# Lamps , help the newbie :)



## Darto (Oct 24, 2010)

I am wondering about accidents with a broken lamp where it fell off a table or sometihing, Crash! And there is a fire is on the oil puddle.

Would this be worse with a widked keresene lamp or with a primative pottery dish burning olive oil?

Common sense says the olive oil lamp would be less of a flame thereat but I went online and read on wikipedia that the wicked keresene lamp is safer than the primiative lamps.


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## SurvivalNut (Nov 13, 2008)

For the mess of either, I put 2 solar powered LED lights in the garage set on motion detect. The small solar panels are set in the window and you can't tell from the outside I have solar panels there. 

Nice thing is whenever the power goes off, I just step in the garage, the lights flick on automatically and I have easy lit access to any preps I need to fix the situation. 

I like them so much I bought 2 more and put them in storage for spares. Picked them up cheap at Costco.

Yes, I do keep the other types of lamps on hand on my long term preps as backups to backups. However, the amount of light the solar LED lamps produce is excellent and no amount of stored fuel can replace them.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Even the solar path lights work well for light in the house- just put them outside during the day and bring them in when it starts getting dark. Safe and even the kids can have one in their rooms.
I use them to charge my extra rechargeable batteries. Just have to remember to bring them in the evening to use the batteries in other things.. like my little weather radio- it has a crank on it for emergencies but you can also put a couple little AA batteries.
there are many different things you can use if you fear oil lanterns or lamps.
I even have a bigger lantern that is a crank lantern- you crank like a fiend for about 2 to 3 minutes and have light for at least 20 minutes before it starts to dim.
I can even charge them outside the bedroom windows that are looking out over the kitchen roof so that they can't be stolen post TSHF.


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## Darto (Oct 24, 2010)

OK, thanks that is interesting information about modern appliances, LED's, solar, motion detectors, etc.

I am a tradtionalist and refuse to use modern technology. 
I somehow neglected to state that originally. My bad.

Does anybody have an opinion of traditional primative lighting fuels, that is to say oil products, such as kerosene, olive oil, tallow, fish oil? 

Whereas common sense says kerosene is the most dangersous, reading online about primative lighting I found only one place discussing safety of the various fuels used in yesteryears and they said just the opposite. Namely that the kerosene lamp was considered a huge safety advance compared to simpler whale oil/tallow Betty lamps, etc.

Thanks.


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## dulcimerlady (Oct 14, 2010)

A good way to use the outdoor solar lights inside is to place the spiked end of the light (that would normally be put in the ground) down into a mason jar filled with sand or something like that. That way it sits upright and is pretty sturdy which is good if you have kids or pets around.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Darto said:


> OK, thanks that is interesting information about modern appliances, LED's, solar, motion detectors, etc.
> 
> *I am a tradtionalist and refuse to use modern technology. *
> *I somehow neglected to state that originally. My bad.*
> ...


I gather that statement is related to the oil lamps only, otherwise you wouldn't be connected to the Internet.
I use liquid paraffin in my Aladdin lamps. Have some K1 for back-up.


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## tortminder (Oct 15, 2008)

Darto said:


> I am a tradtionalist and refuse to use modern technology.
> I somehow neglected to state that originally. My bad.


Your internet connection is accomplished by Native American Tom Tom or smoke signals?:dunno:


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## chrisrich (Jun 9, 2009)

bunkerbob said:


> I gather that statement is related to the oil lamps only, otherwise you wouldn't be connected to the Internet.
> I use liquid paraffin in my Aladdin lamps. Have some K1 for back-up.


Traditionalists aside, I'm dabbling with going off the grid but staying on the net..

One of the biggest hurdles was staying functional while the power is cutting back n forth. The PC and router/modem have a big UPS so they are completely unaware of the power source. However I was getting a lot of complaints about the fax machine, as it doesn't seem to like any disturbances, and it's quite uninterested in picking up the line when it's got no power. I switched to internet fax and fixed that problem soundly. As a frill I think I'm getting less allergies from the lack of random toner dust in the air!

What I'd really like is a combo of new and old for my lighting. Auto-led based lights for safety that charge on solar so they aren't a maintenance issue, and a good collection of classic oil lamps for avoiding extra battery use when you need mobile light. If anyone knows a good source in the PNW for inexpensive lamps, that would be so handy.

I've also tried so many different crank lights and they all last a year or so tops? Is it because I'm not cranking them often enough?


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I would think the safer aspect of oil lamps would be the addition of the chimeny glass , not having the exposed open flame 
i don't know the properties of olive oil as a fuel , but canola type oils burned at low temperatures give off nasty gasses, so this could also be an issue :scratch

it may be worth your while to check out Journey to Forever: Hong Kong to Cape Town Overland - An adventure in environment and development, join us on the Internet, all welcome, participation, online education, school projects, free of charge to see if there is any info there.

BTW the site added the description,not me I just type in the url


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

TiredIron, You can put what you want into the brackets for the description of the link to make it easier to read ... just edit your post and look for the information previous to the [/url] section and fill it in.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

Sounds like you need a couple of small fire extinguishers near by your open flame oil lamps.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Or just keep an old heavy towel handy to throw over spilled* and *on fire oils, smothering works best on grease/oil fires or keep baking soda or flour to throw on oil fires to kill the flame.
Another good thing to buy and store is a few good thick marble or stone flooring tiles and put a bit of felt on the bottom- keep lit candles and lamps on them to kill fires in case of cracking of the glass container of the candles( mostly for candles as a cracked lamp will leak out the oil/liquid paraffin first) I have had scorched marks on tables due to candles burning down too low and heating the table underneath.


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## Darto (Oct 24, 2010)

I should have said I refuse to use modern lighting.

My hunting rifle is a matchlock (flintlocks too modern for me). Kit Ravenshear (spelling) in Pennsylvania made it for me. It costs maybe 1/3 of what a Remington 700 would have, and is twice the fun, at least.

My radios, AM and shortwave, are vintage tube type, many of these run on batteries. Most 1920's tube radios ran on batteries. A series of common 9volt batterys will nowadays run an old 1920's tube radio designed for 90 volts decades ago.

Our kitchen toaster was made 1920's, waffle iron 1930's, popcorn popper and coffee makers from the 1940's, still they run on A.C. power.

I'm more into vintage stuff, on or off the grid doesn't really matter to me, as long as its old, I'm down with it.

So, I went ahead and bought a Betty lamp and a Cruise lamp yesterday. Both are from the 1700's, long before the kerosene era.

They look almost identical to ones on this page: 
Early Lighting 1

Hope I don't start any unwanted fires, he he.

For a stand for the 2 lamps, I'm going to use a standard black cast iron stand sold in hardware stores to hold fireplace tools. In other words the stand that normally holds shovel, pick, and poke for fireplaces. Only I will hang the lamps on them.

I don't think I trust kerosene, seems too explosive to me.....


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Kerosene isn't very explosive but it stinks. olive oil may be fine for lamp oil but some "natural" oils produce very nasty gasses when burned at lamp temperature.
Your love of old tech will/ would be an excellent tool post SHTF , which I can't see being that far off


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