I had a delightful surprise today in my junk store God had a new toy for me in a Coleman 200 lantern.
I just love Coleman stuff as it is so American bare bones, no nonsense and indestructible.......and yet I have yet to see this stuff not destroyed by some Yank.
To me there is just something lovely about breathing objects like pressure cookers, steam engines and these pressure lamps from Alladins to these Coleman gas lanterns.
They really are a marvel in you take explosive fuel, put it under pressure with a rubber gasket, light it all up, it gets hot enough to explode like the Challenger and yet they never do.
Most of these lanterns have their globes broken and they are hard to find.....like most parts for the 200's. You can find them cannibalized in pieces on auction sites and that really upsets me, as they should have a good life yet, and people are just taking them apart.
One of my favorite 200's is one which came out of a gold mine in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I have been to the Black Hills, and having dealt with those curvy roads, black mountains, trees and not being able to see, I believe that the best situation would be to cut all the trees down, and level those worthless hills.........yes they stop moisture and are a niche environment, but as the feds now charge to see Rushmore which was a free gift to the country and Americans own those damned hills..........it just is like most things in this life in not being worth the look any more.
My fondest memory was I shot a Merriam's turkey in the Hills. It did not taste that delightful, but the turkeys had a good hatch that year and I harvested an old hen...........those hills do so much better when God burns them off so bushes and weeds can grow so wildlife will flourish.
I was amazed in that turkey in dissecting it's crop to find out what it ate, it was full of things I never knew grew in the mountains like clover.........turkeys really eat a variety of things.
Meanwhile the lantern which I acquired for "parts" out of a gold mine, looked like it had been tied to a burrows tail and dragged through the quartz out there, as it was beat to hell. I think though it has character in being so ugly and only good for parts, so it is my favorite lantern.
I really do not have a great deal of love for the 200's though in operation, as they are like a blow torch in getting so hot. The red enamel on top of them will literally turn a deep red color when you have them lit. They look so literally like something about to detonate that I just do not know how close to keep them around.
Yes the green lanterns are nicer, and I have those too, but the red one's are so cute, I just happen to collect the things and mournfully lament, "Why they create anxiety phobia in me in looking so dangerous when running".
This 200 I pulled and prodded on for the 5 dollars it cost before I purchased it.......in fact I put it back on the shelf and said, "Well God if it is there in this crowd when I come back........I guess I will buy it"..........and I needed to break a 20 for dinner anyway.
The thing did not seem to hold pressure as I was pumping it in the store........and the top nut which is only for looks would not screw on very far.........but it was all there without the globe, so as it was waiting for me, and I decided I would regret not buying it and wonder who took my lantern home if I left it..........I purchased it.
As I stated, the Yanks seem to destroy things which can not be destroyed......and that brass nut on top was stripped and the threads on the screw were rusted.......so I put on the oil, put a cloth with a vice grip on the screw and started turning it on slowly of and on......bit by bit.
Thing still got hot with the friction, so I got a new steel burr and spun that on a few times........then used another steel screw to screw into the brass nut........and with more oil and care, I chewed up the brass nut pretty good, and finally got the entire thing to operate the way it should.
It is impossible to strip a nut from the inside and leave the threads in the screw, but somehow this one was a problem child.............Americans are so ingenious in their destruction methods.
Now of course, I'm pondering what kind of adventure to take this lantern on, as you just can not buy things and not take them on adventures.
This one is whispering to me something about Canada, tents, lost lakes, bears rummaging about and northern pike fillets.
I do not know why every time I buy something, it just can not be, "I say let's go out in the back yard and you can light me up..........I will burn and sizzle moths to my flame and you can look at the stars.........you may bring your Sharps rifle and pretend we were out buffalo hunting and that Indians are about and grizzly bears......."
No, the toys I buy always have to cross oceans or end up with ideas that try to get me killed.
I think the reason is like this lantern, it was only in the city all of it's life and went camping once in those smelly campers that have the latrine smells and it is always muggy with 300 people playing their dvd's and ipods as one sucks in car exhaust and charcoal fumes.
I was camping once at 10 years old, and we had a nice bonfire burning............still feel pity on the person next site over, as no matter what he tried he could not get his fire to burn........he kept dumping starter fluid on it to make the flames leap 4 feet up like our fire....and then it would smolder down again and back would come the starter fluid.
So I do see why this lantern is looking to go on a real adventure as it lived it's life and almost became spare parts at best, has only smelled latrine odors and never had the thrill of critters knocking things over in the dark outside your tent and you have left your rifle in the vehicle.
Oh that is such great fun..........
Now it is saying something about horses...........I can see this lantern is going to be like a child always wanting something more.........and I will have to be the parent and say, "No we can't go on that adventure until I get you your globe and make sure you do not blow up".
It is such a pretty lantern though.
agtG
