Any recommendations for camp lantern

I have one similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XC5T0RE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_n7h9ybVX4S9GX

and one of these I bought for my daughter for camping:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YDQJ18E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_h.h9ybPQSQ6ZP

Both of them work great.

The Streamlight Siege I posted above is rated at 37 hours on low (50 lm), which stiill gives very usable output.

Hi Pete, thanks for the recommendation, but I’m in the other part of the world. Shipping’s gonna be a killer ordering from Amazon. Also would prefer to run it on 18650 if possible.

Got it.

Fyi, i was using a DQG Tiny 18650 with a diffuser cap as a night light last night. The 3.5lm output is very usable and should last hundreds of hours on a single 18650.

I have several of these Energizer WeatherReady lanterns that I picked up in the clearance rack of Home Depot for less than $5. They come with 3 AA batteries, and by removing a carrier, will accept 3 D cells. I plan on playing with one of them to see if I can mod it to take 18650 cells. A quick look at it just now leads me to believe that there is room in the compartment length wise, so all that is needed is a revised carrier with the proper battery terminals.

It may not be aluminum or fancy, but I’m pretty sure that it will give you the run time you are looking for.

How about the Blitzwolf BW-LT5 PRO lantern?

The best camping lantern is Convoy s2+ (or any similar) with diffiser. Compact, durable, universal lamp.

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 :slight_smile:

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 :wink: 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 :stuck_out_tongue: 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! :beer:

Sorry about the wall of text, I tend to take something and run with it once started :person_facepalming: Links are usually more satisfying “read” :partying_face:

USB led with touch dimmer, pure flood, fragile when combined with power-bank, but unique and talk about space savings/redundancy!
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00PU7NQ2M/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?\_encoding=UTF8&colid=21SFVQOCNL8OH&coliid=I13DZ7J31TDS4D

ThorFire KL02, 16340 keychain sized “lantern”
https://smile.amazon.com/ThorFire-Keychain-Flashlight-Battery-Include/dp/B0185J0958/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492549399&sr=8-1&keywords=thorfire+kl02

18650/3xAAA led bulb: didn’t mention because feels cheaply made but I have to admit I do like it for a gag piece ha
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01H4WPA06/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?\_encoding=UTF8&colid=21SFVQOCNL8OH&coliid=I1CUDNM4XTM90B&psc=1

Another take on a universal diffuser
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B007UTYC8A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?\_encoding=UTF8&colid=21SFVQOCNL8OH&coliid=I1Z1M5RFH9M442

Coleman Max Packaway lantern, mentioned above, but rather Fenix or clone
https://smile.amazon.com/Coleman-Pack-Away-LED-Lantern-Mini/dp/B00U4FP0GA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492549556&sr=8-3&keywords=coleman+max+lantern

Black Diamond Apollo, my mistake about the Brunton in above post, got mixed up
https://smile.amazon.com/Black-Diamond-Apollo-Lantern-Process/dp/B00RKUINNY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1492549473&sr=8-4&keywords=black%2Bdiamond%2Blantern&th=1

Thorfire KL02 on Ali is $3.91 only.

If you want a really sharp one with lots of lumens then I’ll go for the Internova Yeti 800 Monster LED Camping and Emergency Lantern or if you want to have an economical one then the Suaoki Collapsible Clover Style 18 Led lantern is a good option. This article helped me a lot and it includes these two lanterns I’ve just mentioned (The 10 Best Outdoor LED Camping Lanterns of 2019 ). Hope this info helps :slight_smile:

A clone of the Zanflare T1 is available:
amazon.com/OHLUX-Magnetic-Adsorption-Brightness-350Lumens/dp/B07ZFDM4P5

If backpacking, weight and bulk are top concerns. A collapsible lantern or a flashlight plus diffuser might be the best options in that situation. One interesting possibility is the Nitecore LA10 which has the diffuser built in (non-removable) and runs on a single AA.

For other types of camping, the Siege 3-AA is a sturdy, small lantern with a choice of 200/100/50 lumens. If you don’t value the lower modes, another lantern of similar size but more output is the Lepro AA lantern. It gives the option of cool tint, warm tint, or both mixed (the latter gives max output- 350 lumens).

Nobody mentions the new Lumintop CL2 with 4x14500 cells. I have ordered one from Neals Gadgets and am still waiting for its delivery.

Has anyone tested this new camping lantern? What are its major pros and cons?

we go camping frequently due to Covid and use this lantern, it is a cheaper variant to what we actually wanted. Maybe we’ll go for something better this year https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/\_A0fvlf

A good cheap/lightweight option is the 3 AA Life Gear 100 lumen flashlight/lantern. Has white and red LEDs and is lightweight enough to float and even turns on in the red flashing mode if dropped in water. Downsides are that there is no low mode for the white light, the batteries are a bit fiddly to change and the construction is fairly cheap plastic. Another feature which some may consider a downside and some not is the light shuts itself off after 1 hour. Total run time for the lantern is about 14 hrs on eneloops.

I have a couple of enrgizer fusion lanterns, one is a 165 lumen “pop-up” that runs on 4 AA’s and a 330 lumen folding lantern that runs on either 4 or 8 AA’s. These look weird but work pretty well for what they are, the fusion screens do a good job at reducing glare, can be ramped down to about 10% and there is no PWM. Tints are very cool and the construction on these does not seem to be all that rugged or water resistant (the rubber straps on the pop ups always break). Run time on 4 eneloops in the pop-up is about 8 hrs on high and I got over 116 hrs on the lowest mode. The 330 lumen folding lantern will run for about 4 hrs on 4 eneloops (or 8 hrs on 8) on high.

Lately, I have been 3D printing diffusers and stands for many of my Maglites and also on for my Fulton MX991 angle head light running a 55 lumen Nite ize drop-in, I think that the later will make a nice camp lantern and it’s not too heavy running a 26650 Li-ion in a adapter. I also like the C cell Mag ML25 and ML50’s for this running on 21700’s for this.

Here’s the Thread about the Lumintop CL2 with impressions from Users:

The CL2 is a really_ nice looking_ light, but it’s essentially just a 160-ish lumen lantern since the higher modes only run for about 4 minutes (high) or 50 seconds (turbo). With a flashlight those short bursts can be useful, but who uses a lantern like that? Not me. I might enjoy a CL2 as a shelf queen, but that’s about it. For actual use there are more practical lanterns.

These can use as one or separate. I have had these used in my house to save electricity . Hooked up to my goal zero charger 100. Plus you can go spot to flood.

I have used these alot. Alots of light can light up a room.
The new ones have flashlight on top and another new one has a USB recharger on it.

Bring your charger and you will have light for days

The up-coming LT1M will be exactly what your asking for.
Small, compact, light, long run time, bright, tint-ramping, rechargeable, multi-cell compatibility, and indefinite light when used with a 10-watt solar charger.