Definitely another 1 on manithree’s suggestion for the diffuser flashlight, ideally in warm white as sac02 prefers. Boaz’s recommendation for the Skilhunt H03, or similar even flood beam (TIR, mule, cob, maybe even a zoomie or one of those USB power bank dimming led things…) kinda what I’m doing now til my package from Simon arrives, but it seems more finicky with setup—depending. Hard to beat the durability, packability, crush resistance, and water resistance of a flashlight milled out of aluminum vs a lantern with plastic shell. The flashlight market is more saturated and competitive than the lantern market too, so that weighs in our favor as well
Previously for many years I used a AA tube light from Fenix and their diffuser (it will draw comments or at least bewildered looks when displayed in mixed company, no doubt…!), as I knew I already wanted a headlamp for—well everything, a flashlight to spot ahead, and a lantern in camp for cooking and ambiance without blinding others if present (and hey, let’s be real, you got at least one flashlight on you when out, I’m sure put the weight savings to backup battery or another form of redundancy, luxury, or just save the space and weight which is a luxury in itself!). Definitely more a sedentary arrangement, but shining a light through the cap and into the water bottle for light dispersal works nice. Ugly but utilitarian is puffing out a white or yellow shopping bag, and shining the light into it; bonus for being very lightweight, multipurpose, likely already at hand, and has its own handles to hang from branches/carabiners. I haven’t tried it yet, but another lightweight flexible option I’ve been meaning to test, is semi inflating a white balloon into a rudimentary “bulb” shape, and slapping it over the end of a tube light; think I saw that on BLF or possibly a backpacking forum, but I can’t remember who to credit.
Got a Convoy C8 in 7A tint with new firmware I’ve been meaning to find a diffuser for, preferably like that one linked above by electricjelly, I imagine silicone would pack better than even the hard plastic. I prefer a multi selection of low modes primarily, but if I ever do bump up the lumens, at least the larger form factor will help disipate heat better. For my current uses the diffuser + flashlight form works well, and now my next point of concern with it are more things like: Multi modes to suit the situation, a comfortable non glaring tint, the runtime to keep up, and LVP shutoff.
I am biased towards flashlights, as the majority I’ve purchased have a more industrial, utilitarian feel, whereas the majority of lanterns I own or used feel more like something made to set on a covered porch or give to a kid for summer camp. That said, there are some nice ones to be sure, I have a Brunton with infinitely variable brightness and a nice tint that packs down nice, Coleman packaway design is ok too if you can spray some glass frosting on it and deal with poor tint; and I’ve been eyeing that Fenix and it’s clones, as well as the Blitzwolf… While I tend to avoid them when packability is prioritized or traveling by foot, I also have a strong nostalgic streak for lanterns that I’ve been trying to curb, but often draws me back now and then ha! Fortunately for me, my mom loves lanterns for “power outages” (they don’t happen often as a flashaholic is prepared for hehe), and since she never actually uses them I sort of arrange the lesser ones around the house for her; if misplaced she’ll order another, but you know how it is when you see friends and family buying just any random light :person_facepalming: .
Something of an inbetween flashlight/lantern, that I would like to see more along the same or similar lines of, is the ThorFire KL02. Very cute little keychain lantern thing and for me I can see this as having use in camp. I would have prefered it was 18650 instead of 16340, had a spring instead of foam donut, removable diffuser, and tint options—basically I want an 18650 mule tube light with packaged with duffuser xD. For what it is tho, it’s nice and very inexpensive; would still keep the 16340 and add 18650 to product line, not drop one for other. Not perfect, but I liked them enough to buy a handful as gifts for outdoors buddies.
Wishing you luck, whatever you end up with, and many adventures ahead!