The Project Pad

So it has been quite some time since I have done any real camping. Instead of going to the beach this year for vacation, for obvious reasons, we have decided to take my daughter camping for her first time. For this reason, I have acquired some more camping gear over what I need at Carlisle.

I received a Coleman 220K lantern and 413g dual burner stove from my wife's grand parents when they passed away. The lantern worked right out of the case, but the glass globe cracked when cooking down, so I replaced the mantles and globe. The stove was a different story.

Taking the stove out of the box, yes it's in its original box from 40+ years ago, I noticed it was very clean. I took the fuel tank out to find very old fuel in it. I couldn't get the lid off, but a pair of pliers did the job. The pump didn't work, but luckily oiling the leather plunger fixed that problem. Now it work as it should, and I'm very happy.

Today my uncle showed up with 4 more lanterns, another 413g stove, and a 502 cook burner. From what I can find, all of the lanterns are from the 40's. One was labeled "Sears" and turns out, might be even older, but still made by Coleman. I was able to get the Sears lantern, and the 502 burner working. I need to get new mantles for the other lanterns, and another gallon of fuel to test everything out.

Should be fun pulling the old lanterns apart and making them all work again. If anyone is interested, I can post pics of the items, and progress on making them all work again.

I love that old stuff, fun to restore. Probably worth something too. That being said I have a camp chef 3 burner stove for cooking and a goal zero yeti 1000 with 2 100w panels and use led lights.

Being a backpacker I find that kind of gear to be heavy and clunky... but I love seeing old things restored. Especially of that particular vintage. That era was a time where people bought durable goods with maintenance and retention in mind, as opposed to manufactured obsolescence and product cycles.

Please do post up when you have the time. Always interesting seeing how some things go together and what makes them work.

The smell of white gas brings back great memories. It's hard to justify fussing with lanterns vs using decent battery powered LED lights for the weekend though.

This is my first experience with white gas. I grew up with propane lanterns and stoves. The use of these lanterns is more for my wife's memories. It is interesting to me that it's so damn easy to repair these things! Made quite well, and still very easy to get parts for.

Here is most of the unintended collection


So the 3 up front are from 47/48. The blue Sears is from 62. The single burner is from 67 and the 2 stoves I'm not sure.

Here is the lantern we got from her grandfather, mustard yellow case and all!


This was used hard for quite some time, and still works flawlessly with new glob and mantles.

This one I received from a co-worker, circa 11/83. Says he picked it up at a yard sale "dirt cheap" and never tried to fire it up.

Taking it out of the case I knew something was off. Very sooty, and the generator tube was brown and glossy. I think someone tried to use the wrong fuel and nearly burnt it down.

Generator tube. Look closely, it's bent.


Supply valve and cleaner eccentric. The eccentric is broken, and some used some kind of sealant or loctite on the threads.


This one was also missing the heat shield for the valve. $35 later, thanks to oldcolemanparts.com, I had a new valve assembly, generator, and heat shield. Installed that all just a little bit ago with some new mantles, and works great!


Now I have grandpa's lantern to hang on the site, and this one to have on the table. The "picket fence" globe is nice for that.

That is all for now, need to get everything together to head out tomorrow.