Guide To Gas Lanterns.
Camp Fuel Tips.

There are several types of gas lanterns and fuels. Liquid fuels like white gas and gasoline are what are covered on this page. Canister-type butane lanterns and propane lanterns are covered on other pages, click on the links if you're curious about the other types.

White gas, which is also called butane, gives off a consistent intense white light when it's pressurized by pumping up a fuel tank. White gas is common in the United States, inexpensive, provides bright light after a brief start-up, and performs well in most weather conditions. White gas is not available worldwide. If spilled it can be easy to ignite accidently, but it does evaporate quickly. If you're choosing between white gas and unleaded gasoline lanterns, white gas is my fuel of choice.

White gas burns much cleaner than unleaded gas so you don't have to deal with soot and carbon build-up as much. And the smell of white gas also doesn't linger like gasoline does.

White gas is also easy to find at most stores. The Coleman Adjustable 2-Mantle Lantern is a classic example of a gas lantern...

When I was little my parents would bring along their fire engine red single mantle Coleman when we went camping and it still works great after probably 25+ years. The double mantle version puts out 78 watts of light and will burn for 1 hour and 50 minutes at full brightness, but with that much light you can adjust it down to use less fuel and still have plenty of light. At 3 pounds and 1 ounce it's too heavy for backpacking but is great around the campsite. The drawback is you'll have to replace the mantles every so often (not a big deal, they're inexpensive) and the glass globe can be broken, but if you take good care of your camping equipment you won't need to worry about it.

Dual gas lanterns can burn two different fuels making them flexible and easier to find fuel for when you need it. If you travel and camp all over the world this feature can come in very handy. But unless you really need it, I'd stick with white gas because it burns cleanly and evaporates quickly when spilled. The Coleman Dual-Fuel 2-Mantle Lantern can burn either white gas or unleaded gasoline and provide 58 watts of light while doing it. It will burn up to 7 hours and 55 minutes at full-tilt or up to 14 hours with the flame adjustment set to low. It weighs about 3 pounds. Camping lanterns that burn fuel can come with either glass globes or metal mesh globes. The advantage to glass is that it lets more light through, but since it's glass it's fragile. Metal mesh globes are much tougher than glass but they do block some of the light.

When you buy a camping lantern make sure to get extra mantles, fuel, and matches. Better yet, properly attach an igniter.It's not much fun needing a lantern part in the middle-of-nowhere or even at a campground for that matter, especially if you have to wait for that part to arrive by mail.

Avoid using gas lanterns or any lantern that uses a flame inside the tent because of the fire and safety hazards.