Looks like The Tilley Lamp Co. is making new lamps. I received an email from Tilley saying they are once again offering new X246B-B lamps. All brass. Have to wish them luck since they are the last lamp builder in the UK - I think. I just can't believe it took so long to find someone to make the brass tanks. The lanterns don't come cheap but what does these days?
http://tilleylamp.co.uk/lamps £150 - if I was in the market for a new lantern (which I'm not), I think I'd prefer to pay a bit extra and have a Vapalux from South Korea. http://vapalux.com/ It's not so much the cost but value for money that I think is important...
Yes David, if I had that much money to spare I would probably do the same thing. The S. Korean Vapalux is a very nice looking, well built lantern. I wonder if Tilley got the tank bottom problem fixed? The newer ones kept "dishing". This would have been the time to do it.
I have a whole stack of X246Bs with dished out bottoms hanging in the shed (ex-Antarctic field gear). I bought them at auction for very little each. I raid them for spare parts (eg all had good globes, burners, hoods, and vapourisers). The tanks, though, are all knackered. It would be great if that problem was fixed with a new tank in this latest production run. Cheers Tony
Looking at the Tilley advert there appears to be some differences in the wire globe cage construction. I'm wondering what changes have Tilley made to their build quality, I hope it's positive. It's my opinion that the previous Tilley lamps, especially the later X246A and the X246B quality deteriorated especially when considering their increasing use of aluminium. However good to see that they are back on the market.
Well I intend to get one. Not because I need another lamp, I have other lamps, but if Tilly can't rely on Tilley collectors to give them a fighting chance .... well it would be too late to complain and say what a shame afterwards. For the Aussie collectors, I have contacted Sands to see if they were getting some in or not and will find out soon.
Nice sentiment but in reality, I think if everyone here bought a lantern from them every year it wouldn't be enough Sorry to [strike]be blunt[/strike] speak so plainly, but they should have gone to the wall years ago. I'd certainly shed no tears...
It depends how you look at it regarding the price to quality ratio. A new Chinese made Petromax 829 costs €149,99 at Pelam. Here you have a British made Tilley X246B for £150. Almost identical prices. Michael
Glad to see that production has belatedly resumed. Too much to hope, I suppose that production of table lamps might also resume ? It should not be hard to make table lamps again as so many parts are common to the again produced storm lantern. I wonder if demand for table lamps might actually exceed demand for storm lanterns ? Most outbuildings are these days equipped with decent electric lights, thereby removing one of the main markets for the storm lanterns. I suspect that the main market these days might be for indoor use in case of power cuts, or in yachts and caravans when the batteries are flat. A table lamp is better suited to such applications, and arguably of more attractive appearance. £149 is not bad if the quality is reasonable, IMO.
I guess that the only reason we still have kerosene pressure lanterns like Tilley, Vapalux and petromax is the fact that in the 60-70ties there was a huge military demand for those lamps. Besides collectors which people are the market ? Some camping guys, fishing perhaps ? No reasonable thinking human buys a new kerosene lantern. Gas and led are way more easier and reliable sources of light. We are collectors and look at the things way out of focus. If that is an expression. The only market is collectables: a new Tilley hospital lamp with a nice box. A petromax 250cp donut, the illusive vapalux donut. And even then, the market is small and costs are high.
edit: just took a look at vapalux: 225 euro !! for the cheapest lantern. That is the price for a E&G petromax 834 donut lamp.
Battery LED lamps have indeed improved a great deal, and LPG lanterns have their merits, but IMO Tilley or other pressure lamps still have a part to play. In particular for any long term emergency, batteries are soon exhausted, and rechargeable ones seldom live up to expectations if used a lot. Disposable LPG cartridges are expensive and not as gas tight as one would hope, I found a box of 10 year old cartridges with most of them empty ! Larger LPG bottles are cheaper to fill or exchange, but subject to an expensive hire or deposit charge. Paraffin is cheap to buy, keeps well and is fairly safe to store. 100L of paraffin contains a lot more energy than the same volume of batteries, has a longer shelf life, and is cheaper to buy. A properly stored Tilley lamp, and fuel should work after 20 years or more in storage.
Only 20? Well, over-pump a post '57 and maybe that's true. But you are right - even my first X246B purchased new in 1969 (£5gns) still performs as intended.
I guess there are two ways of looking at this: there maybe a demand for plain lamps like the Tilley in places like India/China where there are still large areas without electricity etc However, producing pressure lamps like the Tilley for Western mass market is pointless. The much prettier E41 and 300 vapalux lamps may well fare better, appealing to the trendy and collector just because they are nice to look at, decorative and functional..although I doubt many will ever be lit. Martin
With Scouting in mind 50p of paraffin against £5+ for a gas cartridge for a weekend camp, especially when we're on a group camp and have half a dozen lamps running. That said..... £150 for a new Tilley against £30ish for a gas lamp...... We'll happily take any donated lamps and fettle them back to life over buying a new one
