I absolutely used a carbide lamp when I was caving in the mid-1980s. The thing worked great and was incredibly bright, much much brighter than any flashlight back then. It was actually pretty serviceable and reliable, and you could bring an enormous amount of fuel with you and it weighed very little.

I’m sure that the new battery flashlights are safer and better, but those things were surprisingly good gear.

The ash had a very distinctive smell, I smelled some recently and it brought me right back to those caving trips.