My new 21 year old Coleman propane 2-mantle (question about coleman dual fuel also)

[RTTR]

I grew up with a very active camping family. So when I told my dad who is far from the basics now with his big RV, that I wanted to get back into the basics of tent camping, he gave me some old stuff he had laying around in which he no longer uses.

Two of which said things are a Coleman lantern and 2 burner cook stove.. Purchased in 1991 when we lived in Canada, the lantern was never used but the globe was broken so I had to replace it, it's model "5154A700C" Made in USA, imported by Coleman Canada, seems to use #21 mantles, it's a 2-mantle electric ignition and it works beautifully, unfortunately I had to break the made in America with the modern current Chinese made glass globe which was broken from being moved around so much, has a hard case as well. Opening this thing up was basically like unboxing a brand new model, the date stamp on it is Feb 1991.

The stove is also made in America and seems to be very similar to the model sold at Wal-Mart today except being made in China, it' was used quite a bit and has some wear but the controls are very precise compared to a Coleman China 1 burner propane stove I have.

Anyway back to the lantern, this has definitely started a new portable luminance bug in me. I've been scouring the internet looking up all the different types of lantern models available, I've been eyeballing the Northstar Coleman InstaStart Dual Fuel, mainly because of its looks, I always have loved the look of a liquid fuel lantern. To my understanding that model should be a little bit brighter than the one I just received which I can't find a lot of hard info but based on similar ones using the #21 mantles it's around 960 lumens, where as the Northstar dual fuel is upwards of 1200+ or maybe even more I'm not quiet sure. I was wondering as it states on the website they run on the white gas (camp fuel) and also regular unleaded gasoline, do these liquid fuel model lanterns stink pretty bad when you use them? Are they pretty straight forward easy use in general?

I'd like to start building up a collection of lights that isn't battery powered LED.

 

[skillet]

Trying looking at this

 

[RTTR]

Trying looking at this

Whoa! Thanks for the heads up Skillet, never knew about those, beautiful looking! And price isn't too shabby either considering the Coleman I mentioned above the Northstar Duel Fuel is around $110-120

 

[Doogman]

Just remember, it's really not a good idea to use a Petromax with gas/CF. Kerosene only, despite the claims of the sales literature.

http://www.petromax.nl/petromax_tale/petromax_myth.html

You better do a little websearching on BriteLyt. I think most of their stuff is on backorder anyway?

Buying a marked-up Chinese lantern didn't really appeal to me, so I found a genuine German Military Petromax in it's original metal transport box and it's patiently waiting for a rebuild right now. I doubt it's any brighter than my Coleman 639, but the blowtorch rapidheater is REALLY cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI27kp-1ALk

If you are buying a new Coleman lantern, stick with the tried-and-true designs, either the kero burner single mantle 639 or the CF dual mantle 285. Both use cheap mantles available from several manufacturers. Of course, there are plenty of used Coleman lanterns floating around that can work well again with a little TLC. Check here for tons of info from really hardcore Coleman collectors:

http://colemancollectorsforum.websitetoolbox.com/

 

[RTTR]

Yeah I've spent probably the last 4 hours researching them, based on what I've read here and the design I'd not wanna run gas in them.

I don't really think I care much for this Britelyt company based on my research, not to mention their dodgy claims and horrible website with scattered info everywhere.

Is there a website or company you can get the german military ones from or is it just what you come across like on ebay that is available?

Just remember, it's really not a good idea to use a Petromax with gas/CF. Kerosene only, despite the claims of the sales literature.

http://www.petromax.nl/petromax_tale/petromax_myth.html

You better do a little websearching on BriteLyt. I think most of their stuff is on backorder anyway?

Buying a marked-up Chinese lantern didn't really appeal to me, so I found a genuine German Military Petromax in it's original metal transport box and it's patiently waiting for a rebuild right now. I doubt it's any brighter than my Coleman 639, but the blowtorch rapidheater is REALLY cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI27kp-1ALk

If you are buying a new Coleman lantern, stick with the tried-and-true designs, either the kero burner single mantle 639 or the CF dual mantle 285. Both use cheap mantles available from several manufacturers. Of course, there are plenty of used Coleman lanterns floating around that can work well again with a little TLC. Check here for tons of info from really hardcore Coleman collectors:

http://colemancollectorsforum.websitetoolbox.com/

 

[Doogman]

Is there a website or company you can get the german military ones from or is it just what you come across like on ebay that is available?

Sorry, I don't anyone who's currently importing the Bundeswehr lanterns to the US. Apparently this last happened around a decade ago and they sometimes pop-up on fleabay and the like. I see that one guy on the bay is still selling them directly from Germany, but you have to pay $$$.

 

[RTTR]

Sorry, I don't anyone who's currently importing the Bundeswehr lanterns to the US. Apparently this last happened around a decade ago and they sometimes pop-up on fleabay and the like. I see that one guy on the bay is still selling them directly from Germany, but you have to pay $$$.

I guess I'll just have to wait on getting of the ones you suggested till one comes available, Britelyt claims in an email to me they have the petromax in stock, but based on what I've heard they are shoddy quality with quite a few problems compared to the old Bundeswehr units.

I'm kind of thinking about for now picking up the Coleman dual fuel northstar, not like anyone ever said we have to limit ourselves on how many lights we can have

Is there any negative reason not to check out the northstar? I have heard of a few people having flickering issues but it seems to be a low percentage.

 

[FRITZHID]

I was wondering as it states on the website they run on the white gas (camp fuel) and also regular unleaded gasoline, do these liquid fuel model lanterns stink pretty bad when you use them? Are they pretty straight forward easy use in general?

I've used Gas, White gas, Kero, propane and butane lanterns and IMHO kero has the strongest of odors and even then wasent all that bad. white gas and propane had the least, with unleaded in the middle with a slight odor due to the additives in the fuel. personaly, i love the light of a multifuel or mantle lantern over an electric anyday.

 

[Doogman]

Is there any negative reason not to check out the northstar? I have heard of a few people having flickering issues but it seems to be a low percentage.

This seems to be a good thread about the Northstar from lantern enthusiasts:

http://colemancollectorsforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/Northstar-Dual-Fuel-5603819

If you don't mind a China-Petromax, you might want to search for "stpaulmercantile" who sells the Butterfly (base for Britelyt?) pressure lanterns.

Here's my two Coleman's (201A & 639) lit-up with new Peerless mantles. These are classic Thorium mantles and they really pump-out the photons. No camera flash needed.