Whenever a new camper comes across the term duel fuel lantern, they usually have 2 questions.
- What is duel fuel?
- When would I need a dual fuel lantern?
First things first… No, dual fuel isn’t some new fuel technology, ready to dominate the World’s fuel market. It simply refers to an appliance designed and manufactured to operate using two different liquid fuels – Coleman fuel and unleaded gasoline (also known as unleaded petrol in some parts of the world). Of course this website is dedicated to camping lighting, so the appliance we are referring to in this case is a camping lantern. Check out more about camping fuel here.
Secondly using a dual fuel lantern tends to be from personal choice rather than from necessity. Some campers swear by battery lanterns and wouldn’t use anything else, some have a preference for gas lanterns, while others still would never go camping without a dual fuel lantern. Many campers such as myself, rely on having a few different kinds of lighting sources to cater for the different situations we might find ourselves. The die-hard dual fuel lantern users will tell you that batteries are bulky and don’t last long enough, propane and butane canisters weigh down your camping inventory, and kerosene is too smelly and burns too dirty.
They’ll then go on to tell you that a dual fuel lantern provides a great light, is very economical to run, and both fuels are very easily obtained.
For the most part their arguments are sound.
Some great reasons to use a dual fuel lantern:
- very flexible.
- burns bright.
- cheap to run and lasts a long time.
- has a readily available fuel supply.
- they don’t have jets, but use a generator which tends not to get blocked as often.
Of course other lighting sources such as battery lanterns also have their advantages and have their die-hard advocates.
Would I use a dual fuel lantern?
Most definitely! In fact I have several Coleman Dual Fuel Lanterns and I wouldn’t go camping without at least one of them. I like a good dual fuel lantern for all the reasons mentioned above, but of course my mantra is always plan your camping lighting requirements around the type of camping you will be doing. So I’m equally keen on packing any number of the other camping lamps I have – I particularly like the instant light and safety of a good battery lantern, so battery lanterns are also high on my camping list.
I highly recommend using a dual fuel lantern as a lighting source for any camping trip, and as I mentioned before Coleman are about the best when it comes to dual fuel lantern manufacture. Coleman also offer several different models.
