Coleman 2-mantle camping lanterns

    My apologies to the primitive camping purists and hardcore tree huggers. It's not enough I parked a smelly old toxic motorhome into their back yard, now I'm bringing in combustible gasses as well. I hear ya. Really, I do. Back in the day I was a purist too, or at least a lot more of a purist than I am now. I guess I sold out. That's the only explanation I have. I got old and I got tired and in the interests of comfort and convenience I friggin' sold out. I have a propane cook stove too. The lanterns are two-mantle and will remain lit on the lowest setting for fourteen hours before needing a new canister (seven hour burn time on high setting). Generally speaking, I try to hang them at opposite edges of the camp's perimeter about seven or eight feet off the ground, either from a tree branch or a pole. Good, strategic placement can keep an entire campsite illuminated. I leave one burning on low even after I've gone to sleep.

    This is the standard size 16.4 ounce propane gas cylinder. You can pay anywhere from $1.50 to nearly five bucks per canister, depending on where you get them at. I bought some last year on sale at Einstein's army surplus store in Topeka, Kansas for $1.50 each. The general rule with these things is the closer you get to a lake, the more expensive they get. Their shelf life is probably unlimited. I have two half full canisters in my garage that have been there at least two years and they still have good compression. I keep forgetting to take them with me and use them up.