Almost Free Camp Lantern Case

Intro: Almost Free Camp Lantern Case

Broken lantern glass?? Read on.....After a season of camping I decided I needed to address the lantern situation....a little too late by the looks of it. Not wanting to spend alot of money on a store bought item I figured I could build myself. So here is my attempt at a close to free, sturdy lantern case.

STEP 1: Find a Few Coffee Tins

I have a problem throwing away possibly useful things. Coffe tins is one.
If you have a pile as I do, find a matching pair.

STEP 2: A Little Trim

The first step was to make two into one. After looking a little I decided to take my can opener and cut the upper lip off of one can

STEP 3: Cut to Length

As I wanted the most compact unit possible I cut one can to length. This will be the upper tin so I left the upper lip intact to keep a little rigidity in the can.
Cut this with whatever means you have at hand. Be aware this will leave VERY sharp edges. Sand, file , grind all burs off of the cut edge.

STEP 4: Make 2 Into 1

Now at this point was a test fit. A little playing around I was able to mate the bottom tin and top tin using the factory ridges. They did fit quite snug. The only downside I have seen so far is that I have to remove the handle from lantern and slide both in together to make it fit. I can live with that.....

STEP 5: Glue Pieces Together

I added a strong super glue to the top can, lowest ridge. As the factory top edge sits outside of this indented ridge and create a factory look as well as a tight fit. I decided to line up the vertical seam to make it look a little better. Not at all needed, but I didn it anyway.

STEP 6: Add a Handle and Grommets

Now I decided to add a simple handle. I have a bunch of grommets kicking around so to finish the holes and maybe add a little nicer finished look I added those as well.
Pretty straight forward. Drill hole, insert grommets and use tool to set them. If you are to paint add grommets after for a nicer finished look.
This handle is a piece of aluminum welding wire. Any sturdy wire would work just fine.
I hope this inspires!!!

Comments

[GnomadDan]

Great job!

I have a more compact lantern, the Coleman 5133.

It fits nicely in one of those tall narrow spaghetti sauce cans.

No need to cut, it sticks out of the top a little and I dont need to remove the wire handle

[redweaver]

Wow! what a great idea. I'm going to do this.

[cutprogram1]

thanks for the kind words!