It is not a new obsession, just one that got rekindled after seeing a guy selling roasted chestnut running a pressurized kerosene lantern on his side-cart motorcycle. It was pretty bright and produced a comfortable yellow glow. I thought it was interesting and wanted to purchase one for myself to try it out.
The problem began there. It was so difficult to find a dealer for such things because it just isn't relevant in Singapore. The entire island is connected to an extremely stable electricity and water grid, there is little need for off-grid/emergency equipment such as a kerosene lamp. As such, lantern mantles are not cheap and kerosene is on sale for a whopping $3.40 per 500ml.
I searched high and low and realised that an old company in Singapore actually makes kerosene lamps and export it overseas! They are a brand named "Butterfly" from http://www.butterflyleahin.com
You can watch some videos about these lanterns made by people from as far away as the USA.
So I wrote an email to the company and asked if I could buy one and they said yes! But only for local customers as they typically deal with wholesale and container loads.
The only problem remaining was that I had to take leave from my work to purchase one of these beauties from their company. Oh well, I guess good things have to be planned for.
4 comments:
Hi Leonard,
I used to play with this butterflies when i was camping during my younger days. I'd love to get one as well. May i ask how much you pay for one of this from Lea Hin?
Cheers,
Boonyew
Hi Boonyew,
From my understanding, there are two versions from Lea Hin. One made from brass and the other made from steel. I bought the brass one for about $75 as I was advised that brass is more rust resistant than steel (about $35).
It is fun to fire it up once in a while.
Regards,
Leonard
Hey Leonard,
Massive thanks for the info.
Cheers,
Boonyew
Hi Leonard,
Chance upon your blog on Pressurised Kerosene Lantern. I'm re-visiting old interest and start cleaning up my Hurricane Lamp and decide to to rekindle my interest in Pressurised Kerosene Lantern. Noted your last blog was in 2018 so not sure if you're still active blogging. Anyway, following your foot step, I just drop an email to Lea Hin (thanks for the clue to Butterfly manufacturer) to ask if I could buy this Butterfly lantern from their office. So now I wait for their reply.
Thanks again!
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