if I had to check one out, I don't think I'd use a nuclear detector.
How dangerous is a Coleman lantern?
- Thread starter Alpo
- Start date
if I had to check one out, I don't think I'd use a nuclear detector.
Wingmaster
Member
Every time I pump one up and smell the unburned fuel when it is getting going it reminds me of many hunting camps with my kids.
I plan on using one until my last hunting camp.
Wingmaster
I plan on using one until my last hunting camp.
Wingmaster
mstuhr
Member
Help, I'm on fire
Ever run from a motel room fully engulfed?
We knocked one overboard at Reelfoot lake years ago.
It took a complete tear down and a good roll of paper towels, mantles etc. before I thought it might work again. Sitting at a table in a pile of water/fuel soaked paper towels I thoughtlessly flicked my Bic to test the lantern and me and everything around me went POOF. I wasn't burned bad, but was quite hairless everywhere but under hat and clothes. Friends put the fire out at the scene of the crime and I ran outside in fear of starting fire to the motel and extinguished myself.
I can't watch Jim Varney in "ERNEST GOES CAMPING" without thinking whoever wrote that movie spent some time with a Coleman lamp.
Richard Pryor is right, fire will make a track star out of you.
Thanks
Mike
Ever run from a motel room fully engulfed?
We knocked one overboard at Reelfoot lake years ago.
It took a complete tear down and a good roll of paper towels, mantles etc. before I thought it might work again. Sitting at a table in a pile of water/fuel soaked paper towels I thoughtlessly flicked my Bic to test the lantern and me and everything around me went POOF. I wasn't burned bad, but was quite hairless everywhere but under hat and clothes. Friends put the fire out at the scene of the crime and I ran outside in fear of starting fire to the motel and extinguished myself.
I can't watch Jim Varney in "ERNEST GOES CAMPING" without thinking whoever wrote that movie spent some time with a Coleman lamp.
Richard Pryor is right, fire will make a track star out of you.
Thanks
Mike
gregintenn
Member
So are you the guy who burned down the Airpark Inn?
I loved going there fishing when I was a kid. We'd rent a "stumpjumper" boat there, go out on the lake, and wear the largemouth bass out.
BobC357
Member
Coleman stands behind their lanterns. Mine is an early 1950s version and needed a new governor. I went to the Coleman store and they didn't list one in their catalog and couldn't find the lantern either. The store took my name, address and lantern info. About 2 weeks later, I received FIVE new governors for free from Coleman with a nice letter apologizing for not having them available. That gas lantern is 60 years old and still running like a champ.
Comrad
Member
Coleman phased out thorium gas mantles in the early 90s. Today mantles are made with nonradioactive yttrium.
Lantern makers still sell thorium mantles but have moved their factories to developing countries.
Way to save the planet, just ship the dirty work off shore.
Lantern makers still sell thorium mantles but have moved their factories to developing countries.
Way to save the planet, just ship the dirty work off shore.
We-e--e-e-ell
Well, lantern mantles are impregnated with Thorium, which is radioactive. They were studied as a 'health risk' but were deemed safe 'with normal use'. Don't hold them in your mouth.
Well, lantern mantles are impregnated with Thorium, which is radioactive. They were studied as a 'health risk' but were deemed safe 'with normal use'. Don't hold them in your mouth.
Like just about anything...if used properly with the correct fuel they are as safe as any other kind of lantern that uses a fuel to burn for light. There is always a fire danger involved with using any light that burns fuel. I had a case of stupid one time and had a cranky old coleman lantern that was worn to the point it needed a major overhaul. I had picked it up well used and the price was right. It's major problem was that it would not shut off, if you turned the valve all the way closed it still managed to keep burning...this usually was not a problem because I just left it burning and in a safe place until the pressure finally dropped low enough to shut it off. A friend of mine had found a cave while on a deer hunt scouting trip and decided to go back and check it out. I brought the Coleman lantern and after we had sorted out the cave I came out into the entrance and shut the lantern down, it did its usually sputtering run on and I decided to release the pressure in the tank to shut it off, I unscrewed the cap very carefully and must have had it still full or tilted enough that a fine spray of white gas came out and ignited, fortunately I was not in a confined space and tossed the lantern away, tucked my burning hands under my arms and rolled on the dirt. It barely singed the hair off my arms and hands gave me a slight sunburn effect on my skin, had I done that in a confined space it could have killed me. Also had I tossed it onto anything flammable it could have started a larger fire, we managed to get the lantern fire under control with ample dirt. We buried the lantern at the cave...
MK
Member
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I still use them and consider them quite safe as long as you
don't do anything silly like trying to run one with an obviously
leaking valve packing, etc.. I've always preferred the liquid fuel
vs propane due to cost. I use them when camping at the dirt patch.
I had some new dual fuel stuff I bought in 2007, and wanted to
use regular unleaded gas as it's the cheapest. But had a lot of
problems with the gas eating valve packings, and also leaving a
nasty goo mess due to all the chemicals in modern gasoline.
So a couple of years ago, I started buying some of the older stuff,
as I consider them better made, and had to break down and use
Coleman fuel instead of gasoline. That cured all the problems with
the goo and eating packings.
I now have more lanterns than I can use at one time, and also
bought a real clean two burner stove, which was built in 1967.
My oldest lantern is 1919, and go through the 20's, 30,s and up
through the 50's to early 70's. I don't really care for any newer than
the "F's"...
I rotate different lanterns every trip to the woods.
These were the ones I took last time I was up there in Nov 2013.
left to right, 1933 228B, 1938 220B, 1925 QL 427, and a 1922 Ql 327.
Both of the older "Quicklites" still have the original mica globes
and both are using the original type Q99 generators.
This is the stove I've been using.. 1967 413G It's much better
than the little 2007 533 dual fuel single burner I have, which I don't
like too much. Bout as clean as you will see one that's not NOS in
a box.
I even have one "birthday" lantern which was born in Oct 1956, same
as me.
It's a 220E.
All Coleman stuff is dated stamped after late 1924 with month and year.
don't do anything silly like trying to run one with an obviously
leaking valve packing, etc.. I've always preferred the liquid fuel
vs propane due to cost. I use them when camping at the dirt patch.
I had some new dual fuel stuff I bought in 2007, and wanted to
use regular unleaded gas as it's the cheapest. But had a lot of
problems with the gas eating valve packings, and also leaving a
nasty goo mess due to all the chemicals in modern gasoline.
So a couple of years ago, I started buying some of the older stuff,
as I consider them better made, and had to break down and use
Coleman fuel instead of gasoline. That cured all the problems with
the goo and eating packings.
I now have more lanterns than I can use at one time, and also
bought a real clean two burner stove, which was built in 1967.
My oldest lantern is 1919, and go through the 20's, 30,s and up
through the 50's to early 70's. I don't really care for any newer than
the "F's"...
I rotate different lanterns every trip to the woods.
These were the ones I took last time I was up there in Nov 2013.
left to right, 1933 228B, 1938 220B, 1925 QL 427, and a 1922 Ql 327.
Both of the older "Quicklites" still have the original mica globes
and both are using the original type Q99 generators.
This is the stove I've been using.. 1967 413G It's much better
than the little 2007 533 dual fuel single burner I have, which I don't
like too much. Bout as clean as you will see one that's not NOS in
a box.
I even have one "birthday" lantern which was born in Oct 1956, same
as me.
It's a 220E. All Coleman stuff is dated stamped after late 1924 with month and year.
Coldshooter
Member
There is a forum for Classic Pressure lanterns. Forum Index - Classic Pressure Lamps - The online resource for the collector & enthusiast They speak British which is close enough.
RaceBannon
Member
I'm a bit late to the party, but MK, I like the old ones too.
Once I successfully rebuilt the 242b that I found in a junk shop about a dozen years ago, I was hooked. This photo shows just part of the collection. I too have more than I know what to do with, but you should see this place during a black-out.
Once I successfully rebuilt the 242b that I found in a junk shop about a dozen years ago, I was hooked. This photo shows just part of the collection. I too have more than I know what to do with, but you should see this place during a black-out.
rcnixon
Member
Once upon a time, long, long ago the mantles were thioriated (treated with a metallic salt of thorium). It made them last longer and burn brighter. On the other hand, the amount of actual radiation, given the microscopic amount of thorium-232 present in lamp mantles, is pretty negligible. Also, considering that the half-life of Th (232) is on the order of 1.4 BILLION years, the decay is pretty slow. I'd say, avoid your next sunburn and you'll be ahead on your limit of ionizing radiation. It's also used in a number of very popular camera lenses.
Personally, I've been exposed to 66 Grays of radiation over about 13 weeks; I'm not too concerned about the radon emitted by my granite kitchen counters either.
Petromax kerosene pressure lanterns are the best. Mine makes my buddy's Coleman cast a shadow.
Russ
Mickey D
Member
Reminds me of an old story, 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?"
