[ratherbefishin]

how many times have you tried to find a place to hang a lantern, and ended up leaving it on the ground?[where it doesn't shed as much light, and can get knocked over]
I got 2 10' lengths of 1/2 conduit, and cut them into 6 equal length pieces[3'4''each], then tapped in some wooden plugs and scewed in an eye on 3 of them, opening up 1 eye and putting that through the other two, effectively joining all three.Then I hung a S hook from one of the eye's and that held the lantern.I picked up some light chain and attached that to 3 of the pieces so when the tripod was extended it couldn't collapse.I am using regular conduit joiners to connect each of the two lengths, so as to make each leg 6'8'', but that isn't too strong,so I think I;ll fit simple ferrells instead.Anyway, I't;s simple,cheap, easy to make and portable and holds the lantern up high enough to shed the most light, and being a tripod, is stable on uneven ground.I used it on a hunting trip, great when you have to dress game after dark, or any other place you need to hold a light up and a tree isn't handy

 

[insanity]

Good idea!
Ive used to use a shepherd hook looking flower pot hanger (that i made) that you can just stab up in the ground.But the ground must be fairly soft.And if the wind was blowing to hard it might blow over.

I found some neat little tree hangers last year that would be simple to make.Humm if i can describe them.
Its just a piece of heavy gauge wire doubled and bent to lay flat against the tree and run out about 12inches then bent down and up at the end to form a U bend to hook the lantern handle over.Then a cheap chain that runs threw a loop bent in the wire raps around the tree with an S hook to secure.Kind spring wire but they haven't dropped a lantern yet.

 

[Shrek]

I have a holder for night fishing that I made from a 3 ft tall stick in the ground fishing rod holder. I also screwed a salvaged stainless steel stockpot lid to the top to function as a reflector to increase the ground light. Since the flat lid is securely bolted to the top, it can also be used as a warming tray to heat up a can of soup or chili using the dietz hanging five inches below. I paid about $2 for the rod holder stake.

 

[Beeman]

I've made quite a few of those for lanterns. My favorite design is the ones I've made that hook around a tree with a chain or bungee and hold the lantern. less likely to walk into a tree when the lantern is off.

 

[ratherbefishin]

maybe we should see ih The Homesteader forum could set up a thread for homemade gadgets and solutions-it's quite amazing what bits and pieces people have come up with to provide solutions to everyday needs.
My lantern holder was the result of trying to field dress a moose we shot in the evening,and there were no trees handy to hang a lantern on.A lantern 6' off the ground provides a whle lot more light and less shadows.The tripod works on any terrain, and is very stable.I'm toying with the idea of making the tripod poles 18'' long and connected with ferrels, so the whole thing would fit into a lantern case.It shouldn't be too hard,you'd have 12 sections, with 3 fitting into each corner of a square box,the lantern being round, they shouldn't take up any more room.
After I made it, I was looking at those extendable aluminum tent poles , and wondered if I couldn't use 3 of those.A short piece of chain would connect the tops and the S hook would slip onto that.
I got the tripod lantern holder idea from a homemade tripod dutch oven holder[ which would equally work by just using the top section of my lantern holder]

 

[margo]

Wonder if a photographer's tripod could be altered to be useful? Found at a yard sale or in an auction? Fashion a screw-on base atop the tripod(which has telescoping legs) with something to set the lantern on and a way to secure the lantern so it doesn't tip if bumped. jes a thought.......Margo

 

[Cabin Fever]

Huh???? What's the big deal here? We just hand ours from a cable hooked to the ceiling of our cabin. The cable follows the ceiling and then down the sidewall so we can raise and lower the lantern from a comfortable height.

 

[ratherbefishin]

the ''big deal'' is for the places where there is no place to hang the lantern and you end up with it on the ground.We shot a moose just before dark in a logging slash and there was no place to get a lantern up high so we could see.That's what got me thinking about a simple solution.I can think about many potential applications where you want to get the light up off the ground