Thank you everyone! I read about the petromax multifuel lantern here a few weeks ago and ordered one. (and a stove as well)

UPS just came yesterday...

It is the most incredible stuff! The finish on the lantern is like a mirror. I started the lantern up last night just to test it out. My husband filled it with kerosene and lit it outside (just in case). In the high setting produced enough light to illuminate our entire back yard.

The light was very white, not the "yellow" color of the first lantern we had purchased, a Dietz lantern. I read all of the comments here about not using gasoline in the lamp, but we tried it anyway. My husband mixed it with the kerosene that was already in the tank. (the manufacturer says this is ok to do). It worked just fine!

But for safety's sake, we will only use kerosene in the house.

The instructions were a bit difficult to figure out and since myself and husband are not very mechanically oriented, we called to get a bit of help. The technical support guy (I think his name was Eddie) was extremely helpful, knowledgable and incredibily nice. He spent a considerable amount of time walking us through the operations, history of the product and safety precautions. They have a nice web site but there's not too much technical information there.

I had to get my son to type this part, the fancy computer geek code as a link:

www.petromax.com

I ordered another 2 lanterns to give as gifts to the DGI's in our life; my parents & in-laws . The woman who took our order was the nicest person!! After talking with her for just a few minutes, I felt like I'd known her all of my life. They are really Y2K aware.. This made up for the disappointment of finding out that delivery time is 2-3 weeks.

One last note: We ordered a honda 6500 watt generator over a month ago from a local dealer. They called this morning to tell us that they won't be able to deliver it for another 8 weeks. What is up with all of these shortages? Are people becoming more aware or is it the recent storms?

I guess that's about it for now..

Thanks again to everyone for the advice.

Rosana

-- Rosana Kasbarian (rosana@comoestas.com), January 14, 1999

Answers

Don't be afraid to use it indoors. The brightness can be adjusted very easily. I have had a Petromax lantern for over 35 years. My father gave it to me after he gave up hunting.

It is probably the best designed and manufactured product that I have ever owned. The finish on it is incredible.

I needed some mantles and a replacement washer for my lantern and I found a company on the web that carries the Petromax line. They shipped me the stuff within a few days. Believe it or not, the parts and lantern have not changed in 80 years! The new parts were fully compatible with my old lantern.

The woman who runs Petromax (her name is Diane or Diana) was really nice and really knew every detail about the lantern.

They were at: http://home.earthlink.net/~britelyt

I don't have a stove, but might consider buying one. What types of fuels does it run on?

-- Mark Peterson (StumpWorks@aol.com), January 14, 1999.