Gear review: Coleman NorthStar InstaStart Propane Lantern

[@woppini]

Propane is pretty economical if you refill those 1 lbs canisters with an adapter for a 15 lbs tank. I hated tossing them in the bin at campgrounds. Now I recycle the bottles and refill. The adapter is readily available, there are some vids on Y/T on how to do it. The 15 pound tanks can be re filled at any propane station Nice bright lantern btw

[@cmj20002]

I have an older version and after many years it still works like new. These are really nice lanterns and unlike dual fuel they can be used in doors as long as there is some venting of the room. NEVER BURN IN A NEW MANTLE IN DOORS. They will smoke like crazy. One can't go wrong with one of these, they are super bright.

[@GeminiDad16]

Thanks for watching, and for the great tips.

[@alvarogameros5367]

I have 2 of the Coleman Northstar Lanterns and mine do not make that noise. I love them. Coleman makes great products. And yes be careful when connecting the gas tank to the lamp. A buddy of mine bought a used one and when he went camping he noticed it wouldnt screw right.

[@cazthebaldfox]

Had mine over 30 years still perfect , tinfoil half around cage throws heat one way and light

[@HeartsXoXd]

Thank you for taking the time to do this, very cool and good info.

[@lotzoso]

Mine does the same whistle at low flow. I do like the cage around the globe though. The single tube mantle is kind of hard to find in remote locations so stock up on them when available. This is a really, really bright lantern! I never use it at full brightness. My propane lasted for 12 hours at a medium setting. I am very happy with it's performance.

[@Ultralume]

Interesting review. I must have an older one. Mine does not have a red start button but rather a piezo generated spark that starts the lantern when the knob is turned to high. It fires all the time. The base is different on mine also. Interesting how the design has changed. The older lanterns do not make any noise on low..

[@GeminiDad16]

+Ultralume Thanks for watching. The red start button is just an igniter that fires the piezo spark, so it sounds like we may have the same one. Or similar. I've since found that mine doesn't make the loud noise if it has been running for a while and had a chance to heat up.

[@horsingaround1965]

I live in the UK and have been looking for a camping light that is bright. This is it!! Just found a new one on ebay at the amazing price of £29.99 sterling. Buying it as we speek...Thanks for the video a grat help

[@GeminiDad16]

Ann Ford Ann, sorry for the delayed response. I'm glad my video helped you make a buying decision. I hope you're enjoying it.

[@PookieMan80]

Great review. I never knew the stand's legs could fold up and fit in the carring case!

[@GeminiDad16]

They may have come with 2 mantles at some point, but I've only seen them with one. Enjoy your lantern.

[@the03mach1]

Yes mine whistles loud on low but there is another flaw...the instastart is awesome while it works..the piezo sparker doesn't last long and you cannot buy a replacement sparker to fix it...mine still sparks but not strong enough to light...if you fill the entire glass with propane it will sometimes light up with an explosion that scares the crap out of you...on the plus side of will light up the entire campgrounds....

[@marklander9177]

you are 100% correct. The fact that you can't even get a replacement piezo sucks big time. Whistling is intolerable.

[@BungieStudios]

*RIP Chuck.*

[@CarlArgabright]

Great video man, I appreciate your attention to details.

[@GeminiDad16]

Carl Argabright Thanks, Carl. I appreciate the feedback.

[@bobsullivan6857]

As some have commented here, that noise will go away when the lantern heats up.....Kinda makes me wonder why the reviewer didn't know that......

[@twofaston2]

Thanks for the review. Very informative. I'm trying I decide between a full on coleman propane or the newer micro lanterns that are coming out. My tiny black diamond led lantern is great for backpacking, but not enough light for car camping. Thanks again. Oh I forgot....1995 called, and they want their shoelaces back. I know...stupid joke. thanks again. I think I'm gonna go with a coleman

[@GeminiDad16]

Joseph Rivera I'm not a fan of the LED lights for the reason you mentioned. For your purposes (car camping but wanting to keep it light/small) I'd go with an ultralight single mantle lantern that burns isobutane. Check out the Primus Micron Lantern or the Coleman Micro Lantern. The fuel tanks are small and lightweight, and are great for cooking, too.

[@paulwilliams1809]

I had two of them and they both caught on fire. No more Northstar for me!

[@Finsandfuroutdoors-yb2vh]

Never heard a more clear case of user error than this.

[@J_PIK]

I just purchased one of these and when I got home I don't think I put the mantle on it correctly. I clipped it to the top and the bottom, burned it, put the cover back on. But then it just wouldn't start, even when I inserted a match through the match hole. My guess is maybe the green part of it wasn't low enough? Too bad it's late and I can't go buy another mantle until morning because when I tried to adjust the mantle it ripped, so I threw it away... I should've bought a few extra mantles but this is my first time with a propane lantern so I didn't know. I've always gone with LED's but I missed the sound (as the OP loves) of propane lanterns that my father used.

[@GeminiDad16]

+Jeff M I hope you got it working. Thanks for watching.

[@hamishlast9127]

if you let the unit heat up for about 10 mins, the noise mentioned will disappear. Only thing I dont like about it is that the propane cylinders are not as easy to get but if you look on KZbin, are refillable.

[@znet1986]

The scream you hear on the low setting is something that mine does also. But if you let it run long enough to heat up (about 20 mins or so) you can run it on the lowest setting and you wont hear the scream. The stem must be hot, We have found this not to be a defect in our testing. Cold syndrome

[@GeminiDad16]

znet1986 Thanks for the comment, and apologies for the late reply. I'll do further testing to see whether mine makes the scream after running hot for a while. I thought it had done that before anyhow, but I'll double-check to see if I was mistaken. Thanks for watching.

[@znet1986]

The last time mine was used was at hazel creek in the smoky mountains. It ran for about 30 mins then i turned the knob all the way down to where it was just about shut off and it never made the scream. It did scream when it was first turned on and set to low setting. I left the lantern on through the whole night for a night light at the camp site and it was whisper quiet. I was amazed when I woke up the next morning that it was running just fine but filled with bugs and moths!! Huge moths!! Inside the globe. The mantle was never damaged by the bugs the filled the globe. After all the testing I still dont know if somed or all of these lanterns will run super quiet or scream on low after warming up. Lemme know your thoughts.

[@EquityPark]

Thanks for the video.

[@ooaqici82qb4ip]

Good video. Can you tell me how long it'll run on high with a full tank of gas please

[@GeminiDad16]

Thanks for watching. I see your question was already answered by another viewer.

[@b2ja03]

Got one tonight getting tank after work, if it works good I just might get another. ;)

[@KandiKlover]

So did you get another?

[@NevadaRZR]

Lumen output is 1543 as shown on the box. I'm bidding on one on ebay. Hoping I win the bid, if not I'll find one with a buy it now option. The pics of the one I'm bidding on appear as though it has 2 mantles. Did it ever come with 2 mantles and only recently they changed to a single mantle?

[@GeminiDad16]

Thanks for this information. Still seems like a design defect to me. If the regulator can't handle the low volume without making that very loud noise, it shouldn't allow you to turn it down that low -- and Coleman shouldn't list the low light as a feature.

[@GeminiDad16]

Not offhand, sorry. Check out Coleman's web site for that information. They have all the tech specs there.

[@vancityguy]

Where is the lantern made?

[@elliscountytexasspotter891]

Mine is hard to start. It's like click click click click click click pop flash! I wonder what is wrong?

[@randyprice1831]

Never had the "howling" noise with either of my 2 lanterns????????

[@GeminiDad16]

***** Randy, I think it's only the NorthStar lantern that does that. I have other Colemans and none of them do it either. It's a known issue with the NorthStar model, however.

[@randyprice1831]

d1bottch, funny I was camping last weekend and my NorthStar lantern started howling. I chuckled to myself.

[@tahanlaoboy]

Very amazing sound is very useful sound for the one who search for Anti-gravity and magnet or sound frequency they can find something good out of it, thanks for the vdo

[@GeminiDad16]

Aire Lao This gets the award for the most creative response to this video yet! Thanks for watching and for the great comment.

[@KandiKlover]

God dammit man we only needed to hear the squeal once! lmao

[@theGoblinStopper]

Siriusly!! Get it? Seriously? Yep. You're laughing.

[@TSniper79]

Liquid fuel is better than propane.

[@GeminiDad16]

In my experience they both have their advantages, but I tend to favor the liquid-fueled lanterns as well.

[@KandiKlover]

Yeah powerhouse lantern is my fave, not much noticeable brightness difference and I can carry it by the handle while lit.

[@TravisHeinze]

You probably don't want to use this inside a tent.

[@GeminiDad16]

+Travis Heinze Definitely not! Sage advice. Thanks for watching.

[@michaelfrancis4657]

The North Star, Polaris, is not the brightest star in the sky. A lot of people think that, but it is not true. Sirius is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere

[@roverporter2434]

What in the ........?

[@ptallen85]

the manual says to light the mantle with a match before turning on the fuel. Did you do this? Or did you just instantly use the fuel and instastart?

[@GeminiDad16]

Peter Allen Peter, the reason you need to light it with a match the first time is to burn the mantle and let it turn to ash. You only need to do that once. After that exercise you should be able to light it with the Instastart button. Thanks for watching.

[@SirThunderPants]

"Uhm" X 1,000,000

[@code1outdoors311]

Can they be submerged in water?