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The WHOLE world, even. Nev

I think the light output is a bit like our refrigeration expectations nowadays. When we lived without electricity he light from one of these would have beaten a candle by tons, better than a campfire. Imagine people having to live without electricity, having a coolgardie safe only no to keep their food, and maybe an underground cellar. hey Willie, do your geckos make audible sounds. We ha geckos all over a villa in the Maldives that called to each other all night. Never heard lizards making any thing other than hisses when threatened.

We had a couple of those on the farm when I was a kid - 75 years ago. Also had the Tilley pressure lamp with the pump to pressurise the tank.

I used to think the tubes running down each side were just part of the framework until I found out they are critical to the way the lanterns work. A bit like intake manifolds, but act as structural integrity as well. I usually burn one or two at night on the verandah. It provides a nice soft light and keeps the geckos happy hoovering up the moths attracted to the light. Another benifit is the nostalgic smell of burning kero; it reminds me of growing up with the kero heater. The kero heater was a stinky old thing and didn't throw out a lot of heat. I can't remember what year we got mains power on and would have changed to an electric heater. Before the mains power we had a 32 volt generator run by a single cylinder Southern Cross diesel. The battery bank was stuffed so as soon as you cut the motor to go to bed, all the lights went off. I've still got that generator but unfortunately not the engine.

My childhood involved Tilly lanterns for camping, which I think must have been like that Aladdin.

Well, Willie's got a new nickname now - the Lantern King! I have zero knowledge of these style of lanterns, I thought they were all junk and pretty useless for light output. But I do have some knowledge of the pressurised petrol/kero lanterns such as the Aladdin - we had no mains power on the farm when I was a child, and all we had for light was Aladdin lanterns - and they were very good lanterns. But they don't stand much of a knock, or the mantle falls to pieces!

I got a fright tonight when I dropped one of my favourite lanterns (in the top four) onto the verandah floor from well above waist height. One of those times when you're not game to look down and see the damage. Luckily it's a strong, well built lantern and survived without a scratch. An el cheapo Chinese one I have would have been busted up badly in a fall like that due to it's paper thin constrction. The dropped lantern is a Sunlight brand cold blast lantern made in Indonesia. It's a large size, basically styled on a Dietz No.80, so a bit of weight to fall from that height with a full tank of kero. I think there's a couple of reasons it's such good quality, one is that the company's main business is making 44 gallon drums and the same gauge steel is used in the lanterns. They are also very well built and a factor in that is that I think they're mainly produced for the domestic market in Indonesia which requires a sturdy, useable product. A lot of contempory Chinese lanterns on the other hand, are made especially for the junk export market and are of low quality. The older lanterns made in China and Hong Kong were fairly good quality. I have a very old Hong Kong made Globe brand (aka The World Light Factory) hot blast lantern and it's of good quality. Of all the lanterns I have, a mix of hot blast and cold blast lanterns including brands from the USA, Germany, India and the UK, in my opinion the best of them all is the old humble Australian made Lanora hot blast lantern. They're not flash, but solid as a rock, burn beautifully and function mechanically way better than any of the others. I have two of them, the attached photo shows the yellow one burning away on the verandah. The Lanoras were circa 1940's/1950's, very common lantern and widely used by the military, railways and government as well as household use.

In this ABC article, election analyst William Bowe has produced this graphic based on averages of polling. It shows voting at the last federal election compared to averaged voter intention now. One Nation is up 20% which is made up of a 5% loss to Labor, 10% loss to the coalition and 5% to those listed as others. The only one that hasn't moved is the Greens steady at 12%. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-15/story-lab-one-nation-polling/106322978

I've flown at night using Oil Containers with Rope Wicks down one side of the strip (LHS) and one extra at each end . Dog we had it tough in those days, but Newcastle at Night from a DH82 Cockpit is a Rare and Pleasurable experience. Clean up One of those containers and you'd soon Light up the show. We didn't think of such Possibilities. Nev

Here's a bloke who specialises in "oil" lamps, which description seems to cover any type of lamp or lantern that is fossil-fuel-powered. https://www.oillamps.com.au/

LOTS of good Places. That's why I have stayed in Victoria. I was Born and raised In NEWCASTLE. The Coaly City.. Nev

OK... 3 Hurs from Melbourne.. Where is "out here"? Roughly?

Talking of betting on sports, online bookies are making it difficult for country jockey clubs to keep operating. With the ability to place bets using an app while at the racetrack, less money is going through the TAB, whose profits are fed back into country racing. That means less mon allocated to country clubs so prize money is less while the costs of operating meetings continues to rise.

Well all these years I wondered why they put so much metal in the side tubes. I thought they were just there to protect the glass. But I now know they are early EGR tubes! Thanks. Always good to learn something new.

Yeah.. Will Day, the mercurial centreman has succumbed to a complex collarbone dislocation what will keep him out for the first half of the season. With James Worpel moving to Geelong, it will be up to Jai Newcombe ("the boy from Poowong") as a centreman and half back Josh Weddle, fast becoming a superstar, to plug that gap. With James Sicily not yet training properly from memory due to a hip injury, the centre and half back line will look a little wobbly. Will Day has spent more time injured than playing, it seems like. I wonder if his bidy is up to the physicality of AFL.

My town has a primary school, post office, pub and fire station, that’s all. We are only twenty minutes from a proper town with shops and a railway station and an hour's drive from Melbourne airport. It seems to work well, except for the rabbits and kangaroos eating our garden.

The electorate has not changed that much, it is the politicians and political parties that have changed. John Howard' policies were sufficiently popular to win re-election and if he was around today would still be, the people who would vote that way are hardly right wing extremists. We just don’t have a politician or party offering a conservative option that aligns with 'Australian values'.

I think the Hawks have lost a couple to injury for the first part of the season. First state of origin tonight. Just finished and Victoria beat WA by 24 points, 125 to 101.

The 5 gallon split tanks have screw in caps, RH thread on the right tank, LH thread on the left tank. The right cap is vented and the left cap solid to stop fuel spillage while on the side stand as there's a balance tube between the tanks. The petcock is on the rear of the left tnk, none on the right tank.

I thought about making a custom tank, but I think I'll use these 5 gallon Fat Bob tanks. They're old-ish and have a lot of character. The only other bike tank here is a rusty old rice burner tank (last photo) but it's a bit ordinary style wise.

The hot blast lantern like the Lanora in that photo has an air gap between the top of the globe and the chimney. In this photo the one on the left is a cold blast lantern and the two on the right are hot blast lanterns. With a hot blast, fresh air enters in the grate down near the burner. Some burnt gases exit the gap at the top of the globe while other burnt gases go into the hood, down the side tubes then into the plenium before mixing with the fresh air. With a cold blast lantern, the burnt gases go straight out the top chimney. Fresh air is taken into the side tubes from openings that are covered by the shroud below the chimney. This then goes down the tubes to the plenium. It's a more efficient design as a cold blast has only fresh air supplied to be burnt, fed from the plenium and the grate around the burner. Less smoke and a brighter light. The hot blast intake is a mix of hot, burnt gases from the plenium and fresh air from the burner grate.

Good luck. Probably better odds than lotteries.

Yeah, but he'd not be allowed to compete while suffering football in mouth disease

Magic! (Sorry, OT!)

There's no NEED to EMPHASISE. Do you SHOUT in EVERY conversation you have? There was nothing to emphasise in your last post. You hit the shift key at least a dozen times in that post. Capitals should only be used at the start of a sentence or for someone's name. You can pick up a keyboard for under $15 at Officeworks or Target. And stop taking shots at moderators or you will end up suspended. (Willie posted the previous comment while I was typing.)