A very rambly Connextras follow-up

Still no metal halide or mercury vapor video

You can write me so we can know more about ourselves?....

Consider putting numbers in the video, when you do the calculations and comparisons like these. You compared several parameters of three things and it's difficult to keep it all in memory. I wrote it all down to see all the parameters at the same time to compare myself. I had the same problem when you calculated (something) with the heat pumps a few videos ago.

Thinking about the preheater cup, our Tilley lamp has a 'bundle of rag' assembly that clips around the generator tube to get it heated. And since the fuel is soaked in to the rag, there's no direct spill risk. The preheater unclips for soaking, lighting and then clips back on to heat.

FWIW, I really enjoy the Connextras videos. Your scripted videos are entertaining as hell, for sure, but the Connextras videos seem more relaxed and more like we're just having a conversation. That might feel "rambly" when you're talking to a camera, but from my perspective on the other side of the screen it just feels like more natural speech.

I don't really get your comparison from the battery with the can of white gas or bottle of propane... I would say that the battery is more the (expensive) can or bottle, where you put the (cheap) fuel inside, if you used all of them on your camping trip, you don't need to buy new ones, just recharge them. I guess this is also done with the propane bottles? I remember those heavy blue "Camping Gaz" bottles, after use you returned them to be refilled, or you got a full one and they would refill the old bottle afterwards. The lamps with the pumps, I know them in a bit bigger version, we called them "vaporizer lanterns". They were (maybe still are) used during tours in underground old defensive works and caves. I remember the fuzzing sound they made and the typical smell. I don't know if they ran on kerosine or gasoline or something else, only that the fuel was liquid and needed to be vaporized.

Also, I wish you had a photometer that you could use in future videos to directly compare light output between various sources.

Listening to this at the gym, so the noise of the air conditioner and vacuums in here makes any fuzz from the dehumidifier negligible.

I would recommend visiting the YouTube channel lantern lab to learn more about Coleman pressure lanterns, especially proper lighting techniques for your kerosine lantern. I suspect something is wrong with your dual fuel lantern. None of my lanterns pulse that much at start up. None of them go out during the lighting process. The reason the dual fuel lantern has a bigger generator is simply because it can build up much more carbon on the inside before it clogs. That’s it. Generators need replacement (or cleaning if you know what you’re doing) when then fill up with carbon on the inside, and start blocking fuel flow. The smoke you’re seeing during preheat on the kerosine lantern might be from the alcohol. If it’s 90% isopropyl it will create some smoke. Really you would want to use denatured alcohol for preheat. The peerless mantles are a mix of yttrium and thorium. They don’t truly represent the old Coleman thorium mantles very accurately. The Coleman thorium mantles were called silk lites, and they are readily available on eBay. I have hundreds of them. Thorium does indeed glow slightly green, cerium is added to make the color more white.

One reason why white gas or propane mantle lights are (probably) favored is the nostalgia factor. My dad had one. i still have it, and after replacing the pump, gas cap gasket, and mantles (with yttrium), it runs just as well. The whooshing sound, and startup "wobblies" bring back fishing trips with my dad. Not a significant factor, but someone still makes horse whips...

Hi Alec, I am one of those guys who do "but sometimes...". I haven't done it with your videos (yet), but my wife (properly) chewed me out this morning, and asked me why I do it. The answer is I'm an engineer, and we all know that the disasters (bugs) happen at the boundary lines. Your channel is a magnet for engineers, so the probabilities are good you'll run into many of us.

I'm not trying to be contrarian here, and I hope I'm not coming off as such. I don't have any emotional or nostalgic attachment to thorium mantles, but it occurs to me that at least some of the ones you tried have a significantly looser weave than the Coleman mantles. I wonder if those were actually intended for use with kerosene lamps, as Peerless seems to market certain styles specifically for kerosene -- I think like the Aladdin, rather than gas. I think I'll have a dig through my workshop junk drawer today because I might have some NOS Coleman mantles dating before the yttrium switch to compare with some fresh ones from Canadian Tire. I remember having to deal with the "rosette" style mantles before and, boy they seemed like a pain to tie at both ends. I also remember that when my Dad replaced a mantle on one of our propane lanterns, he wouldn't burn the mantle before lighting the lantern. He'd turn on the gas and the mantle would form when it was ignited. Later, in Scouts, we primarily used liquid fuel lanterns and we would always form the mantle by lighting it with a match.

The positioning of the handle in the thumbnail runs across your teeth and reminds me of old school headgear for braces.

I know the look you are going for with the hair - the ponytail guy from that HD VHS video (here at 1:00 https://youtu.be/fT4lDU-QLUY)

Can't wait!