Coleman Keepers Campfire come on in!

[campmaster-k]

Picked Up a 1945 500 single burner today - can't wait to dig into it for a full resto

Very cool Scott. Ive been on a dry spell.

[DragonFire]

That's a nice picture for Coleman Keepers!

I hope to get mine in the album soon (and I guess I'm going to be in the 'gang' too...)

[campmaster-k]

You can be in the "Gang" or you can be in the Model 1s or you can be in the Christmas Club or you can be in the "Turds", Just pick your favorite.

[DragonFire]

I've got the 200a. Would really like some of the others some day, but I don't know what prices are really reasonable. You know how ebay is..that waffle dog iron is still on there for $131. The gal has another one she's going to list for $110 that is near perfect. She says she keeps the 'users' for passing around to family. Bummer. But that's another thing on the wish list....

I see Coleman occasionally and see most 200a lanterns in decent shape going for around $40. But then I've see 220 lanterns newer than my stubborn one going for as much or more. I don't know enough about the pricing to go for anything else right now..except one item I saw last week...

And after the headache with the 220f, I am a bit gun shy about picking up another 'fixer'...

[Lazybones]

Barbara,
I have to use all of my strength to get the valve and cage off of one of those lanterns. So; don't feel bad.
I would pick up most any lantern you find in the five to ten dollar range. Especially the 200a with the taller top or a nickle fount.

One lantern is really enough to go camping. lol

We others just have a sickness.

PS. Skip the waffle dog maker untill you find one at a thrift store. They are going for WAY TOO MUCH. You can let the others make them and you can eat them.

[DragonFire]

Waffle Dog: I have people looking for them for me at thrifts..people looking for tiki stuff who don't care about waffle dogs. I have toas-tites..yes, multiples. A waffle dog would be a great addition. Easier breakfast, yet another thing I can cook the night before for lunch and small enough to easily pack on the scooter. My usual camping breakfast is oatmeal. But a waffle dog iron opens up a whole world of opportunity. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it (does buckwheat batter work in waffle dog irons??)
I just keep hoping I will find one on ebay for a good price when folks are all busy elsewhere. Apparently they are popular in Hawaii (spam waffle dogs?) so maybe that is what is driving up the price? And they are a state fair type thing too, I think. I don't think it's teardroppers driving the ebay prices.

I paid $12 for the 220f with a vintage case. At a thrift. There were 2 of them originally, and I looked at them then and passed..just because of the rust. But they were both marked more than what I paid. I grabbed this one when it went to half off. Knowing it was going to be a project and a user.

I've always had 2 lanterns while camping. Could use more. But that's what the propane ones are for and the battery ones. Inside the trailer, or any place there is a serious fire danger (isn't there always a fire danger when camping, especially in CA?)

I like Coleman lanterns. I almost bought the keychain one several years ago just because. I bought the battery string light ones for my setup..probably will go on the 10x10. I think I had the sickness way before I found this group. Just couldn't justify it. My 200a will live in the house on display in a room with railroad/Native American/western/California redwoods stuff.

Currently I'm going to buy a 502 stove. I just want one. It's small. I have 2 burners in my galley, but just maybe I don't want greasy stuff cooking there...or maybe it would be more fun to put the coffee pot on it. See..I'm justifying again. It could be worse...I could be blowing money in a mall on whatever is trendy in some silly store right now.

Doug did bring up another thing I already thought of...when the power goes out, the lanterns would be a good thing to have. Can't burn too many in the house, but one sure would light things up a bit. You can't read by Yankee Candles! And if you light enough of those to read by, the smell will kill you!!

[doug hodder]

You can be in the "Gang" or you can be in the Model 1s or you can be in the Christmas Club or you can be in the "Turds", Just pick your favorite.

That's a lotta subsets....I need to go draw a venn diagram on the whole thing....check out where it all overlaps.

With this stuff, someone will find what trips their trigger and go for those items, maybe have fewer of the other items. Once I decided that my interest was in stoves, I quit on a the lantern search thing. Now...I'll only pick up something really off beat or old on the lanterns. It's easy to get buried in a lot of the same stuff. I sorted it all out, kept the cherries in the bunch and gifted many of the others.

Stove design and development is a bit different, and from one model to another, it can be whole different critter.

If I find a real plum just waiting to be picked at a garage sale at a bargain price, regardless of what it is...I'll get it. I know someone else will appreciate it.

Barbara...as a side note....women in the late 20's often found that the gas fired irons would create incredible headaches working with them as they were directly over the fumes the entire time. I've seen it documented in some literature somewhere. Doug

[DragonFire]

I've cooked on white gas stoves. My Grasshopper has a built in propane stove. I have never had headaches with either, but I am very prone to migraines. I do remember feeling sick if I was too close to the white gas lantern as a kid. I have a second propane stove if I need one. And I just tried to get (and may still get) a propane singe burner stove..70's style. So I think my exposure to white gas fumes will be limited. Besides, I'm hoping to do a bit of cooking in the DO.

I need to ask you about stoves. I noticed that Coleman had 2 overlapping 2 burner stoves in the mid 60's. 425 was one series. I'll have to check on the other. Why? And what was the difference? I saw a 425 today from 64...$15. Well used, but would clean up nicely, and no particular rust (no other kind of rust either! )

I didn't buy it because it was heavy and I'm trying to stay with compact things for the Grasshopper. But it was tempting. Really tempting. I had it apart in the store and had nice grimy fingers trying to rub the gunk off the tabs to check the year. But right now I'm leaning toward single burners. I rarely use more than 2 burners at home, so I can't imagine I want 4 while camping. But a 3rd for greasy stuff or taking over to a friend's camp to make coffee in my stovetop percolator would be nice.

I guess I was more in a Coleman rescue mode than thinking of the Grasshopper. It's just to heavy of an item...I want to save my weight for other stuff (not sure what, but 'other stuff'..)

[doug hodder]

Coleman made the 425 series starting in about '47....it's smaller and more compact than the 413 series that began about '40. 413's are larger, heavier, but can handle a larger pot on them without scorching the bodies. I use 413's and 425's all the time, but you just gotta pay attention to the 425's so that you don't cook the stove. It's kinda like they did the 200A lanterns...a smaller single mantle compared to the 220/ 228 series which were larger 2 mantle ones. FWIW.

For either the stove top collapsible oven or a Griswold cast waffle iron...the 413 is a better option.

PS...what's this talk about PROPANE? That's just right out! Doug

[DragonFire]

I got it backwards...I saw the 413 today. The 425 was the one I saw on oldcolemaparts.com numbers listing.

The one I saw was a sturdy guy. Heavy, well built. I guess if they are plentiful it's no loss if I don't pick that one up.

I got a message back from the seller of that one burner. I asked him if he would still honor the lower price since he had it marked that way while I was about to buy...he said he'd think about it. He did have another one (rusted!!) and he accidentally swapped prices...and happened to fix it as I was fixin' to buy the nice one for the lower price.

The rusty one looks a little unstable..legs are for stabilization while sitting on the propane can...but the cheap one leans a bit. It would be cool to spray that one a color to match the Grasshopper...but at $30 and a bit of a lean to it, it's worth it to just get the perfect one for $40...except on principle I don't want to. I think he's waiting to see how bad I want it. He doesn't know how stubborn I am..and there is always another one out there somewhere.

Besides..I could paint something harvest gold!!!

[doug hodder]

Don't buy it.... You gotta keep your emotions in check when looking....there are lots of them out there in lots of different models. There is always another out there to be found. Hit the garage sales or Denios.

The real old stuff like 80 yrs+ are more of a challenge to get, sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and buy it,on Ebay, and hope you can turn a pig into a princess. Old stuff is much more difficult that some of the later models however for resto.

They don't get heavy till you get the cast iron manifold and cast iron grates, but you do have something that most others don't or have ever seen. Doug

[campmaster-k]

Denios sunday.

Pictures people. Pictures. Burn time . What we need is burning lanterns and stoves.

[DragonFire]

Kirk...are you going to Denios tomorrow??

yeah, I want to post a picture...but my stove is out in Camptonville with the other lantern, so all I have here is the 200a and 220f all apart..and a Greatland stove. Even my Grasshopper is elsewhere. I was going to pick up a 502 today but I want the cookware too..

Doug...My feeling is that the 2 burner I saw today is too heavy and redundant for my needs anyway. I want a single burner (or 2..if I get a propane 70's model I would still like a white gas model cuz I like them..I like the cookset that comes with some. I like the whole compact cooking idea..) so I will wait. I'll see what this guy comes up with on ebay. If he says I can have the nice one for $30, free shipping, I'll take it. It's a user. Then I'll work on getting a 502 with the cook set. When I take the white gas items I might as well take a lantern and stove (small)..Otherwise it will be propane and battery. I still have a small (skinny!) propane tank in the trailer. I don't know how much is left. I'll burn that off and then I have a converter for the small tanks..so I'll stock up on those for my cooktop, lanterns (2) and hopefully single burner stove. The white gas stuff is for show and for good memories of camping in the redwoods. If I can't locate my other propane lantern that dang 220f will have to work for it's keep.

That's my plan. Then on to a cooler that matches my Grasshopper. Or one I can paint to match. There's an idea!!

[doug hodder]

Since Kirk is wanting pics and that's what it takes to be in the "Coleman Keepers"...here's one that I took of some stuff...but it's like 3 years old now and there is much more "stock" in inventory now. I did get them all running and what is shown is from the mid 20's to the mid 60's...Check out how small the HandyChef is on the far left line of stoves. It's a Sears marketed item mid 20's...a preheater stove. 5 stoves, 9 lanterns.

Barbara...if you want a great single burner and not propane...get a 500...puts out a ton of heat and you can cook with a larger pan on it as opposed to the 502's. It's the single burner on the leftt in front...to the right is the 502. Also...far right 2 burner is a 413...to it's left is a 425. Doug

[Lazybones]

Ok. Here is my only working stove ( fired for the first time in years) and two of my lanterns. Taken ten minutes ago.