RE: Help, Propane or Gasoline

[Stargazer]

 
I need to replace my  twenty year old Coleman stove
 and lantern.  Should I stick with the Coleman liquid fuel
 type lantern and stove or do you guys and gals like
 the propane models better?  Thanks for any advice.

[wssfetch]

 Stargazer
Well one plus with the propane is that propane is so widely available.  And another would be that you can use them with larger tanks as well as the little ones.

[tlhdoc]

 Stargazer
If you get the duel fuel model you can use Coleman fuel and gasoline.  The liquid fuel is available every where.  I like the liquid fuel better.  Less waste than the little cylinders and easier to tote than a big tank.

[topcat7736]

 Stargazer
Stargazer,
 
 You might not need to completely replace your Coleman stove & lantern. [link=http://www.campmor.com]CAMPMOR[/link] has a shop area which will rebuild them for you, or you can get all the components to do it yourself from them. (There aren t many parts needed and the manuals for the ones you have are available for free download in PDF format at Coleman.com).
 
 However, if you want new items, here are some +/- for both (we currently have BOTH type 2-burner stoves and lanterns).
 
 1) If you camp in very cold weather or at high altitudes, stick with the dual fuel. Propane btu s drop off dramatically as the temperature drops or the altitude goes up and you might not be able to carry enough little cannisters to make it through a weekend. When very cold, the propane devices might not light at all. Dual fuel devices will light and burn efficiently at all temperatures and altitudes. Propane devices are great for " fair weather"  camping.
 
 2) If you don t want " flare-ups"   then propane is for you. While I prefer the large BTU output of my Coleman dual fuel stove (21,500 or 11,500/10,000) and bright light (300 candlepower) of my Coleman dual fuel powerhouse lantern,  Peggy is scared to light them. So, we have the Coleman 2-burner (10,000/10,000) propane stove and Coleman propane lantern (200 candlepower) to make her happy. For very cold camping trips, I only bring the dual fuel stove, but both lanterns.
 
 3) Coleman fuel, (a highly refined naptha), burns very hot and efficiently. When the stove and lantern are operated,  they will outlast the propane cannisters. Refills of fuel cost a fraction of that of the 1-lb cannisters.
 
 4) It s space saving to carry 1 gallon of Coleman fuel vs a box full of propane cannisters. And, it s better for the environment not to be throwing away all the empty tanks.
 
 With all that said, the safest and cheapest to operate devices are those that run on kerosene. These devices will operate at all altitudes and temperatures without a problem........but that stink! [][][: (]

[Gone-Camping]

 Stargazer
I use both on the lanterns. The propane one can be utilized off a spare 20# bottle using a tree and hose, as well as with those little throw away bottles. But the propane stove doesn t get as hot, and the Propane lantern doesn t burn as bright as the others. I sold the gas stove last year, just didn t use it enough to justify lugging it around. I do however, prefer the gas lantern, only use the propane one for limited uses...

[Tim5055]

 Stargazer
I am very happy with the Coleman fuel lantern, nice & bright.  The stove has been religated to the garage as we have not used it after moving up from the tent to popup.
 
 Tracy, Al & Cliff have hit on all of the reasons I stick with the fuel lantern.

[Stargazer]

 Stargazer
What a great web site for all us PU owners.
 Thanks for the good info (especially Al s).
 We ve made our decision.  It will be the
 dual fuel lantern and stove models.  They should serve
 us best.    Thanks again.

[Stargazer]

 Stargazer
Just wanted to add my signature.

[mike4947]

 Stargazer
Once I can t rebuild them anymore I ll probably replace the stove and lantern with propane versions. Of course they re both going on 30 and are about 6 years away from their next rebuild. Well maybe my son will replace them or his kids.

[jawilson]

 Stargazer
I have the propane version of the lantern and the stove, and for me they re perfect. And to save the landfills I bought an adapter that lets me use my 20 gallon BBQ propane tank to refill those little bottles. Works very well -- I haven t bought, or disposed of, a small propane bottle in 2 years now.

[Venatic]

 Stargazer

2) If you don t want " flare-ups"  then propane is for you. While I prefer the large BTU output of my Coleman dual fuel stove (21,500 or 11,500/10,000) and bright light (300 candlepower) of my Coleman dual fuel powerhouse lantern, Peggy is scared to light them.

 So that s why I singe my eyebrows every time I light my lantern.[]

[kitphantom]

 Stargazer
I much prefer our white gas Coleman stoves.  We have 2, because one malfunctioned the night before a trip (hint, test earlier than that!) and the part was not available in town.  (You can get many parts from Coleman, they have " exploded"  views of stoves,etc. on their website.) We have a white gas lantern, which gets used every now and again (we re not usually up late enough to bother lighting it.)  We bought a propane lantern last year, when fire regs restricted fuel to propane, which might be a consideration.  We can use our propane Coleman in the PU, since we have no lighting, and it gives more light than our electric lanterns.  I refused to buy a propane stove for the same trip, we just cooked on the PU stove, though we would rather cook outside.  I have used a friend s Coleman propane, and was not impressed, seemed wimpy compared to the white gas, as does our PU stove.  Also used another friend s, dual fuel, it did not seem a lively as our single fuel one.  We don t have problems finding Coleman fuel, though it can be pricey in smaller places & grocery stores.  We have a white gas backpacking stove and it is nice not to have to have yet another type of fuel.  While the propane lantern is handy, since we discovered we could use it inside (carefully & we don t go off and leave it on), I don t want to have to deal with too many little cylinders (for our uses, it is not practical or handy to use the bigger tank with extra connectors).  We had one tank that did not close itself up when removed from the lantern for travel, that made for an interesting time- it just sat there and hissed for a while, eventually did seal up, long enough to get home, it started to leak again so we attached it to the weedburner to use it up.

[whitestar505]

 Stargazer
I made the switch last year and like it. It is quick,clean and easy to transport. []