared myself a cup of coffee without risking (further) damage to my teeth via a flashlight in my mouth. (A battery powered fan ensured that there would be no buildup of combustion byproducts indoors)

Area lighting, task lighting, and "what the heck was that noise" lighting have their own considerations, and each problem has its own solution. Flashlights conquer fear, but they're a lousy solution for boiling water for coffee when you don't even want to be up yet, and your manual dexterity has barely risen to "don't knock it over" levels yet.

Also, don't discount the energy density and stockpilability of kerosine, or the efficiency of modern central- or more modern side-draft lamps. These ain't the hurricane lamps of yore any more, and some of them have some borderline rocket science involved in improving their thermodynamic efficiency, which is also super cool.

Further thoughts after reading the thread will be posted later.

 

[Chrontius]

i have some old school thyroim mantles for sale

What kind of lamp do they fit?

 

[Poppy]

interesting video posted by xxo

 

[[email protected]]

What the OP was referring to is often called "a Sparkie",
As it uses flint ( think Red Zippo lighter flints) and steel to create a spark to light a lantern.
Coleman makes them as do others
the BEST place for information on them is

The Coleman Collectors Forum - CCF

www.colemancollectorsforum.com

Wonderful group of folks who help others keep current and vintage gas pressure appliances running.
I have several Coleman Lanterns and Stoves.
Lanterns running on both Kerosene and "Coleman/Crown" Camping fuel.
(Coleman Fuel Historically called White Gas, it is a liquid petroleum fuel (100% light hydrotreated distillate), composed of cyclohexane, nonane, octane, heptane, and pentane)
Stoves on Coleman Fuel or propane.
Family uses them for camping as well as Hurricane outages as I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Yes I have LED lights as well, both have their place especially the stoves.
Both Coleman Lanterns and stoves are very serviceable, with most parts still available.
So if you find one in a garage or basement or barn, often does not take much effort to get them running.

 

[Travbm]

i mean i have a sofirn if25a latern i charge with solar i do miss the hiss of gas . but is there any reason to buy these relics ?

Last winter we had an ice storm and the power was out for weeks at a time. I heard something out by the window. I could not go out and buy batteries and the weather was too bad to recharge my solar light. I lit a lantern, the light must have spooked what ever it was. I stayed up listening to the crack of tree limbs and shattering ice against during the ice storm that night during the month of January or February.

This summer the power went out again. A squirrel had shorted out the power transformer. I don't know how or why but it did. One Kentucky fried Squirrel for sure. Anyway I lit a few lamps when it got dark. I managed to go down and get a call out to the power company earlier at my grandparents. And with all the brown outs and power outages I have I have been collecting kerosene lanterns for emergencies.

 

[Poppy]

With power out for weeks at a time, you might consider that your car's battery has a good amount of charge capacity, and you can use it to recharge batteries for your light. The car's alternator should top off the car's battery fairly quickly.

I did the math in the power outage thread. I calculated that a average car alternator has a surplus of approximately 900 watts beyond what it takes for the engine to run, that can be used to recharge the CAR battery, if the car battery is used to charge other batteries.

power outage thread, https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?367513-Power-Outage-How-many-Lumens-How-many-batteries-(for-lights-and-more)

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

With power out for weeks at a time, you might consider that your car's battery has a good amount of charge capacity, and you can use it to recharge batteries for your light. The car's alternator should top off the car's battery fairly quickly.

[snip]

Is there an in-car way to check the battery charge, or is this the job for a multimeter?

 

[vicv]

Even a multimeter won't really tell you much. There's nothing like lithium ion be able to just measure the open circuit voltage to see how much is left

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I absolutely can attest to charging batteries with a car charger. A car battery can have 50Ah to even 100Ah capacity at current rates of an amp or two from the battery. Even with conversion losses you can charge dozens of AAs and more than a handful 18650s and still have plenty of charge on the battery to start the vehicle. You would have to be using multiple chargers for hours on end to drain the battery too low. If you drive the car during the day some it can easily recharge the battery from use in less than an hour which includes what power is used to start the vehicle. The best way to determine if you are discharging it too much is measuring battery voltage and have a good handle on if your vehicle struggles or not to start in the current weather. At 50Ah that is about 600Wh of power that is theoretically enough to charge up to 50 18650 batteries so one could charge about half that much and still have half the power left to start with and even 10 18650 batteries or about 30-40 nimh AAs is a lot of power to use up in an outage in a day.

 

[Poppy]

Is there an in-car way to check the battery charge, or is this the job for a multimeter?

I fully agree with @Lynx_Arc and his post above.

Yes, a multi-meter, or at least a digital volt meter is the way to go.
A quick google search for 12V battery discharge chart led me to this link

RV Tech Library - Battery Charge Voltage

www.rvtechlibrary.com

on a similar note: I have a set of Ryobi 18V One+ tool batteries, and I bought a charger for them, that plugs into the car power port. It has a boost circuit, and it doesn't require the engine to be running for it to work. It also monitors the status of the car battery, and will turn itself off before it drains the car battery too low, thus ensuring that the battery will have sufficient power to crank the engine, to start. I think that is a cool feature.

A set of jumper cables and a friendly neighbor should get your car running if you happen to drain your car battery too low.

 

[olddogrib]

You probably have zero need for this application, but if anyone has mentioned it I missed it. I'm a bowhunter and the Coleman white gas was the standard for following blood trails after dark for many years. Something about it seems to make blood specs stand out well against a backdrop of dirt/grass/leaves and they still have quite a following. I started carrying a high lumen LED in neutral white for the task soon after they became available, but if recovery isn't quick and I go back for reinforcements the Coleman is coming back with me as well as a backup LED or a battery change in the one I carry.

 

[lumen aeternum]

How about a kero lantern with a battery operated peizo lighting gizmo?

 

[Lynx_Arc]

How about a kero lantern with a battery operated peizo lighting gizmo

No need for a battery that could leak or be dead when you need it they make piezo gizmos that don't need one.

 

[turbodog]

How about a kero lantern with a battery operated peizo lighting gizmo?

You have to get the generator and vaporizer assembly HOT before kero will vaporize.