Here in North America, Coleman Fuel (naphtha or “white gas” as
it’s also called) has been the fuel of choice for camp stoves
and lanterns since the dawn of time. It’s been so popular that
if you go into any old garage you are bound to find a rusty tin
container of the fuel under the workbench against the back wall.
According to Frank Schmidt a Senior Project Engineer at The
Coleman Company, the fuel was developed in the early 1950’s as
small motor fuel for lawnmowers, outboard motors as well as an
industrial cleaning agent. The popularity of Coleman Fuel as
motor fuel declined in the late 1950’s with advancement of
other, better fuel technologies but it has since remained the
go-to choice for heating camp coffee in the morning. So what is
Coleman Fuel made of? In its simplest form it's a petroleum
product either derived from natural gas or distilled from oil,
coal tar or peat (partially decayed vegetation matter) due to
its high carbon content. It also has a several other chemicals
mixed in which include cycl