Every lantern and stove on this page runs on kerosene, paraffin, or a similar liquid fuel. It's simple, time-tested technology — but it's still a live flame and a flammable fuel, and it deserves the same respect any of that does. A few minutes reading this before you light anything for the first time is worth it.

• Ventilation matters. Burning fuel consumes oxygen and produces carbon monoxide, along with other combustion byproducts. Well-maintained lanterns burning clean fuel produce very little of this, but "very little" is not "none." Always light and run your lantern or stove somewhere with fresh air moving through — outdoors, or indoors with a window or door genuinely open, not just cracked. Never run one in a sealed room, tent, or vehicle overnight or while everyone's asleep.
• Get a carbon monoxide detector if you're going to burn these regularly indoors. They're inexpensive and they take the guesswork out of an invisible, odourless risk.
• Use the right fuel, every time. Kerosene-burning lanterns and pressure stoves want kerosene or paraffin — not petrol, not white gas, not anything improvised. Using the wrong fuel in the wrong appliance is one of the most common causes of dangerous flare-ups, and it's entirely avoidable.
• Light and prime outdoors or in a very open space, away from curtains, dry grass, papers, and anything else that catches easily. Preheating stages in particular can flare more than you expect, especially on a first light or with a new mantle.
• Never refuel while lit or still warm. Let it cool fully, and always release any built-up pressure before opening a filler cap on a pressure lantern — tilt it so the cap sits above the fuel, so you vent air rather than spray fuel.
• Keep spare fuel well away from the lantern while you're lighting or refuelling it, and store it in an approved, clearly labelled container out of reach of children and away from heat sources.
• Never leave a lit lantern unattended, and keep children and pets clear of it while it's burning — globes, ventilators, and burner tops get genuinely hot and stay hot well after the flame is out.
• If anything smells badly wrong, hisses unexpectedly, leaks, or flares beyond what these guides describe as normal — close the valve, step back, and let it cool before touching it again. Most problems are fixable once it's cool; very few are worth pushing through while it's hot and behaving strangely.

These are general guides for typical vintage models — always check the specific manual for your model where you have one, since details vary between makes and years.

Coleman lanterns burn white gas or Coleman fuel and use a small generator tube to vaporize it before it reaches the mantle.

1. If the mantle is new, tie it onto the burner and burn it off completely with a match until only a fragile grey ash remains. Let it cool before continuing — handle it gently from here on, as it's now brittle.
2. Fill the fount at least half full with fresh, clean fuel. Wipe up any spills, then tighten the filler cap firmly.
3. Make sure the control valve is turned fully off, then pump the built-in air pump around 20–25 strokes to pressurize the tank.
4. Open the valve about half a turn. You'll hear air hiss out first, then a "spitting" sound as fuel reaches the generator a few seconds later — once you hear that, close the valve again.
5. Hold a lit match or lighter just under the mantle, then open the valve about a quarter turn. The mantle should catch and begin to glow.
6. Once it's burning steady, open the valve fully and give the pump a few more strokes for full brightness.

If it won't light: check you actually have fuel, that the pump is holding pressure, and that the generator isn't blocked — a lantern that's sat unused for years often just needs its generator cleared before it will draw fuel properly.

Tilley lamps run on paraffin (kerosene) and need a proper preheat before they'll light cleanly — this is the step most beginners rush, and rushing it is almost always why a first attempt goes wrong.

1. Fill the fount with clean paraffin, leaving some headroom. Do not use petrol or any other fuel — Tilleys are built for paraffin only.
2. Leave the control valve closed and the air screw on the filler cap loose, so the tank isn't pressurizing yet.
3. Fill the small preheater cup beneath the vaporiser with methylated spirits, clip it in place, and light it.
4. Let the meths burn for a good 2–3 minutes — Tilley vaporisers are solid steel and need real heat soak, notably longer than a Coleman generator. If the mantle is new, it may catch briefly and flare during this stage; that's normal.
5. Just before the preheat flame dies out, close the air screw and give the pump 10–15 gentle strokes.
6. Open the control valve a small crack. The lamp should light with a soft "pop" and settle into a steady glow.
7. Once it's burning cleanly, add a few more pump strokes to bring it up to full brightness.

Golden rule: if it flares up or won't catch, don't panic — just close the valve, let it cool a little, and preheat again for longer. Most lighting problems with a Tilley come down to too little preheat, not a fault with the lamp.

Petromax lanterns run on kerosene and use the same preheat principle as a Tilley, either with a spirit cup or (on models that have one) a built-in "Rapid" preheater.

1. Fill the tank with clean kerosene and pressurize it to roughly the lower end of the gauge with the hand pump — don't over-pressurize before preheating.
2. Using the spirit cup: fill it with methylated spirits, light it, and let it burn for at least 90 seconds — two full cups if the lantern is cold or this is a new mantle.
   Using the Rapid preheater (if fitted): open the preheater lever briefly to release a small amount of fuel and ignite it immediately with a lighter. With a new mantle, close the lever after about 10 seconds and let it burn down fully before continuing.
3. Once the preheat flame is nearly out, slowly open the main control wheel. The mantle should ignite and begin to glow — turn it gradually, since opening it too fast can cause a brief flare-up as built-up pressure releases at once.
4. If it doesn't catch, close the valve, re-pressurize slightly, and repeat the preheat — don't keep adding fuel to an already-hot lantern that hasn't lit.
5. Once lit, pump occasionally to maintain steady pressure as it runs.

Worth knowing: Petromax lanterns have a bit more of a learning curve than a Coleman, and a slightly more dramatic preheat flame is completely normal — don't mistake the preheater's blowtorch-like flame for something going wrong.

Unlike the pressure lanterns above, your Dietz and Chalwyn hurricane lanterns are simple wick lanterns — no pumping, no preheating, just fuel, a wick, and a flame. They're the easiest thing on this page to get right, and also the easiest to get a poor, smoky flame out of if the wick isn't trimmed properly.

1. Remove the globe: on a LOC-NOB style Dietz globe, rotate it a quarter turn and lift it out from the wire guards. On a Cold Blast model, lift the bail/ring, tilt the globe back, and lower it down out of the way.
2. Lift out the burner unit by turning it until the mounting ears disengage, then draw it up and out of the fount.
3. Trim the wick straight across with sharp scissors — not at an angle, not rounded. A straight-cut wick burns evenly across its whole width; an uneven cut gives an uneven, smoky flame no matter how good the lantern otherwise is. Trim off any charred or fuzzy bits until you've got a clean, even edge.
4. Refit the burner into the fount, engaging the mounting ears the way it came out.
5. Fill the fount with clean kerosene or modern lamp oil, up to the bottom of the fill hole only. Don't tilt the lantern back to squeeze more in — overfilling is a common cause of leaks.
6. Let the wick soak up fuel for a minute or two before lighting, especially if it's freshly fitted and dry.
7. Light the wick, then adjust the height with the small side wheel/lever until you get a clean, steady flame with no black smoke trailing off the top — too high and it smokes, too low and it barely lights the globe.
8. Replace the globe the same way it came off.

Good habits: trim the wick every time it starts looking charred or uneven, keep the globe clean for maximum light output, and never refill while the lantern is lit. One genuinely reassuring thing about these lanterns: if a lit one gets knocked over, the airflow design cuts off oxygen to the flame and it self-extinguishes within seconds — they're built to be safer than they look.

Cast iron plays a genuinely major role in South African outdoor cooking — the potjie sitting over coals is as much a part of a proper weekend as the braai fire beside it. A rusty or sticky old cast iron piece isn't ruined; it just needs a proper reset. Here's how to bring it back honestly, whether it's a pan, pot, or potjie.

Step 1: Assess It First

Check for cracks (especially around handles, legs, and rims) before doing anything else — a cracked piece isn't safe to cook on and shouldn't be seasoned, only kept for display. Light surface rust and a sticky old seasoning layer are completely normal and fixable. Some minor pitting on the cooking surface is cosmetic and won't stop it from seasoning properly; heavy pitting can make an even seasoning layer harder to achieve, but it's still usable.

Step 2: Strip It Back

• Light rust or grime: scrub with coarse steel wool and warm, soapy water. This is one of the few times soap on cast iron is not just fine but the right call — you're deliberately removing the old seasoning, not preserving it.
• Heavier rust: a vinegar soak (equal parts vinegar and water, no more than an hour — longer risks pitting the metal) loosens rust so it scrubs off easily with steel wool under running water. Keep scrubbing in small circles until the red rust is gone and you're down to bare grey iron.
• Thick, flaky, gummed-up old seasoning that scrubbing alone won't shift can be stripped with a self-cleaning oven cycle (with good ventilation, it will smoke) or a lye-based oven cleaner, following the product's own safety instructions closely.

Step 3: Dry It Completely

This is the step that actually determines whether you get an even seasoning or a patchy one. Towel dry thoroughly, then place it on a stove burner or in a low oven (around 100–110°C) for 10–15 minutes to drive off every last trace of moisture. Cast iron will flash-rust within minutes of being wet and unprotected, so don't let it sit once it's clean.

Step 4: Season It

1. While the pan is still warm from drying, rub a very thin layer of oil over every surface — inside, outside, handle, legs, all of it. Use a high smoke-point oil (sunflower, canola, or grapeseed all work well; avoid extra virgin olive oil or flaxseed, which don't hold up as well). Sunlight/cooking oil is what most South African kitchens already have on hand, and it works perfectly well.
2. Buff off the excess with a clean cloth until the surface looks dry, not shiny or greasy — too much oil pools and turns gummy rather than baking into a hard, smooth layer. Less is genuinely more here.
3. Place it upside down in an oven at around 230°C (a sheet of foil on the rack below catches any drips) for about an hour.
4. Let it cool fully in the oven before handling.
5. Repeat this thin-oil-and-bake cycle 2–3 times to build up a proper, durable seasoning layer — one coat is a start, not a finish.

A Note on Potjies

A potjie pot seasons exactly the same way, though its size usually means doing the bake-cycle outdoors over consistent coals rather than in a kitchen oven — aim for the same gentle, even heat rather than a roaring fire, since scorching the seasoning does more harm than good. Once seasoned, many potjie owners simply cook a big pot of oily onions or fatty meat as their "first meal" instead of an empty bake cycle — either approach works, since it's the same principle: thin oil, even heat, repeated a few times.

Keeping It Seasoned

• After cooking, rinse with hot water only — no soap, no soaking, no dishwasher. A stiff brush or a scraper handles stuck-on food.
• Dry it immediately and thoroughly — towel dry, then a few minutes of gentle heat if you want to be sure.
• While it's still warm, wipe on the thinnest possible layer of oil before storing. This is the single habit that keeps cast iron in good condition for decades rather than needing this whole process repeated every few months.
• If it does rust again, it hasn't failed — just repeat the process. Cast iron is genuinely very hard to ruin permanently.

Streampunk Note: a well-seasoned pan or potjie should look matte black, not shiny or sticky. If it's tacky to the touch, that's a sign of too much oil in the last seasoning coat — a quick pass through the oven at high heat will usually burn off the excess and fix it.

Also spelled "kennetje" — literally "little chin," and known as "tip-cat" in English. Documented as far back as 1861 in South African memoirs, and still fondly remembered by generations who grew up playing it in schoolyards and dirt roads across the country.

What You Need

• One short peg, tapered at both ends — the kennetjie itself (traditionally around 10cm long, 2.5cm thick)
• One long straight stick to use as a bat, roughly half a metre long
• A small hole or trench scratched into the ground (about 3cm deep, 15cm long)
• 2 or more players

How to Start

Dig or mark a small trench in the ground. The batsman places the kennetjie across the middle of the hole, rests the tip of the long stick inside the hole, and uses it to flick the kennetjie away as far as possible. The fielding player tries to catch the kennetjie in the air. If they catch it clean, they become the new batsman.

If It's Not Caught

The fielder throws the kennetjie back toward the hole, trying to land it as close as possible. What happens next depends on how close it lands — and this is where the game gets properly interesting. Each distance brings its own trick shot, done with the left hand, growing more difficult the closer the throw:

1. One stick length or closer — the batsman is out immediately.
2. Two stick lengths ("Voetjie" — "little foot") — balance the kennetjie on your toes, flick it up, and strike it.
3. Three stick lengths ("Tip-Top") — hold the kennetjie in your left hand, flip it into the air, and strike it.
4. Four stick lengths ("Bokhoringkie" — "little goat horn") — balance it on your ring finger and thumb, flip, and strike.
5. Five stick lengths ("Elmbogie" — "little elbow") — balance it on your elbow, flip, and strike.
6. Six stick lengths ("Ogie" — "little eye") — balance it beside your eye, flip, and strike.
7. Seven stick lengths ("Oortjie" — "little ear") — balance it on your ear, flip, and strike.
8. Eight stick lengths ("Kennetjie" — "little chin") — balance it on your chin, flip, and strike. The move the whole game is named after.
9. Nine stick lengths or more — the batsman earns an extra life, which can be spent to keep playing after being out.

If the batsman fumbles or drops the kennetjie during any of these trick shots, the fielder who made the throw becomes the new batsman.

Streampunk Note: Our Kennetjie set is a faithful reproduction, made to bring a genuine piece of South African childhood back into play. Mind the flying sticks — it earned a reputation for being banned from more than a few schoolyards for good reason!