Over the past few years, I have written opinions about LED lights for camping and caving. I subtly mentioned in some of those post, how disappointed I was with the advancement of LED lanterns compared to headlamps and flashlights. Meaning, there was not an easy way back then to find an LED lantern made in the same fashion as say, a StenLight, or Scurion, or El Speleo, etc.
Please meet the latest contender: https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_6641df46-83a2-445b-b7a4-2008a9e0f4e8?wid=1400&fmt=webp I just bought this at Target Store. Here is my picture of it, along with some of my other LED lanterns, that I have used in past reviews. https://www.dropbox.com/s/yno8h2y8ngqls3i/LED%20Lanterns.jpg?dl=0 It is the red cylindrical one on the right. All of the other lanterns were purchased by me at Walmart ( I think ). There is a standard-size can of beans in the middle of the picture - for scale, and also a Ty beanie-baby bat - for scale ( the large bat version ). [ Disclaimer: I have some other LED lanterns somewhere, and I have given away several as door prizes, or sold them at various caving events ] This new LED lantern, claims it can put out 75 lumens for 200 hours on a set of 4 D-size batteries. It has two brighter modes, but I feel you would seldom use those. What I believe are the unique features is that the heat-sink on the LED looks functional and there is a large frosted lens that is shaped like an upside down golf-tee inside of the normal transparent acrylic tube. This seems to be the right idea, that future lanterns should use as the bar. I would guess that the LED is a new efficient version, compared to the other lanterns, based on the heat-sink. ( I am hoping the heat-sink is real and not an imitation heat-sink ) The LED appears to be a single one firing downward toward a concave reflector inside the frosted lens. I can only guess it is the kind you find in the 3 watt LED flashlights, that advertise 800 plus lumens. So what is not to like: They did not put a hook on the bottom of the lantern. This was so stupid. If you hang this lantern with the top hook almost all the light is aiming upward. So you are more likely going to want to place this lantern on the ground or on a low-table. I see no easy way to gerry-rig it to hang upside down. What is great though, is that if you need to light up several camp-spots, you can do that with this small lantern - one that is only slightly larger than a 32 oz. bottle of Gatorade, and about the same weight. Another drawback, is that if you drop this lantern ( especially with the batteries in it ), it is going to not be reparable. I would recommend putting some duct-tape on it in places to beef it up. Coleman alleges, that you can leave it out in the rain. I doubt that. The switch is most likely going to let water in and ruin the lantern. I would recommend putting some kind of tape over the switch if you plan to leave it on outside the tent while you sleep. ( This lamp is way too bright for using inside a tent ). I would also recommend putting some foil around it so that light does not go off in a direction that is not necessary - annoying other campers. This lamp is very stable on a flat surface and I am certain you could rig some kind of ring around it to make it even more stable. If laid on its side, it will roll off the table and break. It does not have a night-light feature or any kind of low lumen setting to help you save battery power. That is why I would recommend the lamp shown in my picture sitting on the can of beans, for use inside the tent. This lantern is currently $ 30 plus tax, which is way too high. Wait for the price to drop or look for it on sale somewhere. Meanwhile, if you shop around, you can find a good lantern for under $ 30. The Walmart that I was at today had a Bushnell lantern ( probably of better quality ) for $ 30 plus tax. I had already purchased the lantern described above, so I skipped that purchase. The specs allege the lantern has a battery guard to keep the batteries from accidentally wasting juice. I don't know if it really does what it alleges to. If you do decide to purchase this lantern, be careful, as there is a slightly smaller version that only has 2 lower light settings. If the lantern really does put out 75 lumens for 200 hours, and you used it 6 hours per night of camping, that would be over a month of camping. I would assume you could light up a large room in a cave with this lantern, but there are probably now better ways to do that. Since the lantern is not rechargeable, that may play a role in your decision to buy it. For car-camping, a rechargeable lantern comes in handy. But if you were going on an overnight hike, and wanted to scare off the nocturnal animals, this lantern might do the trick. I would bet that you could use a standard propane lantern-base with this new lantern, but I have no way to test that. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71rpX%2B7PJfL._SL1500_.jpg When I was camping with my grandpa back in the late 60's and early 70's, he used white-gas lanterns. That is nostalgic now, to use those. This new lantern is far more practical than the white-gas lantern. I guess if you were stranded in a winter-storm without a tent you would prefer the white-gas lantern, but what are you going to do when the fuel runs out ? The advantage still with propane is that you can cook with the cylinder of propane and use it in a heater. I think there is no reason anymore to use a fluorescent lantern, unless you have one that still works good. If I still have some that work, I will likely give them away, or just use them for decorations in my man-cave. David P.S. There is still no word now from the person who is allegedly either in hiding or missing that I was subtly trying to find. They seem to have no ties to cavers anymore. The last two cavers that allegedly helped that person seem to allegedly deeply regret it. I finished off a 25.3 ounce bottle of Fentiman's Ginger Beer while typing this review. I drink it straight, and now prefer it to Dr. Pepper, as my only real bad habit. Calling it a beer, is probably not a good marketing strategy. It seems to be expensive in most places that carry it. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41IdEAVCgkL.jpg I get it at BIG LOTS Store for $ 3.25 a bottle, and that usually makes 3 or 4 glasses.
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