Tips on Camping Stoves and Lanterns

Tips on camping stoves and lanterns can franky save your life.

Tips on campng stoves and lanterns will lead you to fewer mishaps at the campground. The dangers of anything hot enough to burn skin or melt plastic are among the most common causes of camping-related mishaps. Here is what you need to do:

Tips on Being Safe: Keep your stoves and lanterns away from your tent. We are so used to using flashlights at home, it might seem very natural to walk towards or into your tent carrying your lantern. If it is a propane lantern, you'll melt your tent fabric on content and quickly create serious damage.   Use one or more Lantern Stands . Camping almost always is a group adventure, yet we end up fighting over or taking turns with the lanterns when night falls. With one to three lanterns hanging from lantern stands, you can light up your whole camp. Bring a small flashlight for each person. With stationary light sources at camp and each camper having their own light source (that is not hot to burn people or equipment), everyone will be able to see. Our mishaps with both stoves and lanterns went down dramatically when we started using lantern stands like the one you see to the right from Coleman.   Use sturdy cooking tables for your camping stoves. Watch other campers when you go to a campground, you'll see that they either use the picnic table that is provide, or they use flimsy tables that are really too small for their stoves. We recommend the Coleman Exponent Outfitter Camp Kitchen. A propane camping stove is a source of open flame for one thing, and it will get very hot for another. You cannot afford to have it tip and fall. Not only will your food end up in the dirt, but the flame, heat, and possible grease or scalding water will wreck havoc on both person and gear.   Keep your camping stoves clean. Time after time when packing up or after a meal it will be tempting to let it be, clean it when you get home. Then you forget. The best time to clean your stove is as soon after a meal as possible. Cook it, eat it, clean up after it. This prevents undo wear on your equipment. Grease and grime on an unclean stove is a haven for germs and insects.

Tips Using Lanterns and Stoves Keep extra mantles for your lanterns. Lantern Mantles are finiky things and can get torn or damages, or simply used up. Make at minimum one extra set of mantles for each lantern part of your camping checklist.   Practice how to replace a lantern mantle. Not much is more urgent than needing light in the dark. Don't allow yourself to be unpracticed if an emergency needs light and you don't know how to replace your lantern's mantle.   Always assume your lantern is too hot to handle. Take an extra thought when picking it up and moving it. Most lantern handles are designed to be set to the side and down while the lantern is in use on a flat surface. If you leave the handle upright, the heat of the lantern will make it hotter than if it is to the side—since heat rises. Keep a set of gloves handy for the event you do need to pick up and move a lantern that has a hot handle.   Set your cooking tables as level as possible. A very common frustration for the camp cook is to be constantly fighting gravity. If your eggs always slide to one part of your stove, you know you aren't level. We added a very small level to our camping checklist to use when setting up our tables. It makes a big difference.   When it comes to stoves and lanterns, quality is very important. Do some research and even pay a little extra because a good stove and a good lantern will last a long time with good care.   Always take extra propane. After a few camping trips with the same group, you'll have a good idea how much propane you need for each trip. Depending on the amount of gear you are able to bring, take half again that much or double it. We want to hear from you. Part of the fun in camping is meeting people at the campground from all over the world, trading tips and stories. The next best thing is right here. Go to our Contact Us page and share with us your tips on camping stoves and lanterns.