jason carr's mousepad - disaster planning survival preparationcoleman stove lantern

coleman gear is terrific

The blue flames! This hiss of the generator! Good stuff, Maynard. And made here the US if that kind of thing motivates you. And found on the cheap at many garage sales and craigslist.

I have made a chart that might help you pick a stove for cooking in PAW/preparedness/SHTF scenarios. I also share with you the reasoning behind my own decisions.

coleman fuel lanterns and stoves

It is commonly said that any liquid-fuel Coleman that is not rusted out is worth rebuilding. Frequently all that is needed is fresh fuel. If the flame never settles down you might need a generator (the fuel pipe that is heated by the flames, that turns liquid fuel into vapors). If it does not hold pressure you might need a fuel cap, or might need to lubricate/replace the pump. That's usually all there is to it. Sometimes there are more exotic problems but they are the minority situation.

before you crank it up...

Many people have an irrational fear of Coleman fuel gear. You do not have be afraid; you do have to pay attention and know what to expect. The things that frequently startle Coleman newbs are:

the stove/lantern will flare up until it is at running temperature. The generator (fuel tube) needs to get hot enough to completely vaporize the fuel running through it; that's why it runs through or near the source of heat. You will know it's ready when you hear the generator hiss and you see a compact blue flame on a stove or a brilliant white glow on a lantern (see pictures above). Until that point it will likely flare up or spit, sometimes dramatically. The flare can last a few seconds or much longer, depending on many factors. Be ready for the flare and don't let it it freak you out. Watch some youtube videos on lighting lanterns and lighting stoves so you know what to expect. I picked those videos not because they are perfect but because they are pretty average and are similar to what you are likely to see in reality.
Remain calm, and be prepared to shut off the fuel valve. It is not overkill to be wearing leather gloves while you learn how things work. Do your learning outside away from flammable stuff like your house, kids, dogs, cars.
parts of the the stove/lantern will be seriously hot. The top of a lantern runs about 500F; that's why there is a bail (swinging handle) to hold onto. Some parts of stoves will glow red during use. If you touch hot parts you will be burned. I know you learned that lesson as a kid but the temps here are formidable so I am reminding you. Use the handles, control knobs/levers and avoid touching other parts until it is completely cooled.
the stove/lantern takes a couple of minutes to go out. After you shut off the fuel supply there is still enough fuel in the generator to let if run on for a bit. It will go out, but it takes a bit of time. Allow for this.

a word about unleaded, gasohol, and kerosene

Most coleman gear is intended to run on coleman fuel.

Dual fuel gear costs a bit more, but the tanks and valves are different so they will withstand the additives in unleaded gasoline. Dual fuel gear has a silver fount (fuel tank) rather than the usual green or red. An exception to the silver fount == dual fuel rule is the NorthStar series (like the 2000b "sock-mantle" lantern) and lightweight Exponent series (like the 229 lantern. Note that some exponents are multifuel; see below).
Common dual-fuelers include: 442 Feather stove, eXponent Lantern (be aware it uses smaller #20 mantles), 295 Lantern, and the skeleton style Apollo stove.
Note: dual fuel gear running on unleaded can be smelly at lighting and shutdown. It is said that lanterns smell unpleasant on unleaded even while burning normally. Unleaded will foul generators faster than coleman fuel. Depending on the cost of generators, coleman, and unleaded you'd have to burn about 3 gallons of unleaded in a small stove/lantern to break even and up to 7 gallons of unleaded in larger stoves with more expensive generators.
Another note: 10% ethanol blends are unacceptable as they are hard on the plastic/rubber seals and the generator gas tips are sized for burning coleman/unleaded in stoichiometrically correct ratios. Exception: Coleman has made a few items, like the 285A-710 E-Fuel lantern, that were built to handle 10% ethanol unleaded. These units are immediately recognizable by their yellow fount and ear-of-corn design on the label. (hat tip to Ken for pointing out that not all 285A lanterns are ethanol safe).

Kerosene Kerosene-specific gear is uncommon in the US Coleman line of products; kero lanterns have been somewhat more popular in Canada and you can still buy the bulge-globe 639C and straight-globe 214C kero lanterns. . In the rest of the world, (non-Coleman) kerosene lanterns and stoves dominate the market.
It is possible to modify some older lanterns to run kerosene; the 220 series is a good example. This is not a beginners' level project, and assumes you have access to cheap kero. In my neck of the woods kero costs almost 2x what coleman fuel does.

multifuel The most common multifuel (coleman/unleaded/kerosene) gear is the 550B stove.
Notes about exponent stoves in the 550 family:
550: kero gen nut may be chrome, gas is brass.
550B: kero gen has cuts on nut edges, gas is smooth. Old
In all cases the kero gen will have a smaller gas tip orifice. More info here.

Coleman also makes skeleton-type multifuel (coleman/unleaded/kero or inverted butane/propane) Fyrestorm stoves in stainless steel and titanium/magnesium models. The Denali expedition stove adds jet fuel capability to that mix.

my Coleman gear

Here is a selection of some of my favorite gear.

stoves
- Coleman 413F (undated, made from 1961-1964) two-burner coleman fuel camp stove 10,000 and 8,000 BTU burners). Works great. More portable than the 428 below.
- 1965 Coleman 502 w/heat drum. Bought at yard sale for $5 with the heat drum. Untested, but definitely needs a new pump cup.
- 1969 Coleman 502 Sportster. 7500 btu. Beautiful design, to my eye.
- 1991 Coleman 533 dual fuel camp stove (10,500 BTU): Coleman fuel, unleaded. Bought one on the the 1980s to use on Army field exercises. Lost it, and bought another in the 90s. Currently running unleaded to contain costs, with coleman fuel every third tank or so to give the generator a break.
- 2005 Coleman 428 Powerhouse dual fuel three-burner camp stove (11,500btu, 2x 6,500btu. Works great. The workhorse stove in my stable of gear.
- 2007 Coleman 550B Exponent multifuel camp stove (7,500 BTU, 6,500 BTU on kerosene): Coleman fuel, unleaded, kerosene. (maint kit). Simmers like a dream.
lanterns
- 1944 Coleman 242c 200cp single-mantle lantern. Bought for $1 at a yard sale. Fresh fuel, torched the gen, blew out the air passages. Runs bright white on the original thorium mantle.
- 1961 Coleman 200a 200cp single-mantle lantern. Incredibly Ugly/worn burgundy paint, works great and was $10. My favorite lantern. I recently installed a bench vise in the workshop so I could get inside the fount to stretch the spring on the fuel/air tube. This lantern is in desperate need of a paint job.
- 1964 Coleman 220F 300cp two-mantle lantern. Needed generator, pump, and cap. Works great!
- 1974 Coleman 220H two-mantle 300cp lantern. Needed mantles. Converted to kerosene 85% successfully: starts great, runs steadily but is a little dim/yellow. Will let you know what happens.
- 198x Coleman 288A700 two-mantle 220cp lantern. Needed globe and denatured alcohol soak in tank to clean F/A tube.
- 1990/12 Coleman 222B single mantle 125cp lantern. NIB at garage sale. Will light but seems to have fuel valve problems. O-rings?
- 1991 Coleman 286A single mantle 200cp lantern. Free lantern off Freecycle: needed globe and pump assembly replaced. Works great!
- 1991 Coleman 295 two-mantle Powerhouse dual fuel 250-300cp lantern off craigslist. Needed pump oiled and air stem straightened. Works great!
Other
- 1968 515A catalytic heater (Coleman fuel, not profane)

coleman gear is terrific

coleman fuel lanterns and stoves

before you crank it up...

a word about unleaded, gasohol, and kerosene

my Coleman gear

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