Tried a gas-powered camping lantern for the first time last weekend and nearly singed my eyebrows off

I picked up a used Coleman lantern at a garage sale for $5. Thought I knew what I was doing - pumped it up, lit the mantles, all seemed fine. Then I adjusted the knob to turn it down a bit and got a big flame burst that shot up about a foot. Scared me half to death. Lesson learned: those mantles are fragile and you need to let them cool before messing with the valve. Has anyone else had a close call with these old school lanterns?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_young593d ago

Dude, same thing happened to me in my backyard. Thought I was being careful pumping it up, then barely touched the knob and got a flame that nearly caught my sleeve on fire. Those old lanterns don't mess around, you really have to treat them like a ticking time bomb.

the_spencer6d ago

Nothing gets your heart pumping like a rogue flame shooting out of a Coleman! I did the same thing at a campsite last fall - fired one up, thought I was hot stuff, then tried to dial it back while it was still roaring. Big mistake. That thing sounded like a blowtorch for a solid five seconds before I panicked and turned it off completely. Mantles are way more touchy than they look, and yeah, letting them cool down first is the only real trick.

anthony_campbell886d ago

Sounds like rushing things always backfires. Works that way with everything.