Spending OT Pay

The current staffing shortages at work means mandatory overtime shifts and mandatory overtime does produce OT Pay.  Personally I’d rather have time to spend with Da Urchin and friends rather than money to spend but such is life.  At least there’s a bit of a silver lining to the work cloud.  Most my OT pay is going toward paying for some dental work but I decided to spend some of it on Rendezvous gear.

These 2 fine brass ship’s lanterns will now be hanging from iron lantern stands at my lodge.  I choose brass over the much less expensive tin both for historic accuracy and corrosion resistance.  No one with a lick of sense would use tinned iron in a wet environment.  Tinned iron is fine for carrying a lit candle outside from the inside of one building to the inside of another building.  The heat from the candle will dry the lantern and thus minimize the rusting of the lantern.  But a tinned lantern used outside rather than inside just plain rusts while you’re looking at it and there really isn’t an “inside” when you’re camped out in a tent.  These lanterns came from Jas Townsend & Sons.  The brackets on the back are for long term mounting to a wood pole or mast. 

I also use these 3 lanterns in my lodge.  I’ve had the brass lantern for over 9 years.  Its has glass on 3 sides so its great as the locator lantern for my lodge plus the brass back reflects light forward nicely.  The yellow vigil light I hang near my bed.  I use a battery powered “candle” in it, the light looks right but is safe to leave lit in the tent.  The copper lantern is an original “Lou Light”, or “Loo Light” if you prefer.  It was made by Lou, a buckskinner in his 80’s who has forgotten more old time skills than most of us have learned.  Its great for walking around an event or making the dreaded 2am Loo Run.  The handle on the top slides up to keep you hand from getting burned while carrying it.  It also folds together for easy packing and to protect the glass front. 

I found this the other day at the local WalMart – bet you didn’t know WalMart sold rendezvous supplies other than food and candles.  This is the smaller of the 2 sizes they had.  The candle inside is another one of those battery operated units.  I also bought a regular 4 inch candle for it.  Its not a copy of a historic design but it sure is a neat lantern anyway. 

PS. To My Rendezvous Readers – This post is mostly for my non-rendezvous friends who are curious about my hobby toys.  There will be more posts sorta like it on cookware, clothes, etc.