Who has a kerosene lantern or oil lamp?

[hunter63]

Have a couple and mostly have just oil......but need to think about more.
Plenty of candle lanterns....just don't go to sleep with a candle burning......could be trouble.

[edr730]

As mentioned, you have to trim the wick if you don't want it to smoke. Lamp oil at a store is too expensive. If you want a clean fuel you can use denatured alcohol in the paint section. It's probably 12 dollars a gallon so it's not cheap. If you are in a pinch without a lantern you can make one from any small jar with a metal lid. Just slice the lid with a knife and shove the wick though. It will work fine, but won't have the chimney effect and higher flame which the glass mantel creates. Coleman fuel or gasoline scares me to think about it. If you dump them you will have a molotov cocktail. I've dumped more oil lanterns than I care to mention with kerosene or alcohol and you can put it out since it burns slow.

[wtrfwlr]

The last time our power went down, and was down 3 days, I burned the oil lamp 24 hours per day and only used about 30 ounces of oil, and it brought back old memories of my relatives in Arkansas. When dad and I would go visit them when I was a kid, that is all they had for light at night, and I thought that was cool.

Just so Ya know...Us Arkies did finally get us some E-Lectrcity!

[Rick]

I have more Coleman, kero lanterns and kero lamps than I know what to do with. Military and civilian. The military lanterns are the pits. Worst thing ever made by convict labor. The war had to be over before anyone got one of those cussed things to burn.

The thing no one stocks is wick. You can buy it by the roll. While you won't burn one up any time soon they will rot.

[Batch]

We don't use lanterns in camp much. When we do they are kerosine. We call them lanterns hurricane lanterns and they can be had cheap.

I carry an Inova Micro light on my key chain and all packs. I carry two flashlights on my multitool case. A Gerber Infinity Ultra LED flashlight that clips on my hat if needed. The other one is a Streamlight ProTak 1L. They both fit into my Leatherman Super Tool 300's case. Which also stores a bic lighter and PJ balls in the front inside pocket. I have to back off both of the tail caps or I discharge the batteries by leaning against stuff. This is the case that came with my multi tool.

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[Wildthang]

We don't use lanterns in camp much. When we do they are kerosine. We call them lanterns hurricane lanterns and they can be had cheap.

I carry an Inova Micro light on my key chain and all packs. I carry two flashlights on my multitool case. A Gerber Infinity Ultra LED flashlight that clips on my hat if needed. The other one is a Streamlight ProTak 1L. They both fit into my Leatherman Super Tool 300's case. Which also stores a bic lighter and PJ balls in the front inside pocket. I have to back off both of the tail caps or I discharge the batteries by leaning against stuff. This is the case that came with my multi tool.

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Wow Batch, if you turned on all of those lights at once, you would look like an 18 wheeler going through the woods

[Seniorman]

CELTIC WARRIOR - "Walking around with fire is asking for trouble. Most house fires in the 18th and 19th centuries were due to open flame light sources like candles and lamps. Nothing you want less in a disaster or SHTF scenario than to burn down your home on top of everything else!"

You ain't wrong!

My mother was born in 1908, in a tiny community in northern Arkansas. There was no electricity so they used kerosene lanterns. One night when she was six years old, their cat knocked over a burning kerosene lantern in the kitchen.

My mother, her younger brother, and their parents (my grandparents), got out of the house with just the clothes on their backs.

If you're gonna use kerosene lanterns, as they say, "Be careful out there." There are more ways to have a fire accident than just dropping one.

S.M.

[Akaibevie]

Just my two cents...

Having caved long enough ago – pre-LEDs – that carbide lights were still in the mix (especially for longer trips and bigger caves that needed more light), I’ve used carbide lights on backpacking trips. Far lighter and vastly more compact than a Coleman lantern or even than a butane lantern, they are the equivalent of a 20-30 watt incandescent bulb (versus about 100-watts for the Coleman lantern) but are more directional. I’d typically hang it from a tree and direct it at the kitchen area in camp. One had unlimited ‘battery life” by just bringing a few ounces more carbide.

Justrite-Streamlined-No.-2-810-RSide.jpg

The rotating lever on top adjusts the water drip rate and therefore the flame size. The wheel at lower right is the sparker. They’d work to heat up a tent more than a candle does, although they smell a little more.

Like Craig, I’m doubting you could heat a tent up very much with a candle or small lantern. But a snow cave? An igloo? An earth-shelter? Absolutely – Yupik and Inuit peoples have done that for thousands of years with seal-oil lamps.

For simplicity, if you only want heat, I’d suggest a candle. But if you also wanted more light – light you could even use for route-finding, then consider a carbide lantern. Or, know, just get an LED light with lithium batteries!