Coleman Addiction.....for pesants. ha ha ha!

axlesandantennas

Approved Vendor
Its gone freaking stupid.

And this little guy was the funnest two bucks ever, only needed a new valve and a new generator ?



It makes a freaking mean pot of macaroni though...


I have the 533, which I suppose is the big brother of the 400. I bought it 15 years ago I guess. It's a heck of a unit. Little cold nature, but not terrible. I have had it apart a few times to clean it, but there has really been nothing to clean out of it. Even the little O ring for the fill neck is good to go. Just have to oil the plunger up every once in a while. If I don't do that, it's loud as heck and wakes everyone up!
 

Kevin108

Explorer
Be looking at Mil Spec lanterns lately. I have never had one so I would like to add one to the collection.
They look cool, and I love the parts well, but the generator design is awful. A standard Coleman lantern generator is field serviceable.
 

Herbie

Rendezvous Conspirator
If it took some of the pressure off the old stuff I would be all for it.

You'd think, but I'm not sure - there's a strong pull for nostalgia stuff. I was musing on Bring-a-Trailer the other day that the auction prices for well-used vintage Honda CT70s and CT90's are usually within spitting distance of Honda's brand-new CT125/Trail125 bikes. In every measurable way, the newer bikes are more usable and functional, but damned if people don't want the old hardware.
 

85_Ranger4x4

Well-known member
You'd think, but I'm not sure - there's a strong pull for nostalgia stuff. I was musing on Bring-a-Trailer the other day that the auction prices for well-used vintage Honda CT70s and CT90's are usually within spitting distance of Honda's brand-new CT125/Trail125 bikes. In every measurable way, the newer bikes are more usable and functional, but damned if people don't want the old hardware.

You outta try pricing decent three wheelers...
 

axlesandantennas

Approved Vendor
You'd think, but I'm not sure - there's a strong pull for nostalgia stuff. I was musing on Bring-a-Trailer the other day that the auction prices for well-used vintage Honda CT70s and CT90's are usually within spitting distance of Honda's brand-new CT125/Trail125 bikes. In every measurable way, the newer bikes are more usable and functional, but damned if people don't want the old hardware.
I have been viewing BaT for a number of years and now find myself looking less and less. The prices some of that stuff pulls is heart breaking to those of who are not sleeping on a pile of money. Porsche 914s and 944s are what I was watching and waiting to pounce on (and Caymans too), but no more.

edit. I get the feelings of nostalgia, but at the end of the day, when you are paying new car prices on a 40 year old relic, then that is a totally emotional purchase with zero logic. At least from my standpoint.
 

85_Ranger4x4

Well-known member
I have been viewing BaT for a number of years and now find myself looking less and less. The prices some of that stuff pulls is heart breaking to those of who are not sleeping on a pile of money. Porsche 914s and 944s are what I was watching and waiting to pounce on (and Caymans too), but no more.

edit. I get the feelings of nostalgia, but at the end of the day, when you are paying new car prices on a 40 year old relic, then that is a totally emotional purchase with zero logic. At least from my standpoint.

Some people do it for an investment too. Compare the current prices of a 1965 Mustang in 2005 to now. Then compare how the value of a "new" 2005 has changed over the same period. Just depends on what you want to enjoy.

I don't really care old vs new, I like what I like. I really like the simplicity of older stuff though. For the ultimate in stupid ventures I have been on a vintage Land Rover kick. If nothing else it is fun to learn something new but dang I would be dangerous if I had the money to actually get one...

For what I have in my $2 400B stove I could have bought a new one... it was fun working on it and there is a little bit of achievement in that I fixed it.

And the CT125 is a goofy moped looking thing like the old 90/110's. A neighbor gave me a 90 when I was a kid, I always liked my 70 better.

My CT70 while in pretty good shape came out of a scrap pile in the 90's, no way I would spend $4k for one of those either.

But one bike got garage saled 15 years ago and one didn't... I need to get the 70 running again.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
For what I have in my $2 400B stove I could have bought a new one... it was fun working on it and there is a little bit of achievement in that I fixed it.
I figure as long as it doesn't cost more than new to refurbish then it's fine. If fixing something is going to cost more then it's got to be worth it. Sometimes it is simply because the Coleman 425 stove from the 1960s was just a little thicker, a bit more rugged than one from the 1990s, which was just that little bit better made than a new one. So for similar money you end up with a nicer outcome. Plus the patina of a 425 that's been in a family (yours or at least someone's) for 40 years is interesting. A little part of history. It might go to a kid who'll have a story down the road about that weird old guy next door years ago who fixed up old Coleman junk and gave him that stove before a high school rafting trip. Said it was once owned by a guy who eventually joined Twisted Sister and he got it in trade for a set of guitar strings before their first tour.
 

BritKLR

Kapitis Indagatoris
Their stuff just works and is repairable. Our newer/older Coleman grill/stove is now about 20 years and still works every time. The great thing is parts are available everywhere. I managed to snap off the 20 year old regulator in Moab last week and got a replacement at Gearheads downtown Moab and was back in business. 24783586-3C96-46B6-9531-98C08D0D32D0.jpegE63236F3-C610-40C4-BBF3-A22C73AC525A.jpeg
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Their stuff just works and is repairable. Our newer/older Coleman grill/stove is now about 20 years and still works every time. The great thing is parts are available everywhere. I managed to snap off the 20 year old regulator in Moab last week and got a replacement at Gearheads downtown Moab and was back in business.
There's a limit to replacement parts that Coleman offers, so it's like anything old you have to use what new is offered along with NOS and scavenge used. If you're like me and about utility you won't mind mixing-and-matching series parts to keep stoves and laterns working but purists will hate seeing a 425F tank or manifold on a 425B stove or whatever it took to get it to work. Some bits are just unobtainium, like lighting levers, so those you dig garage sales for donors or just let things like air stems sit on backorder for months until Coleman decides to make a batch.
 

85_Ranger4x4

Well-known member
Suitcase stoves are stupid cheap used, like 425s.

I have $7 in my last two and the last one was lightly used in the box and came with a CL2 lantern and half a can of gas.

I was just looking at the stove for a period accessory for my 80's vintage camper and the guy yelled out "five bucks for all the Coleman stuff!"

Uh... sure.

All of it just needed pressure and lit.
 

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