Antique Campstoves and Lanterns

[1994Arcadia]

I take myself camping and am a 1950 model. Does that count as an antique? Seriously though I still use my Coleman 425 and two mantle lantern. Mess kit is a 1967 US Army model. Knife and hatchet are from my youth so I know they are "Antiques" as my grandson told me.

[Bikamper]

Svea 123 on the last tent outing.

Dropped to 25F the night before so I wasn't sure how well things would act in the morning. All was well. You see the  iced over lantern in the background.

Optimus 80 brewing some tea at a bicycle swap meet to ward off the chill.

The scotch in the tea didn't hurt any.

[hosh]

I really liked my SVEA. I started backpacking again and can't find it. I think my ex-wife lifted it. At any rate, I bought Peak 1 canister burner to replace, just not the same.

[GoneCamping]

I hate dating myself like this, but I still have AND use a 2 mantle lantern that my Father bought and used when he took my brothers & myself camping when we were kids. That was in 1965... I still have the stove too, and my brother still has the old metal clad Coleman Cooler!

[Bikamper]

I really liked my SVEA. I started backpacking again and can't find it. I think my ex-wife lifted it. At any rate, I bought Peak 1 canister burner to replace, just not the same.

Nope, not the same. I found my Svea at an antique store in ME a couple years ago. I think I paid $18 and not being a 123R, that's probably about what it cost new some time back in the sixties. I started out backpacking with an Optimus 99 about 30 years ago and still have it.

[slanted]

I still have the stove too, and my brother still has the old metal clad Coleman Cooler!

I just bought one of those at a yard sale. I plan on painting to match my old Dodge and using it at carshows.

[Bikamper]

I still have the stove too, and my brother still has the old metal clad Coleman Cooler!

I just bought one of those at a yard sale. I plan on painting to match my old Dodge and using it at carshows.

A few folks do that. My Dad painted an old steel clad cooler to match his 48 DeSoto.

[gmhg41]

I have a friend who passed away recently who used to collect vintage Coleman gas stoves and lanterns, and vintage cast iron cookware. I used to love seeing the old stuff brought back to life.

One of the coolest things he had was an old gas lamp. It was meant for indoor use, so there was no glass shield, just exposed mantels. He didn't have the original shade for it, but he found a reflector from an old streetlight, and he'd hang the lamp under the shade and use a rope to hold it in a tree. It would provide a nice soft light all through his campsite.

[Cplfly]

I always use my 2 mantle coleman lantern. Every night I fire it up and put it on the table inside. Puts out a little heat and I like the sound it makes....camping! I use the lights in the trailer in the morning. That's how I grew up camping,with the hiss of the lantern going. We rarely used the lights in the trailer[3 pu's] when I was growing up. Still have my 2 burner Coleman stove, trying to get Dad's 1 mantle lantern from the old day's[70's] 

[CREEPPINGCHARLIE]

         I have used my Colman stove and lantern (white gas ) for over 30 years with no problems.  I also like the sound of the lantern when lit.  My stove is only used outside due to the fact I never cook in my PUP. If you ever camp around Central City Colorado, there is a neat store in town that has lots of old lamps.   

[ngatel]

I still use all my vintage stoves for backpacking once in a while when I get a nostalgia bug. A couple months ago I cleaned, polished, rebuilt, or refurbished all of them.

Vintage Backpacking Stoves

[ScoobyDoo]

 I have a Coleman 1 mantle lantern and a stove my parents bought before I started school. The stuff I bought in the early '70s disappered somtime before I quit drinking.
    The first time drove a truck into OK., needed fuel saw a sign "FREE CAB WASH WITH 100Gal" pulled in 100 gal of fuel, pie and coffee, tip for wattress, tip for guy that washed truck, spent $20.
  I never worked in food service but 40 hrs. in the diecasting plant (4-midnite, still in high school) bring home $101.
My father could not get the loan to buy this house without a letter from his boss stating that he would not loss his 8 hours overtime per month. 10 years later, 1968 dad was sick, and 1 week my paycheck was the same as dads housepayment.

[CarlQB]

My dad used to own a Coleman single burner picnic stove. It dates back from the 50s I think, and is colored pink, just like this one:



This stove used to run on pressurized LP cans sold by Coleman back then.
When I started to camp with my girlfriend (who became my wife) 22 years ago I had no camping equipment, and I borrowed some camping stuff from my parents. They had their old standard Coleman white gas stove, but they also had the little pink one. Since Coleman stopped selling the LP cans on wich it ran, the stove was useless, so I made a little modification to make it run on standard 1 lb LP disposable bottles or any LP tank with the appropriate adapter.
Worked great, and we used this little stove (wich is surprisingly powerful) until we bought our popup in 99.
I still use it occasionnally at home when we need a burner to do some outdoor cooking, like boiling lobsters.

As for lanterns, I think the most beautiful lanterns are made by Petromax.
http://www.petromax.com/
However, I wished Aladdin would come up with a rugged Coleman-style lantern we could used for camping. Almost as bright as a Coleman white gas lantern, no noise, no pumping, and very cheap to operate (runs on kerosene).
http://www.aladdinlamps.com/

Carl

[trs]

Wow, those Petromax lanterns are really nice looking, but hey certainly arn't givin them away$

[Patrickp]

Nice to see someone from 3-speed tour on this website.  I rode on the tour 3 or 4 years, but have been unable to the past couple years due to other committments.  1969 Raleigh Dl-1 with Rod Brakes.  Recently took a longer pop up tour for Kids Spring break.  Drove down to Charleston SC.  Took 2 bikes and one tandem. Charleston nice area for biking as they have no hills.  3 speeds is plenty.  Not as many bike trails as we have in Twin Cities, but they do have a sweet campground on James Island. Kind of werid for a MN guy to have Palm trees around his campsite. Say hi to the Preacher for me if you do the tour this year.  I know he is into the brew up, both with tea and Beer.
Patrick