Best Camping Lantern Recomendations

[ValhallaPrime]

oh wow! I haven't seen one of those frosted globes in about 15 years. I used to get that for my old 1-mantle propane years and years ago. Man, the goons I used to camp with would find a way to break my globe like every 2-3 camping weekends. The frosted one was good for picnic table-level placement, it wasn't as harsh on the eyes, which were usually right level with the mantles when sitting. It used to be only like $1 more for the frosted. Haven't seen them for sale in ages though.

 

[Illum]

not sure if its the best, but sure is the lightest
these go about $30 in places like Wallyworld
Century "Mighty Lite" single mantle lantern, Coleman name theirs the "perfectflow"


its comparable to a 100W bulb, is much easier to stow than the dual mantle burners [when its cold, separately from the tank of course]
only disadvantage I can think of up to this point: if you don't have matches, good luck

whats best depends on what your conditions are, if your preferring to a hiking camp this might be the best choice, but if your talking about a drive in camp gee, the possibilities are endless

 

[Blacklight]

Well the dual fuel sounds awesome. To be honest I don't even know if my local Wally World sells the dual fuel. I know they carry the propane models.

I know this may be a stupid question, but what is the main difference between the Powerhouse model and the regular model besides the 25% brightness difference?

The tank also holds more fuel.

 

[ValhallaPrime]

Yeah, as Blacklight said...I believe the regular dualfuel is 1.3 pints, where the DF Powerhouse is deflinitely 2 pints (1 Qt).

Illum_the_nation, I had one of those, like 20 years ago....one problem was that when hanging, unless it was really damn cold out, the chain would get pretty hot. I guess it was because of the fact that the chains connections were right above the mantle, as opposed to more off to the sides. Also, that double-sided tied mantle was more prone to breaking about when jostled, such as hiking with it. I had to replace that ******* almost every weekend before giving up and hiking with the larger regular-globed lantern in my pack.

It still was nice because it was light and didn't take up much space; I just found it less reliable than the standard-globed 1-mantle. That and I burned the crap outta my hand about 10 times grabbing the chain without thinking.

The Coleman "PerfectFlow" line is the gas regulated ones, btw....just like a 123 cell, they drop out real quick right near the end. It's definitely noticeable, vs the old less-regulated stuff.

Seriously, I wish I could go back in time and find out who stole my regular old coleman 1-mantle propane lantern in college. That thing was the best. 8-10 hrs on a tank on full-burn, I had a flint aftermarket ignitor-sparker mounted on it, and a 6lb refillable propane tank with a 12" tree for week-long trips. Used it all through junior high, high school, and most of college. Probably 30-40 1lb tanks through it, and maybe 10-15 refills of the 6lb'er (which cost the same to refill as a disposeable 1lb'er!!! $2.50ish!!!).

 

[Phaserburn]

Anyone have experience with Coleman Powermax? They have a model or two that use this type of fuel. Is it as bright as a propane or duel fuel lantern? If so, it appears to be a great fuel choice for the occasional user that might want to use the lantern in cold temps.

 

[Blacklight]

Anyone have experience with Coleman Powermax? They have a model or two that use this type of fuel. Is it as bright as a propane or duel fuel lantern? If so, it appears to be a great fuel choice for the occasional user that might want to use the lantern in cold temps.

The only real current Powermax lantern is the Luminos. It is a lighter weight back packing lantern, so it's light output in no way compares to that of a full sized propane or gas lantern. Additionally, if you are going to be in cold weather gas is the white gas (Nafta) is going to be the best type of lantern, it opperates better at colder temperatures than propane or butane. if I remember right the luminos was in the neighborhood of 120 lumens, when in development, battery lighst are my area though not fueled, so that may have changed slightly. Very cheap to run the luminos though.

 

[Blacklight]

not sure if its the best, but sure is the lightest
these go about $30 in places like Wallyworld
Century "Mighty Lite" single mantle lantern, Coleman name theirs the "perfectflow"


its comparable to a 100W bulb, is much easier to stow than the dual mantle burners [when its cold, separately from the tank of course]
only disadvantage I can think of up to this point: if you don't have matches, good luck

whats best depends on what your conditions are, if your preferring to a hiking camp this might be the best choice, but if your talking about a drive in camp gee, the possibilities are endless

Coleman has a matchless lighted version as well as a match light version. fueled lighting is not my category, but I know earlier in the year wal-Mart carried it, not sure if they still do or not.

 

[ValhallaPrime]

Just there today, in, well, actually 2 different ones in Delaware - buying up all their water-saving showerheads for a work-project.... They both had the one like the Century in the photo. I think it was $17.xx or so.

FYI I had one like this about 20 years ago....don't know if magic has happened since now and then, but unless you're really tight on space, that little micro-propane one wasn't really worth it. Chain gets hot as heck when hanging, and it really isn't as bright as a standard #21 size mantled regular propane lantern.

Not light related, but I bought the Sportster Dual fuel 1-burner stove today at WallyWorld...freakin thing was $30.xx. I've never seen it for less than $50, and I wasn't even thinking about buying any camping gear (was there for work, and then stopped in sporting goods to buy WWB bullets). Saw that on a rack for $30 and change, and thought what the heck.

Those big discount retailers, man....sometimes....they can tempt a man towards anything.

 

[Phaserburn]

Just ordered a Pinnacle lantern from the Coleman site. Anyone have experience with it? It looks like a great lantern. The runtime is quoted as 5 hours; is that on high or low?

 

[broadgage]

Thanks Valhalla
Looking at the Coleman site, the Powerhouse looks good and as you said, uses a standard mantle. I don't need the electronic ignition as I am an oldtimer. I can even use the models that need a pre-heat.
I may, in the tradition of CPF, buy em both then I can report on the Petromax.

I'm not to sure about what you said about greasing the threads of the cylinder. I seem to remember never to use oils on pressured cylinders.

AFAIK the instruction never to use oil or grease only applies to cylinders containing oxygen.
Oxygen under pressure, in contact with oil or grease is liable to explode.

 

[Blacklight]

Just ordered a Pinnacle lantern from the Coleman site. Anyone have experience with it? It looks like a great lantern. The runtime is quoted as 5 hours; is that on high or low?

5 hours should be on high, but as with any burning appliance that number will vary with Temperature, elevation, humidty, etc.,

 

[Blacklight]

Just ordered a Pinnacle lantern from the Coleman site. Anyone have experience with it? It looks like a great lantern. The runtime is quoted as 5 hours; is that on high or low?

Should be 5 on high, but as with any burning appliance, temperature, humidity, elevation can all effect their run times.

 

[ValhallaPrime]

All the Coleman stated runtimes, unless noted otherwise, are for running on high. Sort of like Surefire, their numbers are usually a tad conservative. If it says 5 hours, expect at least 5, maybe 5.5 or so before it starts fading out.

Hey Phaserburn, lemme know how that one looks, I'm interested to see if that single mantle long-tube is really that much brighter than a dually #21 mantler.

I'm wondering how the shadows are as well, versus a dual 21 mantler.

 

[Phaserburn]

Well, Coleman shipped pretty quick; my Pinnacle is on it's way to me from Kansas. Should be here in CT by the end of next week. I'll let you know what I think when I get it.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Phaserburn]

Got the Pinnacle in yesterday, along with a couple of extra mantles and a tree bracket. Coleman says this lantern is around 1600 lumens; I have no reason to doubt it. It puts out ALOT of light. I've only tested it for a few minutes last night, so further testing is needed. The detents in the gas knob give you around half a dozen or so actual brightness levels. The battery powered insta-start works like a charm. I really like the improvements Coleman has made in the quick lift removal to get at the mantle, etc. Everything works well and easily.

 

[ValhallaPrime]

realllllly....man...I'ma have to think about snagging one then...thanks for your report!

WHOAH new coleman splash page....just went to their site while checking the retail price on your lantern...too bad the rest of the site is still the slow horizontal scroller.

Hey, big question...If you think of it, lemme know how the mantle holds up over the next couple of months (or usages). Some people say the new one is more fragile, but if the top brightness is that much better, then it's worth it. I have to replace mine about every 10-15 (each being about 2/3rds a tank) nights of usage in my dual-mantler powerhouse.

Wow, if you say the igniter works like a charm, I'm probably sold on the upgrade. That's probably the biggest b1tch of mine, is either finding a long lighter, or lighting a stick around the yard.

On another note, don't know if you have a Target around you, but mine tonite had most Coleman stuff at 20-40% off.....with mantles being 20% off...and their "greatland" brand globes being 50% off. The Eddie Bauer camping shwag was also 25-50% off, mostly their weird stuff....like UV detectors and digital compasses and whatnot. Also, dual-burner perfectflow coleman propane stove was 50% off as well...bought mine at the same sale at the same time 2 years ago. Freaking $20.99. Love that thing.

 

[Phaserburn]

Hm, will have to pick up one of those stoves; thanks for the tip.

The instastart works by holding the button in and turning the gas to full on - presto. Then you can dim or not at your discretion. I love this feature. It requires an AAA alkaline battery, which Coleman includes.

Obviously, I can't speak to the mantles durability, but it is extremely easy to put on, more than any other lantern I've seen. If you get one, I'd like to hear about your comparison of brightness to your Powerhouse. I don't have a dual mantler at the moment for comparison.

 

[Blacklight]

Hm, will have to pick up one of those stoves; thanks for the tip.

The instastart works by holding the button in and turning the gas to full on - presto. Then you can dim or not at your discretion. I love this feature. It requires an AAA alkaline battery, which Coleman includes.

Obviously, I can't speak to the mantles durability, but it is extremely easy to put on, more than any other lantern I've seen. If you get one, I'd like to hear about your comparison of brightness to your Powerhouse. I don't have a dual mantler at the moment for comparison.

the pinnacle is going to be about twice as bright as the powerhouse (roughly), at least it was about a year ago when I sent it out for testing.

 

[ValhallaPrime]

"High temperature globe is made of high quality clear material for maximum area lighting" - page for the Pinnacle

Phaserburn/Blacklight,

From their site...since it doesn't say "glass" I was wondering if it's composite?

Man, I'm really tossed between this and a standard 2-mantler propane....I want a whitegas and a propane each of both lantern and stove, mainly for coverage in emergencies. I'm all complete except for the propane lantern part. On the plus, Blacklight is pulling at my stingy wallet-strings with the "twice as bright as my DF Powerhouse" statement. On the other hand, I have commonality with globes and mantles if I go with just a standard 2 mantle perfectflow.

Those pinnacle/northstar style mantles are still like $5-6 everywhere, and I have #21's actually growing out back on trees. (if that's the same as being $1.75/2 at walmart). BAH I dunno. I only change mantles maybe once a year. Maybe I'm just being cheap. I spend more for that on ONE drink on a Saturday night at the bar down the street.

So Phaser/Blacklight....is it glass?

 

[Phaserburn]

It is glass. Don't be cheap; get the one you want to play with. It's why we're here! Over the course of 5 years, how many mantles will you use? It may come out to be an extra $5, or $1/year for twice the output....



I laugh when I read posts about how guys are getting all these super expensive (for regular folks) flashlights, and then wanting to run regular alks instead of lithiums in them.



If you buy a Lexus, don't be cheap when it comes to putting the gas into it; use the high test. Just my .02.