Tilley lamp or Petromax

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cascare

Full Member
Dec 10, 2012
73
12
Cleasby
Thoughts please.
Looking at both, cant decide. Are they of similar brightness.
Will be used at camp and a bit of night fishing.
Thanks in advance.
 

Limaed

Full Member
Apr 11, 2006
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Perth
I would say Tilley because there are loads for sale second hand. I see them quite regularly at carboot sales and there are lots on Marketplace. You can probably get a decent one for £20-£30.
 
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Paulm

Full Member
May 27, 2008
1,089
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Hants
Feuerhand paraffin lamps, around twenty quid, not pressurised, no seals to need replacing, just a cotton wick and paraffin required, work great :)
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Bishop

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Jan 25, 2014
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Pencader
IMHO go for the Tilley as Limaed pointed out reasonably good condition ones can be found in the £20-30 price range on Ebay though postage costs on top tend to suck as they are quite heavy. However they do turn up occasionally in the little multi-dealer type antique centres for less. Spares are still available and you get the kudos of actually buying something Made In Britain. Plus, they are awesome for warming up pasties
 

Bazzworx

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Mar 5, 2009
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North Wilts
I haven't got experience of the Petromax but I have experience with Tilley lamps and Feuerhand paraffin lamps. I really like my Tilley and its a great lantern but it does have drawbacks. It's a mechanical lantern and has several consumable and moving parts. This is why many people have issues with them, normally through a lack of maintenance (myself included). When running well they're awesome and also put out about 2Kw of heat. Another downside I found is that sometimes you want a softer light and although you can adjust the brightness it doesn't go as low as I'd like. The flip side to that though is that the Tilley will give you a light you can work by. We sometimes hang one high in a tree like a flood light to give a nice light around camp. Just thought of something else that people find as an irritation is that you have to take two fuels, one for priming (meths) and one for running.

The Feuerhand lamp will provide a lovely soft light and will run for as long as you have fuel in the tank but they won't give a light you can work by easily (thinking if you want if for fishing).

Personally I'd go for the Tilley as I think they are more aesthetically pleasing than the Petromax and I really enjoying the tinkering side of Tilley ownership which is relatively straight forward and quite rewarding, also here's a lot of information on the net for when they're misbehaving.
 
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cascare

Full Member
Dec 10, 2012
73
12
Cleasby
Thanks for the replies folks, there are a couple of Tilley's that have come up local so will go have a look see.
 

GuestD

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Feb 10, 2019
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I've cooked, and boiled a kettle off the heat that comes off a Tilley lamp. The only downside I've experienced is rough handling (in my case) destroys the mantle. Plus the Tilley doesn't stink of paraffin as much as a storm lantern when in use.
 

fishfish

Full Member
Jul 29, 2007
2,352
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wiltshire
I've cooked, and boiled a kettle off the heat that comes off a Tilley lamp. The only downside I've experienced is rough handling (in my case) destroys the mantle. Plus the Tilley doesn't stink of paraffin as much as a storm lantern when in use.
spray the mantle with hair spray before travelling with the lamp,works a treat and burns off with no residue or flare.
 
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fishfish

Full Member
Jul 29, 2007
2,352
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52
wiltshire
Thanks for the replies folks, there are a couple of Tilley's that have come up local so will go have a look see.
I have a huge collection of both Bialaddin and tilleys,i would recommend a Tilley x246 guardsman. bullet proof compared to the later models like the x246b,the latter having much thinner walls on the tank which often leads to a bulge on the bottom,another major point is they have a pressure indicator which the 246b did not,all consumables and spares on a 246b will fit and work fine the glass in all practical aspects are the same for many of the x246 patterns which means they are easily available and relatively cheap,basically there tonnes of spares out there so its my choice..... and you can easily pick one up running for £30 or a fiver at a carboot to do up and learn shedloads.
good luck with it.
 
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