16 minute read
Prepper’s Guide
What do you do when lights go out?
By DAVID HOSKING
What are you going to do when the power goes off and you’re left in the dark for hours, days or maybe even a week or two? How will you light your house or business?
Let’s review some options for lighting during a power outage caused by, say, an ice storm: • Cellphone flashlight – These are quick and easy for finding your way around the house without stubbing your toes on furniture. However, the batteries will wear down quickly, and since the power is out, they can’t be recharged unless you plug them into an external battery. They provide minimal light over a small area, so they are not very useful. • Battery-powered flashlight – These are OK for a day or two, but they only illuminate a small area and the batteries also wear down quickly. If you don’t have spare batteries, you can bet your local store shelves will be empty during an ice storm. Some of the new LED lights last longer than traditional flashlights and they provide greater illumination over a larger area, but they will still need to be recharged or have fresh batteries after heavy use. • Candles and oil lamps – These worked well for our pioneer ancestors, but they don’t shed a lot of light, and they are risky for starting house fires, especially if left unattended. Candles burn down quickly and oil lamps consume kerosene rather quickly. Today, kerosene is very expensive – about $12 per gallon, which will last about 20 hours in a traditional oil lamp. Also the odor from burning kerosene is very strong and unpleasant.
Dismantled internal components of a vintage Coleman lantern after a thorough cleaning. A restored 1964 Coleman Model 228F.
• Propane lanterns – These have become popular recently because of their portability, ease of use, low odor and their ability to brightly illuminate a room. However, they also present a fire hazard if left unattended and can cause suffocation if used in a confined space without proper
OUTDOOR
March-April 2022
GUIDE
MAGAZINE
HUNTING • FISHING • CAMPING • BOATING • SHOOTING • TRAVEL
Volume 30, No. 2 • Published six times a year Office: 505 S. Ewing, St. Louis, MO 63103 News department — 618-972-3744 www.outdoorguidemagazine.com e-mail: news@outdoor-guide.com
COVER created by Kathy Crowe, graphic designer.
Carl Green, editor – carl@labortribune.com Bob Whitehead, editor emeritis – ogmbobw@aol.com Kathy Crowe, graphic designer John Winkelman, associate editor — ogmjohnw@aol.com Lynn Fowler, circulation manager
— Account executives — Dan Braun, marketing director 314-256-4136 Lauren Marshall 314-614-5175
Darrell Taylor Ray Eye Brent Frazee Brandon Butler — Regional and specialty editors —
Bill Cooper Thayne Smith Steve Jones
Bill Seibel John Neporadny Jr. T. J. Mullin Larry Whiteley Ted Nugent Ron Bice
– In Memoriam —
Joel Vance • Ron Henry Strait • Jared Billings • Charlie Farmer • Richard Engelke • Mark Hubbard • Spence Turner • Hank Reifeiss Kay Hively • Bill Harmon • Barbara Perry Lawton • Danny Hicks • Ron Kruger • TJ Stallings • John Sloan
— Staff writers —
Claudette Roper Kenneth Kieser Don Gasaway Tim Huffman Gerald Scott Terry Wilson Mike Roux Russell Hively Bill Keaton Bob Holzhei Craig Alderman Roxanne Wilson Charlie Slovensky Jeannie Farmer Randall Davis Michael Wardlaw Jerry Pabst Jo Schaper Larry Potterfield Tyler Mahoney Ryan Miloshewski Jed Nadler Tom Watson Richard Aites ventilation. Propane lanterns use small, 1l-pound disposable fuel cylinders which last only a few hours in a lantern. You’d need to store many full cylinders to get you through a weeklong power outage. Propane cylinders have become rather expensive these days – about $9 for a two-pack. To save money, some people try to refill these cylinders, but this is highly dangerous and even illegal in some locations. They are not designed to be refilled! • Liquid fuel lanterns – These lanterns burn a pressurized liquid fuel known as Coleman Fuel (CF) or white gas or naphtha. Some of the modern Coleman lanterns are designed to use either CF or common unleaded gasoline, although I find the latter gives off an unpleasant odor. These lanterns produce a tremendous amount of light and are portable, efficient and clean burning. CF is available most anywhere; even Walmart offers a generic, less expensive brand for about $8 per gallon. A full tank holds roughly a quart of fuel that lasts for at least 8 hours. As with propane lanterns, liquid fuel lanterns should never be left unattended or used in a confined space.
RELIABILITY PROVEN
FOR 120 YEARS
The technology underlying Coleman lanterns is more than 120 years old, which gives strong evidence to their longterm reliability if they are properly maintained. The Coleman Company, founded in Wichita, KA. in 1900, is still in business. Over the years, the company also manufactured lanterns on behalf of others like Sears and J.C. Higgins, so you’ll occasionally find vintage non-green colored lanterns of slightly different designs, but they all work the same by burning pressurized liquid fuel.
I confess that these are my favorite lanterns and that I have had a love affair with vintage Coleman lanterns since I was a kid while growing up on a wilderness lake in Canada 60 years ago. In fact, my hobby is restoring these old lanterns back to like-new condition.
Most of the vintage lanterns you find on eBay, FB Marketplace or in antique shops for $50 or more are basically over-priced junk that have been rusting away in a barn or garage for the past 30 or 40 years. An old lantern may look pretty on the outside, but its internal components are usually full of crud, rust and stale, varnished fuel that will clog the ultra-fine needle valve of a lantern’s generator.
A LITTLE JOB FOR YOU
The air tubes are almost always clogged with mud dauber and spider nests. To restore them to a reliable condition, the inside of the fount (fuel tank) needs to be de-rusted and cleaned, and the generator and fuel-pickup assemblies must be dismantled and soaked for hours in cleaning solutions. The fuel cap and pump gaskets always need to be replaced.
Unrestored, these old lanterns may work for a time, but never for a long time. I try to buy vintage lanterns for about $10 or $15 because it costs $25 or more in new parts and materials, as well as many hours, to restore them.
So why would you want to buy a restored vintage Coleman lantern instead of buying a brand new one from a big-box store? Frankly, the quality of the new Coleman lanterns is poor compared to the vintage lanterns. New lanterns cost more than $100 (plus shipping), and although they are still assembled in the USA, many of the parts are now made in China of plastic materials.
I can’t imagine these new ones lasting for another 30 to 50 years like the old ones. On the other hand, with proper care, restored vintage lanterns are reliable and will last almost indefinitely. Replacement parts continue to be available.
KEEP IT DRY
When you are camping, don’t leave the lantern out in the rain, and when you store it, dry it off, release the pressure, empty the fuel, put the cap back on tightly – and it will work fine the next time you use it.
So, for when the power goes off, a restored vintage Coleman lantern is your best choice for reliable performance, and you can pass these treasures on to your grandchildren to use 30 years from now.
Prepper’s Guide author David Hosking can be contacted at gamekeeper01@gmail.com
Typical crud and gunk removed from inside a 30 year old Coleman fount (fuel tank)
Dismantled internal components of a vintage Coleman lantern after a thorough cleaning.
A restored 1964 Coleman Model 228F
So why would you want to buy a restored vintage Coleman lantern instead of buying a brand new one from a big-box store? Frankly, the quality of the new Coleman lanterns is poor compared to the vintage lanterns. New lanterns cost more than $100 (plus shipping), and although they are still assembled in the USA, many of the parts are now made in China of plastic materials. I can’t imagine these new ones lasting for another 30 to 50 years like the old ones. On the other hand, with proper care, restored vintage lanterns are reliable and they will last almost indefinitely. Replacement parts continue to be available. When you are camping, don’t leave the lantern out in the rain, and when you store it, dry it off, release the pressure, empty the fuel, put the cap back on tightly—and it will work fine the next time you use it.
So, for when the power goes off, a restored vintage Coleman lantern is your best choice for reliable performance, and you can pass these treasures on to your grandchildren to use 30 years from now.
Hunting, fishing license fee increases necessary
By BRANDON BUTLER
The money sportsmen and women spend on hunting and fishing licenses is a major contributor to funding conservation across the country. Today’s license fees are the foundation of tomorrow’s opportunity.
If we hope to pass on our national commitment for conservation to future generations, then sportsmen must continue to lead the way. This means license Guest fees must stay current with the times. It’s Editorial rare to hear applause for fee increases, but they are at times nec-
essary.
I’ve bragged on my dad for his creative gift-giving technique when he surprised me with my first shotgun. He hit it out of the park on that one. But he struck out with the bases loaded – and down by one run in the bottom of the ninth – when he failed to buy me a lifetime license in Indiana before they stopped selling them.
I’m pretty sure they cost around $400 in the early 1990s, which seemed like a lot at the time. They went away when I was about 12. Those licenses were all-inclusive, covering deer and turkey tags, along with general fishing and hunting privileges. A real sweet deal!
The reason they went away is because the Indiana DNR knew they would eventually be underfunded if those licenses saturated the market. So now when I go home to hunt, I pay a hefty price, and it’s going up. And I’m all right with it. I just told you I wish I did have a lifetime license, but I don’t have one. So I pay the license fees and accept the cost as necessary. It feels good to do your part.
CORE PROGRAMS
According to an Indiana Department of Natural Resources press release, “For the first time since 2006, Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) has increased fees for hunting, fishing and trapping licenses. The new fees allow DFW to maintain core programs including habitat restoration, maintenance of public lands, scientific research and education, and expansion of other services to manage Indiana’s fish and wildlife for everyone to enjoy.
“Funds will also go to the DNR Division of Law Enforcement to ensure it is equipped to provide public safety and enforce the laws governing natural resources. The new license prices were determined by comparing license fees among other Midwestern states and balancing the rising costs of resource management.”
I feel this is an honest and reasonable explanation for the fee increases. So now, for me to go back to Indiana and fish, my non-resident fishing license will cost $60 instead of $35. To kill one deer, the license now costs $240 instead of $150. In my eyes, its money well spent. When I think about the joy I’ve had hunting deer in Indiana since my youth, I realize that paying it forward by financially contributing to conservation, while having the privilege to hunt, is money well spent. These fee increases will help ensure future, healthy fish and game populations.
Federal money for conservation primarily comes from two sources – Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson. The Pittman-Robertson Act was established in 1937 to fund wildlife conservation through a tax on hunting and shooting equipment. The success of this funding model was used to pass the similar Dingell-Johnson Act in 1950, which supports sport fishing. These two acts have supported state-based conservation for more than half a century, but the time has come to significantly expand funding for conservation across the country.
PROUD TO PAY
Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson put the responsibility of funding conservation squarely on the shoulders of sportsmen and recreational shooters. As a sportsman myself, I am proud to pay these taxes and contribute to funding conservation. However, sportsmen can’t be responsible for funding the future of conservation on our own. We need the financial support of all outdoor enthusiasts.
As I said earlier, few people jump up and down to celebrate increases in fishing and hunting fees, but at the state level, those are the dollars collected to ensure a bright future. If you think about it from the perspective of not just gaining a privilege to fish or hunt, but also investing in the future of fish and game, then I hope you feel proud of the contribution you are making. Because you should.
I just hope the non-hunting and non-fishing crowd understands the importance of sportsmen to the funding of healthy habitat for all critters.
For outdoor writer Brendan Butler’s podcasts, go to www.driftwoodoutdoors.com or anywhere podcasts are streamed.
The Life Outdoors
A legendary meat shoot remembered
By RICHARD W. AITES
While I was growing up in rural Venango County PA in the 1980’s, the local sportsman’s club sponsored several meat shoots during the spring and summer months. For a small entry fee, you’d get a handful of shotgun shells and a couple of shots at winning a frozen turkey or smoked ham.
Dozens of area residents, young and old alike, gathered at these events, sharing hunting stories and gossip, while awaiting their turn to pepper the tiny “X” at the center of the bull’s-eye with their favorite scattergun. You always had a really good time, even if you didn’t end up winning a prized butterball or honey-baked ham.
Meat shoots, in one form or another, have been around since this country’s founding. It was a great way to bring a community of sportsmen and sportswomen together to enjoy one another’s company. The following is an excerpt from my historical-fiction novella The Legend of Coal Oil Johnny as told by 82-year-old Andrew Buchanan of Franklin PA in 1921.
A MID-19th CENTURY GATHERING
One hot Sunday afternoon in the summer of 1853, our church and its boisterous pastor, Edgar Slentz, was sponsoring the annual meat shoot. The prize was a 30-pound ham. Several of the menfolk showed up toting new-fangled percussion guns and rifled muskets.
One of our deacons boasted that he could knock the fly off a horse’s rump at 100 yards with his prized squirrel rifle. Another church-goer arrived with a long rifle adorned with fancy, German-silver inlays and a tiger-maple stock. He’d recently purchased the beautiful piece from a master craftsman in Lancaster County.
Young John Steele was the laughing-stock of the congregation when he arrived with an old English fowler that he’d inherited from his father. The ungainly piece was longer than the boy was tall, even after his father hacked a foot off the end of the barrel. The walnut stock had so many dings and dents that it looked more like a club than a gunstock. The relic was also equipped with a great big flintlock and shot lead balls as big as chestnuts.
THE CONTEST BEGINS
Henry Rouse was the first to step up to the firing line. Some 50 paces away was an apple resting on the decaying stump of an oak. Rouse owned the largest farm in the valley, and a large herd of cattle and other livestock allowed him luxuries foreign to the rest of our little farming community.
One of those luxuries was the handsome rifle he raised to his shoulder. The polished brass ornaments of the Hawken gleamed in the sunlight as Rouse aimed his sights on the tiny target below. Following the shot, a small chunk of the stump was turned into mulch, but the apple did not budge.
“Yah barely missed it, Mister Rouse!” one spectator remarked as Rouse lowered his rifle. The old farmer then shook his head in disgust and mumbled a few choice words before he walked away from the firing line.
A BOY AND HIS GUN
At 12 years of age, Johnny was the youngest participant, therefore he was the last to shoot. Seven men had taken their best shot, but none had hit the fruit. When young John Steele stepped up to the firing line, most of the congregation chuckled at the skinny lad and his monstrous firearm.
“That thang weighs more than he does!” one spectator remarked. “Right out of General Washington’s war!” another fellow hollered.
Johnny was not shaken by their comments. He raised the big gun before peering over at his parents, who were standing on the sideline. His father gave him a nod and a surge of confidence before he focused back down onto the apple. He slowly and deliberately steadied his aim.
“Come on, boy! Shoot that ugly thang!” the impatient pastor shouted. Johnny paid no mind as he took a deep breath and gently squeezed the trigger. The blast from the gun rattled the church windows before a cloud of white, sulfuric smoke engulfed the boy’s falling frame. The recoil generated from the large powder charge and .69 caliber ball sent the gun airborne and knocked Johnny to the ground.
WINNER CLAIMS THE PRIZE
Some of the spectators continued to chuckle as Johnny recovered to his feet and patted the dirt and dust from the back of his britches. He then retrieved his gun, which had landed several feet away.
When the smoke finally cleared, the laughter subsided. The apple was gone. The big lead ball from Johnny’s old fowler had struck home, vaporizing the piece of fruit. Sheer disbelief and the aroma of applesauce lingered about the air as the boy collected his prize.
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