why coleman stuff is cool

[hotrod]

details like this are a thing of the past in todays mass produced made in china world.. much cheaper to just slap a sticker on it..

[Zollinger]

Amen Brother Paul! The crap they build now a days would never last 50+ years like the 'ole coleman stuff.

[doug hodder]

Unfortunately, once the market is saturated, they need to design for failure, to get future sales. You gotta build them just good enough so that people are happy with it, and won't complain when it craters and they have to go get another. I believe Crocs has a similar issue with their footwear. They lasted too long and kinda dried up their market for the repeat sales in the sandal thing. Doug

[deceiver]

Unfortunately, once the market is saturated, they need to design for failure, to get future sales. You gotta build them just good enough so that people are happy with it, and won't complain when it craters and they have to go get another. I believe Crocs has a similar issue with their footwear. They lasted too long and kinda dried up their market for the repeat sales in the sandal thing. Doug

Hence, our throw away society. Two ways to build it. Expensive but to last a long time, or inexpensively to be replaced cheaply. At least the first way doesn't fill the dumps up as much. Then again expensive to build can be pretty expensive if the quality is there because it's would have to be built in the US.

[xrover]

I read an interesting article about the social conscience of a throw away society. In our push to get everything cheaper, what legacy are we leaving for our children. It is more expensive to repair the item than replace it, so we add to the waste. Had we bought the 'quality' item, made in North America, or made in Germany etc, we would have less waste and better products. For example, I bought an 80 year old pocket compass which still works to this day as opposed to the plastic crap one I had to throw out.

Unfortunately greed and lowest price will never shift the consumer mind to accept paying more today for a better tomorrow.

[Ageless]

I have grown tired of the ungodly increase in cost of the 1# propane. If you hit a small town it's $5!!

I took the Coleman lantern last time; $9 for a gallon of fuel; worked just fine, and has a carrier to protect it.

[High Desert]

As Doug points out, it's a catch 22 for sales. I would also imagine that the percentage of the population that would buy these type of appliances has shrunk in the last couple of generations. And campgrounds have changed as well in the ways of lighting and other convieniences. Things change.


Our throw away mentality as a whole bothers me personally, but all I can do is try and avoid it as much as possible. So I use things that last and can be repaired as much as I can. And as the Coleman items fit that thinking oh-so well, I get to have fun doing it. I was a mechanic in another life and I still like to fix stuff. It's a great hobby.


Besides, every neighborhood needs a "crazy lantern guy"


btw Ageless, on the side of a new lantern box I saw recently it touted the fact that 1 gal of liquid fuel was equivilent to 4.5 one pound bottles of propane. Pretty significant savings if you use a lantern much.

[teardrop_focus]

Shaun, The Inimitable

Besides, every neighborhood needs a "crazy lantern guy"

[canned o minimum]

"I" jus started to collect these Coleman products...have a 59 lanturn and a coupl a 60s vintage items...The quality speakes fer itself !!!

The "cheap" throw aways are NEVER an option fer ME !

[Papi]

I like the Coleman people. When I was stationed overseas in a combat zone, we didn't get enough light from the chemlights, and too much battery consumption if we used flashlights. So I wrote to them to see if they would sell me a Coleman lantern. About a month later a big case of lanterns showed up, free of charge!

I guess that was then, this is now, but I always respected them after that.

[starleen2]

Ya' know - people can toss them Old, crappy colemans my way for the Newer propane models - BTW - the propane ones are SOOOOO much better than the old er models - so I'll just take em' while you folks upgrade

[Zollinger]

Ya' know - people can toss them Old, crappy colemans my way for the Newer propane models - BTW - the propane ones are SOOOOO much better than the old er models - so I'll just take em' while you folks upgrade

Nice try Scott! Nice to know i'm not the only one kinda addicted to them.

[doug hodder]

Scott....maybe you need to throw in the "safety" factor when trying to acquire some equipment....things like "ya know....the liquid fueled lanterns and stoves are about 40% more dangerous, then the propanes" I just invented that number.

Also a really killer one is to mention that the mantles are radioactive from the thorium...(really old mantles, I guess many people grew up without a radium dial on a watch, but it wasn't that big of a deal), then suggest they go get a battery lantern and you can dispose of their old one in the environmentally approved method, since you know a recycler for them.

More people probably have died in car wrecks talking on a cell phone over stoves or lanterns blowing up...but it just seems that safety/ environmental concerns drive peoples purchases. I'd be willing to bet that the carbon foot print of a gallon of white has is much less than the equivalent BTU's in little propane bottles.

Now that I think of it....what a great way to acquire them. Put an ad in the local paper...."Local recycler will take care of your old Coleman and other gas pressure appliances. Stored fuel can be dangerous and used mantles can be a carcinogen, get it out of your home and away from your children, I will pick up for free". I'm always thinkin'.....Doug

[High Desert]

Now that I think of it....what a great way to acquire them. Put an ad in the local paper...."Local recycler will take care of your old Coleman and other gas pressure appliances. Stored fuel can be dangerous and used mantles can be a carcinogen, get it out of your home and away from your children, I will pick up for free". I'm always thinkin'.....Doug

* highlight * copy * save as:new CL ad......

[caseydog]

I'm a big time believer and evangelist for buying quality over WalMart Fallapart cheap stuff (my ex-wife came up with WalMart Fallapart -- got to give her credit).

Doug, I have some Crocs for going to the campground showers, but my main footwear for warm weather is a pair of Birkenstocks -- AKA hippie sandals. I had the last pair for 9 years -- the final few months, I was putting gaffer's tape on the soles to keep my toes from rubbing the ground. I finally broke down and bought a new pair.

I got my Weber grill in 1985. My best pocket knife is a Puma that I got from a friend as a high school graduation gift in 1979.

Old coleman lanterns are cool, but bright lanterns on a dark night bother my eyes. I wouldn't mind finding one at a garage sale and restoring it, but it would be purely for show -- I'd probably never use it.

CD