The Camping Forum

[nutgone]

Despite the caravan, I've decided to invest in some more traditional lighting this winter. I've already bought a Gelert Halo gas lamp (it's a tiny little thing which attaches to any screw type resealable gas cartridge) & I intend to buy a Coleman petrol powered lantern as well.
I don't like wind up lights, they just don't work IMO, I've always maintained good old battery power is the way to go with low voltage electric lighting, but I'm also not too keen on the light given off by LEDs, so I'm giving the traditional mantel lamps a go. Also, as I'm likely to do some out of season camping, the combination of heat & light given off is a bonus.

I had intended to spend some hard earned cash on a parabolic heater, to go with my cartridge/briefcase one. I had my eye on the small Sunngas one, but I found a 2nd hand Camping Gaz one at the last steam rally, it was immaculate & had an almost full gas canister, for just £7, so I'm all sorted for heaters now.

The Coleman lantern will probably be a 2nd hand one, that's why I haven't said if I will be getting the single or dual mantel model.

My main problem now is, having started this season with no gas appliances whatsoever, I've now got 3 different ones which all take different canisters!

So now I will have to carry the briefcase type, the screw type & the Camping Gaz non-resealable ones!
(& I always said I could do without gas! )

[Donnelly69]

You'll probably find, as daft as it seems, that the briefcase one will not be too good as (if it's the type I'm thinking of) in the back end of the season as they are Butane only and work very poorly in cold weather. In the depth of winter they are useless.

The Coleman, double mantle (Powerhouse) is a cracking piece of kit, gives off a fair old heat as well as being VERY bright. We bought ours new in 1998 and the only thing I have replaced is the burner, at around £10. Quality gear. We've never had the need for a heater while using this light.

If all else fails, there's always the pub!

[M0KAS]

I dont think you can go wrong with the dual fuel lamps, the only drawback with them esp second hand, is what they have been run on, yes the do run on unleaded, but the additives in the fuel tend to clog the lamp up after a while.. Coleman fuel while additive free isnt cheap, around £55 a gallon, the other alternative are panel wipe (same as Coleman fuel or 4T fuel, both are around £15 a gallon), when using unleaded fuel there is also the fuel odour, Coleman and 4t are odour free and if you decide on panel wipe, just do a little research on the correct panel wipe, stay away from the cellulose based one..

I know what you mean about different canisters for different things, its a bit late now, but there is a Royal canister stove and lantern that takes the 190g pierceable canisters, but the nice thing is, when the canister is fitted, you are still able to swap the stove top for the light fitting, without letting al the gas out.. at the time i bought mine, they was around £20

EDIT: and what Donnelly69 says about the butane canisters is true, either in lamps, cookers or heaters, once butane gets to around 4c, it starts to struggle to boil into vapour, also the propane/butane mix are not a complete solution, as the propane will burn off first, leaving with you more butane in the mix.... stick with dual fuel items, cookers ect, least in emergency's you can syphon a few pints out of the car, (well if its run on unleaded fuel that is)

[Donnelly69]

I can honestly say, I've never had an issue with smell from using unleaded, not the slightest whiff! Except when re-filling of course!

And as for using the ridiculously expensive Coleman fuel, again, I've never had a problem with using unleaded. Unless you count having to replace the burner after 11 years as an issue... but it's not something that I would be concerned about.

The Coleman Sportster stoves are also top class, well worth the investment, but shop around! You certainly don't need to spend up to £80 (just googled prices!) on one. Argos used to do them for £25. They're one of those strange items that sell for more on ebay than in the shops, never understood that. I once came across a few in a local shop for £20 each, made a small fortune on ebay! Again, unleaded is fine, one replacement burner in 15 years is not bad......

[badger]

just got a sungas single stove 2nd hand for £5... i know what butane can be like but i solo camp so when i use it b4 bed (hot choc) i do it in tent and it gets tent warm too... its in fab cond. they used it once by look of it..

[nutgone]

All my briefcase stove/heater cartridges (A4 type???) are butane propane mix, so should perform a lot better at lower temperatures.

So far I've found 2 different manufacturers doing these, & both times I got 4 canisters for a fiver.

It's the non-resealable ones that bother me, I've heard of butane propane mix available in these canisters, but have yet to actually find any.

I use a Coleman 424 double burner dual fuel stove, which I got 2nd hand, & as far as I know has never been run on Coleman fuel. I carry a spare generator & pump set for it, just in case.

I would really like to find one of the old Coleman "multi"-fuel stoves, as these will run off a lot more than just petrol or Coleman fuel. As far as I'm aware, Coleman no longer manufacture them, but it wasn't that long ago that they did.

[M0KAS]

the only ones i have seen for sale new and that are true multi fuel stoves are the primus ones, optimus hiker+ and the msr, and neither of them are cheap, ive never used either of them (due to cost and nobody i know owning one).

ive always had a soft spot for petromax kerosene lamps, but ill stick to my old battered Coleman duel fuel lamp and my old type hurricane lamp (old design of lamp, but only 4 years old)..

the other alternative places to get multi fuel stoves would be army surplus, they used to have a range of stove that would run on most things..

[Donnelly69]

If you ever get the chance of one of these, take their hands off!! I've used mine in the hills for 15yrs now and apart from the occasional service, it's never let me down. If I remember correctly, to use diesel you need to change the burner. Brilliant simmer. Got it for a tenner (brand new) at a flee market.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=colema ... CDAQsAQ4Cg

[nutgone]

Coleman did make a multi-fuel stove, very similar in appearance to the sportster, & not that long ago either. They do crop up on ebay every now & then.

As for the primus ones, the Chinese are doing some fantastic copies these days for around fifty quid. Some of the parts are interchangeable, I'm led to believe. They will run on white spirit! as well as the usual diesel, petrol, panel wipe & even gas (with the right parts).

I was very tempted to buy one when I was kitting up for France last year & had some cash to blow. Might still treat myself at some point....

[M0KAS]

I had to do it you know, the money was burning a hole in my account...

Just purchased one of the item's from my winter list bought the Vango Alpha 400 in Black for £49.99.. I may even get to try it out before end of season too

[Wayne]

Picked a BBQ up from B&M Bargains (I love that store ), its a kettle BBQ with lid and legs. For £7.99 in the sale I think I can make it a bit more compact in the garage this winter

[Ding Dang Doo]

Picked a BBQ up from B&M Bargains (I love that store ), its a kettle BBQ with lid and legs. For £7.99 in the sale I think I can make it a bit more compact in the garage this winter

I got one of those small gas heaters from B&M the other day... £15 in GO, but sold out... One of the guys in GO said he'd seen them in B&M for the same price... Went in there and they were £9.99 ... bargain! :-) was tempted to buy the pallet load of them and sell on EBay...

[badger]

B&M are a fab store for lots of different things. Got my mummy sleeping bag from there b4 my last trip and its a gd bag. Very toasty

[Wayne]

Our stove was from there 4 years ago and we are only just changing it now, when I see the one I'm after on offer.

[M0KAS]

cheapest ive seen the campingaz chef is just under £30, but that's without the bag, and that's from these guys, never used them, so i cant comment on their store,

http://www.campingandcaravandirect.co.u ... =&P_ID=438