My Kero Lantern

Kero Smells

Some of you might realise that I’m really a bit unhinged at times…perhaps unhinged is understating things. My latest purchase doesn’t really give any hope of me ever being fully hinged, whatever that might look like. It started with a petrol stove (more on that later) and ended up with greasy hands and a fine stream of kerosene spurting soundlessly into my left ear. Fun. Light emitting diodes, or LED’s as they are commonly called, have both captivated me, and caused me some level of angst. I’m referring to LED’s that are used for lighting purposes. I remember marveling at their low current draw and high light output. I first started using them for camping purposes back around 2010 when they first started to become popular among camping enthusiasts. Now everybody uses them, for just about everything. Last time I went camping I found myself reminiscing about the good ol-days when campsites were illuminated by the red glow of a fire and the white yellow glow of gas powered, or incandescent torches and lanterns. Modern campsites these days are so brightly illuminated, the surrounding flora and fauna must be bamboozled into thinking it’s actually day light. Rows of LEDs dazzle the retina’s surrounding even the simplest camp setup, with their impressive lumen’s blinding all and sundry. As if that wasn’t enough, the ubiquitous use of headlamps (LED’s of course) add to brilliant spectacle.

A few months ago, I decided to buy a petrol camping cooker. The Coleman brand has sold the dual fuel models for just about as many years as I’ve been alive, and I always liked the idea of ditching gas bottles whenever I decided to venture off into the bush or wilderness. These cookers are occasionally available second hand for quite a reasonable price, although I notice Coleman are still selling them at specialist camping stores and online. I picked one up on an online marketplace, brought it home and through a series of mishaps managed to get it alight, although I did suffer some singed hairs on my left forearm and both my eyebrows. Thankfully I avoided setting myself on fire, thank God for small mercies I reckon. I’ve since become quite adept at lighting the cooker without singing a single hair. I’ll post a picture of my dual fuel stove later on sometime.

My close brush with the flames didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for playing with fire. I should point out that there are some very practical safety reasons behind why these methods of lighting and cooking have been slowly phased out. As they have slowly become discontinued, some models have fast become collectors’ items, and in some cases their value has increased quite dramatically. Seem’s like I’m not the only one who likes playing with fire. You don’t have to look too far into fossil fueled powered lighting without coming across the Coleman brand. Their lanterns of yesteryear were designed and manufactured in the USA and had the reputation that they were built to last. Made of robust materials such as metal, brass and Bakelite, there was really very little that could go wrong with them, apart from smashing the glass globe of course. If something did eventually clog up, break or just wear out due to overuse, replacing or fixing the part was relatively easy. Goodness how things have changed.

In my search for a Coleman style lantern, I happened across an Australian Made pressure lantern manufactured in Brisbane under the name; Handi Kero-Pet.

Getting it going was took a bit of time and effort. Eventually, after some perseverance and some sage advice from a pressure lamps forum, I eventually managed to watch it burn in all its glory. I was secretly delighted to be honest. Even the procedure to light it added to the wonder and joy that I found restoring it to working order. So just in case you were wondering, here is the procedure to lighting the Handi Kero-Pet lantern, but before I forget I wanted to explain the name. Kero-Pet refers to the fact that these lanterns can run on either Kerosene or Petrol, but is dependent on the type of generator that is used. So the process in getting the lamp going is pretty straight forward, although nowhere near as easy as flicking on the switch of my LED’s lights.

After filling the tank with Kerosene, you then have to fill the small brass donut shaped ring (or bath) with methylated spirits or Shellite. Ensuring that the stopcock is firmly in the off position, now it’s time to pressurise the tank. This is done by pumping the plunger that is built into the side of the tank. I’m not sure what the original instructions were, as I don’t have copies of course, but I started off with about 30 pumps. Next you have to light the methylated spirits and wait until the flame has almost gone out, as only then you can open the stopcock to the on position. If everything is working as it should, the mantle should ignite into a white glowing ball of fire. The noise it makes is something else. You can hear the vaporised fuel combusting in a gentle but distinctive wooshing sound. Then there is the heat and smell. These lantern’s are meant for outside use only, and if used indoors they must be used in a well-ventilated area with extreme caution as they emit loads of heat and probably quite a bit of carbon monoxide. Although it should be said that although CO (carbon monoxide) is an odourless gas, the smell of burning Kerosene is not. For the uninitiated, Kerosene (or Kero) fueled heaters and lamps are a more than a little smelly, which is probably one of the many reason’s why you can buy odourless kerosene these days. In my trip to the store to buy the Kero, I opted for the non-odourless one, purely because of the price difference. I think I’ll try the odourless one next time, however here is a picture of my Handi Kero-Pet doing exactly what it was meant to do.

Thanks for being here. And yes, I’m talking to you.