Disposable Lantern

No matter what age a person is you'll hear them say things like, "Well back when I was growing up..." followed by something that in their view has changed since "they were growing up".  

Well, when I was growing up you could buy a Coleman lantern that, properly cared for, might last nearly a lifetime.  Today, a coleman lantern like the one in this picture has a shelf-life.  If properly cared for you'd be lucky if it last 150 hours of burn time.  No doubt the fine folks at Coleman (and there are some fine folks at Coleman--I've known a few) would take exception to that. However, based on my many years of lantern-experience, they just don't make 'em like they used to.

I suppose that in my lifetime I have owned and operated somewhere in the vicinity of 18 or 20 of these disposable propane lanterns and don't recall even one that's stood the test of time. It's just one country boy's opinion but seems to me a lantern ought to last 50 years or better.

When I was a kid growing up we had a Coleman stove, lantern and camp heater purchased no doubt from Sears and Roebuck, where our Mom worked and received a 10% discount. Most of our store bought stuff came from Sears and camping gear was no different. One exception was a heavy sleeping bag that was procured from Montgomery Ward. I have always assumed that it too came from Sears. Upon closer examination a while back, however, I discovered Montgomery Ward must have had one heck of a sale on sleeping bags sometime in the early spring of 1970 or '71. That's the only reason I can think of that my folks would have bought one of our family sleeping bags from Wards. Dang; that sounds funny to say "Wards". I bet I haven't said Wards in 40 years, at least not in reference to shopping there. As I recollect, Pennys wasn't much into the camping gear bidness when I was growing up. I suspect that was a missed opportunity and one the Penny folks would like to have back. Could have made a difference:)

Anyway, I'm getting tired of throwing these darn lanterns away shortly after they get broken in. They do make decent bird nest holders and that's a consolation. The good people in California would be so proud of me for repurposing these lanterns instead of disposing of them properly aka: pitch them in the trash. No doubt lanterns are known to cause cancer in the state of California so be sure and handle your non-functioning lanterns with care. 

Considering the camping industry is capable of making a sleeping bag that last 50 years they could surely make a lantern that'd last at least that long. I may need to contact Klietus or Nickadimus to do some lantern research and see if there's something better out there. Maybe Coleman still makes a high quality lantern that's just hard to find. I have checked Walmart, Cabellas and even "Amazoneverything" to no avail. But, like anyone who's ever misplaced their car keys, I'll keep looking. Maybe I should give Academy a shot.

"He wanted a .50 caliber: it was only a .30 but daaang...it was a gin-u-ine Coleman...I mean Hawken!" In any event, I'll keep you posted on most things Coleman and some things California.

Post Script: A Barry County, Missouri shout-out to Ain't Dee who turns 14+ in the morrow. Happy Birthday Ain't Dee Dee:)

 

Coyote Unaware

 

A few weeks ago while in the woods chopping down a raggedy old tree with my Gransfors Bruks large felling axe (you cain't go no better) I took a short break just down the hill from the chopping location.  I'd been sitting for maybe two minutes when I caught movement off to my right. It turned out to be a extra-large coyote not more than 40 or 50 feet away from where I was sitting. He was eating a critter he'd no doubt just caught and seemed completely unaware of my presence. When he'd finished breakfast he turned and sauntered directly away from me over the crest of the hill down toward the creek. 

As he wondered out of site I conjured up the best and loudest squirrel call I could muster using only my mouth.  He immediately turned and ran straight at me through the thick brush and stopped suddenly about 10 yards from where I sat. He stared right at me for no more than a second as he quickly realized I wasn't a squirrel. He spun and tore off as fast as he could go directly away from me.

This was probably as fine a coyote as I've seen in my life. He was about the size of a full grown Collie and looked like he'd recently been to the groomer at Petsmart. I chose not to whack this healthy rabbit/squirrel killing machine which was timely considering I didn't have a gun; a rare woods-occurrence for me. The Dog Soldier, Steve Criner, would not be pleased to hear I let this "dog" run off without at least throwing my axe at him. I'll try to do better next time, Steve.

In any event I'll do my best to keep you posted on coyote sightings, axe throwing and general goings-on in Southwest Barry County (SWBC). 

 "They say he wanted to be a mountain man...."

If you enjoy the outdoors and have ever dreamed of being a mountain man or a mountain woman (I've never heard anything about a mountain woman from those long ago times, but a lot of folks today like to say a woman can do anything a man can do so I guess that would include being a mountain man) you should watch the movie, Jeremiah Johnson. 

I saw the movie for the first time when it was newly released in 1972. Shortly after seeing the movie, my good friends Mike and Steve and I built a log cabin in the woods behind our house, down by the creek. Fast forward 31 years and I did it again. Dang, that might constitute a log cabin trend, although a very slow-developing one.  At this rate I'll need to build another one in 2034 to maintain the momentum.  On second thought, maybe I'll just get some popcorn and coke and settle in on this cold winter's night to watch Jeremiah Johnson for perhaps the 35th time or so.  

Jeremiah Johnson; You cain't go no better:) And for the record, Del Gue claimed he could, "...drag out, throw down and whip any man in Ol Kentuck!  After summarizing my nearly life-long research on the subject, I suspect maybe he could have.

Regarding mountain man news, I'll keep you posted (there's bound to be new mountain man news at some point).