A friend of mine has recently been drawn in to the world of pressure lanterns upom my recent purchase of a Vapalux M302 from an army surplus store nearby. He has opted for a unissued version, which is in mint condition (as you would expect), but it differs to my recent purchase by way of an absent brass ring at the base of the vaporiser on the top of the tank. The brass ring on my version of displays the maker, and date of manufacture, whereas there are only the marking on the underside of his. With this in mind, is it possible to date his version? Or is it simply missing the brass ring? Thanks in advance!
Cheers Shedman Here's a couple of pics he sent me earlier today. They're a bit general, so hopefully my description as to where the brass plate is will be sufficient. I know the box reads 1992, but he was told that this was a replacement box as the one for the lamp was battered. And one image of my lamp as a comparison.
The pic of your lamp does not really help a lot. Looking at your friend's lamp I believe that the packaging date is probably the correct date for the lamp. The Military often procurred items of much earlier design, because the design was GOOD. I think that you have a very good lamp, that you could not buy today, and get the same quality. Enjoy it! Steve.
Cheers for that Shed Man. I went back to the surplus depot today and had a look at a whole host of lanterns there. Some with and some without brass plates around the vapouriser stem. It seems that they were either not fitted during construction, or removed when put into service. I checked lanterns from 1988, through to 2005, all dates had examples with brass plates in addition to those without. It seems that the correct age for this particular lamp will remain an enigma! Thanks again for your help.
Yep, it don't matter. The lamps are very good, and to get them unused is a really great thing. Love them! Steve.
Hi, The chap who told your friend that he had an old box for his lamp was correct. The lamp is post 1998. The style of M320 glass that he has was not introduced until 1998. The straight sided glass was introduced as a production cost cutting measure. It is obviously cheaper to cut glass from a tube rather than manufacture the previous shaped style globe even though it meant making an aluminium support as well. The wire protector around the cage was also introduced at the same time. I notice that your friend's lamp is not fitted with a wire guard like yours although I'm pretty sure I can see the notches in the frame where it should fit. So it is missing, not an uncommon occurence. The collars that appear on Vapalux M320s start around the 1980s with an alloy construction. As well as Vapalux, they carry the warning, never to use petrol. Later they come in brass as well. The earliest date I have seen stamped into a collar is 1999 and the latest 2006. Dated lamps also carry the goverment property crows foot. Whether a lantern got a collar seems a bit hit and miss.
Wow Ian, that's bang-on. That's perfect. I started a group-buy on these on the bushcraft forum and had my pick of the bunch from the suppliers. I sorted through the stack and found a load missing the plate, two of which were in boxes, as well as a host of others dating up to 2005. I even found a couple of 305's the earliest of which was 1966 (would that make it a 310?). Many thanks again for your help. Does this make you the Vapalux-oracle of the forum?
