This thread reminds me of the old joke " A guy took up sky diving bailed out of the plane, waited a while & pulled the rip cord. Nothing happened so he puled the emergency chute cord. Again nothing happened. He looked down & here comes a guy flying up towards him. As they passed he asked the guy Do you know anything about parachutes? The other guy replied, No, you know anything about Coleman stoves?"
How dangerous is a Coleman lantern?
- Thread starter Alpo
- Start date
dcxplant
Member
We use LED lamps and rechargeable batts using a portable solar panel. Set up cost a bit, but we have ample light and never worry about "saving the batteries" or starting unwanted fires.
Plus, no smelly fumes or carbon monoxide.
Plus, no smelly fumes or carbon monoxide.
Kerosene lanterns aren't dangerous. People are dangerous.
redneckemt
Member
As a long time Scouter and Eagle Scout... never seen any Problems with Coleman lanterns other than an old man try to screw a one lbs propane bottle onto one... OVER THE CAMPFIRE!!! Poor old man was nearly trampled in the rush to get the bottle and him away from the fire.
He who cast's the first lantern
One if by land, two if by sea.
I have used them for years and never had a problem either, just had to replace parts now and then.
Old TexMex
Member
I Waded many miles in knee deep water carrying a double mantle Coleman lantern, gigging flounder.
At 75 cents a pound we weren't about to pass up the "run".
We all would gather at sunset, on a bay shore of the island, waiting to see who'd make the first move. A driftwood fire would be started, because it was winter.
We'd talk, and smoke and pass a flask as it got darker, checking gaskets on the filler cap, mantles and polish the reflector, pumping them up, lighting to make sure they were working right... maybe a last minute generator replacement...
Somebody would be patching their waders, patching "knitting" their catch bag (made of shrimp net, hung from a ring made out of a bicycle tire) that hung over the shoulder to put our flounder in as we gigged them.
.CARBIDE lanterns...there's an explosive device, if one of the "real old timers" that still carried them happened to drop it in the water, they'd blow.
Now LEDs and a little battery pack have replaced the coleman lantern on the floundergrounds.
At 75 cents a pound we weren't about to pass up the "run".
We all would gather at sunset, on a bay shore of the island, waiting to see who'd make the first move. A driftwood fire would be started, because it was winter.
We'd talk, and smoke and pass a flask as it got darker, checking gaskets on the filler cap, mantles and polish the reflector, pumping them up, lighting to make sure they were working right... maybe a last minute generator replacement...
Somebody would be patching their waders, patching "knitting" their catch bag (made of shrimp net, hung from a ring made out of a bicycle tire) that hung over the shoulder to put our flounder in as we gigged them.
.CARBIDE lanterns...there's an explosive device, if one of the "real old timers" that still carried them happened to drop it in the water, they'd blow.
Now LEDs and a little battery pack have replaced the coleman lantern on the floundergrounds.
BigBill
Absent Comrade
I even had a toaster fire once in flames I had the kids open the kitchen door so I could toss it outside before it burned the house down.
Stevie
Member
I own like three lanterns and two stoves..all Coleman gas-powered products.
Oldest is a 228 lantern..newest is a 220 lantern. The rest mostly 1960's and seventys products. Stuff for camping/hunting...hunting/camping..fishing/camping...sometimes just camping.
I keep the white-gas powered appliances in tune...sometimes the lanterns can be a bit flamy at initial fire-up..however just shut them down and try again.
Don't know what it would take to blow one up??....Maybe fill it with gas..pump up tight and light one...open the fuel cap might make big fire!!
Oldest is a 228 lantern..newest is a 220 lantern. The rest mostly 1960's and seventys products. Stuff for camping/hunting...hunting/camping..fishing/camping...sometimes just camping.
I keep the white-gas powered appliances in tune...sometimes the lanterns can be a bit flamy at initial fire-up..however just shut them down and try again.
Don't know what it would take to blow one up??....Maybe fill it with gas..pump up tight and light one...open the fuel cap might make big fire!!
AnthemBassMan
Member
Years ago, I had a freak incident with a Colman lantern. We used them for catfishing at night. One of the lanterns started going dim, so I went to pump up the pressure. Fuel started spraying out of the hole in the pump and caught my arm on fire. I jumped into the edge of the water and put the flame out. After that, we all laughed. Never happened again either...
cass
Member
Many years ago I was night fishing with friends and enjoying much too much beer. I pulled the rope holding our minnow bucket up, put a fresh minnow on, and threw the coleman in instead of the bucket. It didn't completely sink, but a lesson was learned. The only leaks I've had was a faulty generator, and a pin hole in the tank - never a fire.
gregintenn
Member
Did you know the mantles used in the Coleman lanterns are radio active?
A man was wanting to try sky diving so he took the lessons and jumped out of the plane and pulled the ripcord. Nothing happened. He pulled again and still the chute didn't come out, then he tried a third time but no luck. About this time he passed another guy who was going up. He yelled "do you know anything about parachutes", and the other guy yelled back "No, ...do you know anything about Coleman Lanterns?"
Ahhhh....when Coleman Lanterns are outlawed, only outlaws will have Coleman Lanterns.......
Comrad
Member
I dropped one once about a half mile into an abandoned iron mine in Hibernia NJ, the mantle broke and was hanging by a thread, needless to say we tiptoed out before the thing went dark.
CatboatWilly
Member
Everyone stories bring back many fond memories of growing up and going out night crabbing on the Naversink River of New Jersey. We'd get $2.75 a bushel for hard shell crabs and .75 Cents for every soft shell crab from a local sea food restaurant . Good duty for a kid....That old trusty Coleman worked for years sitting up on the bow of the boat until one night it fell in to shallow water. I can't explain how it stayed lit but it was glowing on the bottom. Took it home - washed it out and used it the next night. Never gave a second thought to the idea that it would not light again.
Thanks for the memories.....
Thanks for the memories.....
Yes, see post#12.
gregintenn
Member
Seriously. you can wave a nuclear detector over one, and it'll go crazy.
When I was training folks in using alpha detectors I would use them as the RAM source.
Alk8944
US Veteran
Threw a Coleman lantern and it blew up? Easy, just like every other stupid thing in movies that doesn't happen in real life, it did it because it was in the script! Like the car that goes over a cliff and explodes in mid air, before it ever contacts the ground. Or the car where the gas tank blows up and flips the car end over end when someone shoots at it with a revolver!
Alpo,
rwsmith got it right. Coleman lantern globes are Pyrex, which can take a lot of both physical and thermal shock without breaking. It's printed right on the globes.
Alpo,
rwsmith got it right. Coleman lantern globes are Pyrex, which can take a lot of both physical and thermal shock without breaking. It's printed right on the globes.
