pressure lanterns

Cranki Franki,
We have used gas lights many years ago then went on to the 12 volt lights we had a piranha flouro for years which was excellent now we are using a 12 volt light made locally in Mildura we would recomend it to anyone 'Sunspot' we find it gives out a lot more light than the piranha or the Versa light which our son has got, it cost about $150 but well worth it.

Cranki, I have a Coleman North star Duel fuel and it's the best lanton I have ever owned, The double ended mantles are allmost industructable. I only use shelite although you can use unleaded. I also use a duel fuel stove and therefor carry no gas. I carry a 10lt container of shelite and this will last for over 2 weeks.

regards John

dont stuff around with gas 12 volt is the only way to go

cranki we use a 12 volt light its easy to set up easy to put away and dont need to carry any fuel. Also when big john from QLD is away with us no one needs a light.
Only draw back is you cant carry the 12 volt to far from truck.
all the best
Eric
www.capeyorkconnections.com.au
07 4094 1745
02 4294 3496Cape York Connections

Do not buy anything with glass in it, like a gas light. I decided we were going camping and thought I was very clever buying the latest with a Piezo ignition on it. I had only gone 50 km down the road when I found the glass had smashed.
I now have a 12v versalight.Richard and Leonie, Grey nomads

Cranki-franki,

by pressure lantern I gather you are not thinking about 12 volt. I use two different style of lights. I have 2 x 2 foot house flouros converted to 12 volt. Very bright. May have to start marketing them as every where I go, when people see them they want one due to the brightness so I am constantly supplying people with them.

I also have a Tilley kero lamp. I think this is what you are getting at with your question. I still rate this as the best light I have ever had for brightness, only draw backs are not widely sold in australia anymore, however I carry a spare part kit and only use genuine Tilley mantels. Travelled rough roads and glass never broken as I pack it back into its original box. Very economical. You heat lamp with metho before lighting kero part. Brandt Brother Sydney are where I got light and parts from. They mail parts as well so always well stocked. Other draw back is, I have never used it inside any type of tent or camper and never will. Will not have anything alight inside. This is where 12 volt is more user friendly. Can't comment on other types as putting a match to something run on petrol just scares me however I beleve they are very safe.
If you want more info on Tilleys get back to me.

Dave

Hi Franki
I stopped using lanterns a coupla years ago after a jet clogged on the first night of a week long hunting trip. I now use 12V flouro. I bought a 8 watt 12V flouro worklight from supercheap $9. The flouro has both cig plug and alligator clips. Then I bought a toggle switch $5 and wired it in. Then I bought a 7 amp/hr gell cell battery $45.
The gell cell battery will run the light for 8 hours continuous with a full charge. Or run two lights for 4 hours or 4 lights for 2 hours. Or you can run the light from your 4WD. If you use the gell cell you can recharge it from 240V with a charger unit ($10 supercheap) or charge it from your car by making a charging lead. You do this by having two leads with alligator clips on either end. One of the leads has a 5watt festoon bulb soldered into it. Hook these two leads up to the car battery and the gell cell like a jumper lead, + to + and - to -. This will fully charge a dead flat battery in 14 hrs but it pays to start the car every few hrs, or better still charge it every day for a coupla hours. The feston bulb works as a resistor to slow the charge down to a trickle.

Better yet you can buy a solar panel from supercheap, wire it into the system and the battery is recharged when the sun comes up. The discharge and recharge rates are all just mathematics.
The lights are so cheap you can have one or two as spares.

The advantages of 12v lights are
No mantles or glasses to break
No jets to clog
No fuel to carry
The gell cell battery is a sealed unit
No fumbling about in the dark lighting up
You can have it in a tent
No stink of kero
Silent running (I don't miss that SSSSSSSSSSSSSS all night!!)
Cheap to run (nothing)
Really bright

Cheers Johno

These days with the campertrailer we use 12V lighting but we have Coleman pressurised kero lamp that we keep as backup and used as our main light for about 5 years. Found it very, very good and much better than gas. The big advantage over gas is no bottle to worry about so it is less weight and bulk and you can move the lantern around to where you need it or hang it off a hook etc. Also, nowhere near as noisy. Mantels last much longer too.

You need to use metho to start it but it runs on kero. Only downside it you should use clear kero but it's virtually impossible to get clear kero these days...all blue. Still runs OK but has a tendency to clog the generator on the lamp. So instead of replacing the generator say every 3 years, you need to do it every 2 years. They're somewhere between $10-15 each.

Hope this helps.

:o) MelissaPetrol 4.5L GU Patrol &
Camprite TL8 offroad camper

I have used old handi Kero and Shellite pressure lights for about 17 years till last year when I got a couple of Fluro lights

Pressure lights provide excelent light and are economical. I always carry a few spare parts.
I have not smashed the glass when travelling, Always when stopped. I store in a ply box made for lamp with foam wrap arround.

Friends have coleman run on shellite and works a treat.
Would suggest liquid fuel stove as well to consolidate the types of fuel you are carrying.

We tend to use Fluros when near the car and pressure lamps arround the rest of camp.

We use Jaycar 12v fluro work lamps as they are cheap and have excelent light.