Why are you going through them so fast? Are they much different than the old tie it on and burn it to make the net types? Those are somewhat fragile, but I have a circa 1942 single mantle lantern in the old red metal case. Its been bounced around in the back of the truck with other gear on off-road trips that have shattered the beer in the cooler, but the mantle is still intact.

Mantles are like razor blades - they are pricey for a reason. Once they sell you the lantern (for relatively cheap), they get to sell you mantles for the rest of your life. About $4 for a two pack is the best I've seen.

Maybe call CAMPMOR.COM direct and see if they'll cut you a decent price on a case lot? They are very reasonable to deal with and are definately scouter friendly.

Dean

No I don't has a source but if you find one please post it.

I would say the average life of a Coleman mantel is 1.3 campouts. I am tempted to replace mantels at the beginning of every outing. And even more tempted to dump these for electric lights.

I think I did a quick calc one time that rated propane as cheaper than d-batteries. Comparing life expectancy of a four D-Cell 2-fluorescent light with a twin mantle lantern. But we break glasses, mantels are forever failing. propane is sometimes hard for the boys the screw on without cross threading.

I like the light of a propane but in my personal bag is a beat-up LED lantern that has been through a lot.

Coleman does have a program that offers cut prices to non profit organizations.
I used to get emails from them.
But I found buying equipment when it was on sale worked out better for us.
You might want to email Coleman.
Ea.

Our troop replaced the glass with a screen type globe. I have no idea where they came from and can't find a source now. Maybe something you could make though. Just some steel window screen crimped to a ring top and bottom to keep its shape

I'm not sure where we get them or how much we pay, but we've been able to get full boxes -- you know the ones that open into retail display bins. I'll see if I can find a source and let you know. I do remember that at some time we had a box of off brand mantles which wee probably less.

In the past year we've bought a set of very small lanterns -- the globes are a little smaller than a baseball. The cool thing about them is that the mantles are tube shaped and attach top and bottom, instead of only at the top. That extra support seems to make the mantles last much longer. The older, traditional coleman lanters have been inherited by the adults.

On the other hand, three years ago, when we converted everything to propane from coleman fuel, we bought a set of off-brand lanterns - maybe $25 each. They were Super Quad somethingerother and had four mantles in each lantern. WHAT A PAIN! Four times the trouble.

I'll try and stop by the hut this afternoon and see if I can find some details for you.

Mafeking, you mentioned that the lanterns are forever failing, glass breaking etc. here's some things we do to prevent breakage and failing.

1. Our troop uses a propane tree so Scouts can hook up their stove and lantern. The lantern screws on top of the tree which is attached to a 20# bottle. This bottle fits tightly into a milk crate which makes it more stable and prevents it from tipping over. This is more stable than the small (16 or 20 oz.) propane bottles.
2. All lanterns have their own case and are packed in the patrol chuck box when not in use.
3. Replace all glass globes with wire mesh globes. I just found out that Century makes them and they are sold through Campmor.

Mantels still break, just not as often.

We go back and forth between the clips and the ties. The ties are much cheaper and not that much more difficult.

But, there are times I wonder why scouts need the lanterns. Technically they should not be using them without an adult present (GTSS) depending on what "adult supervision" is. Somehow I suspect that it is not adults 100 yards away. We did not use them in my youth and we managed fine with flashlights.

Eventually we will likely switch to solar powered LED lanterns. But I've not found one that has the quality that I like yet.

In order to use Coleman Mantles, do you need Coleman Fireplaces? (TeeHeeHee...) or...
Is Coleman related to Mickey?

Seriously tho, why are they called "mantle"?? Anyone know?

I'm not entirely sure, but when I just checked dictionary.com, I saw that fireplaces are enveloped by a "mantel" (and a "mantle" might envelop or cloak something, as in "the mantle of darkness").

Mickey, however, is on his own.

Guy

Couldn't find out where the big the box of mantles came from or how much they were (I suspect the former Scoutmaster who owns a local outdoor store sold them to us near his cost).

But I did look up the new lanterns we use. They're Coleman Compact Perfectflow. The're cheap ($22 retail, I think we get them for less than $20) and the use the #51 mantles which attach top and bottom. They seem to be more secure and last longer. Also, because the lanterns are so small, when attached to a 2# cylinder they aren't top heavy like regular lanterns and don't tend to fall over so much. More typically, though, our guys screw them on top of the propane trees which make them even more secure.

There is a reason that you seem to be going through them more often now than the older ones. The composition makeup for the mantles is different.
The old ones were composed of Thorium, a radioactive substance that gave the ash a lot of strength. They have since removed that substance from the composition and the ash is a lot weaker. I do not know when they changed them, I just know that you cannot use them to make a cloud chamber for Nuclear Science Merit Badge.

Pete

I vaguely remembered something about that because I'd done the Atomic Energy merit badge when I was a scout -- with my counselor's assistance, I built a geiger counter, and we used his radium-dial watch and a mantle as sources.

My mistake.
I thought that the thorium was only used to give the ash strength.
It turns out that it also helped to increase the light output by about 20%.
If you get some mantels made in India, you will find that they still contain the Thorium, so be careful with those.

I absolutely see no place whatsoever for Coleman type lanterns while out camping, whether Scout camping or even campground family camping. I've even felt the urge to destroy them when someone is using them, though I've never acted on that urge. Why go out camping if you are just going to make it as bright as the indoors? When family camping I've used a small kerosene wick lantern, and I even have one of the small candle lanterns I use for Scout camping, but I like most this small LED lantern/flashlight that is amazing. In nine months of using this thing regularly, I haven't had to change the batteries, and that even includes eight days of camping with a group in Russia where we used it through the night for cooking, eating, games, stories, etc.

Even as a youth, I hated Coleman lanterns. I like my eyes to adjust to the woods at night, and it is not possible to do that with this big honking light blaring through the campsite. I don't even like the racket they make. Daylight is for the day, learn to enjoy the night. I've set up camp, prepared meals, and done everything else really needed with little more than small lights, and that is the way it should be.

I've had too many experiences in a campground, quiet, peaceful, dark; severly disturbed by a group that comes in, strikes up three or four Coleman lanterns all hours of the night, lighting up the whole campground, and making it so I can't even get to sleep. No thanks. I own one, but I'd never take it with me camping.