Lanterns

The local paper recently reported that a farmer in Staffordshire picked up the remains of thirty of these lanterns on new year’s day from his land alone.

In the same article, a well known discount store was reportedly very pleased with the success of the sales of their lanterns over the festive period.

So, the victims are the cattle and their owners while the winners are pound shops and vets.

Regards,

kev35

Air rifles, pah! Dart equipped r/c Spitfires are the way to go!

Reckon these lanterns are legitimate targets, air rifles at the ready lads!

A lot of lanterns seem to use wire instead of bamboo, that is what causes the real problem to cattle.

I have heard reports of lanterns setting fire to crops but can’t really work this one out as if the lantern is still lit then it will generate heat and therefore not descend until the flame has died and the air cooled.

In that case, I have a cunning plan.

We need to come up with a chargable scheme whereby the farmers pay us to educate their cattle about the dangers of eating splintered bamboo, or even whole lantern frames. We could charge several hundred pounds for this amazing service and invest our capital in some up and coming asian illuminated flying decoration company…

Its the Bamboo that is used in some that is leathal to live sock.

When the grass is cut for hay or sylage it splinters the bamboo ( think Japanese jungle warfare and the use of bamboo ) which is then distibuted in cattle feed or bedding.

The cattle end up with bamboo splinters stuck in the mouths Tongue, or throught and the choke to death !

Not nice and a real big problem for farmers.

Mark

Re. litter: think we need to be vastly more concerned about the tens of tonnes of litter discarded from cars and other transport and by children leaving school premises. The odd lantern, which may be biodegradable, seems hardly worth worrying about.

Planemike……..

Not according to farmers who have apparently lost cattle from eating the framework of the lanterns.

Regards,

kev35

Well, a couple of points:-

Think you will find it is not legal to fly a balloon at night, certainly in the UK, so the chances of a “lantern” bumping into a balloon and setting it afire seems remote in the extreme.

The “skirts”, lower section of the balloon envelope, are made of Nomex which certainly would not be ignited by a “lantern”. The remainder of the envelope is made of ripstop nylon fabric. This is not “fire resistant” but it is difficult to envision a scenerio where it would come into contact long enough to set fire to the fabric.

Re. litter: think we need to be vastly more concerned about the tens of tonnes of litter discarded from cars and other transport and by children leaving school premises. The odd lantern, which may be biodegradable, seems hardly worth worrying about.

Planemike……..

Thankyou for answering a bizzare question about the lanterns,while they impress a lot of people I just see them as floating fire hazards that will one day float into a skyrise flat and its burning curtains for someone,or even get sucked into an engine.

I would’ve thought balloons would need to be made from a material that is at least slightly flame resistant, in order to avoid setting themselves on fire with the burner. Therefore it seems highly unlikely that a brief contact with a candle would do any harm.

I do think people that set off these Chinese lanterns should at least be fined for littering though.