*BLF LT1 Lantern Project) (updated Nov,17,2020)

I have a 650lm Fenix CL30R. I never use it on high, its just too bright for around the campsite.

I will take one as well.

Agreed on warm light.

I sure hope itā€™s a lot more than 500 lumens, that isnā€™t much for times where youā€™re trying to light up a decent sized camp. That said, when itā€™s pitch black out, your eyes adjust pretty well to lower light levels.

I have not measured it for lumens accurately, but it is the second brightest LED lantern i have (out of dozens of modded ones i built & modded) the problem is it can not be pushed to bright because of its compact size, ( there is not enough heat-sinking metal to prevent it from over heating. Lanterns differ from flashlights in that lanterns run continuously for hours at a time. Even with just two 7135 chips, on high, (at .700 amps) after a hour running the solid aluminum heatsink top gets hot. When i ran it with three 7135s at 1.05 amps, it got to hot to hold ot touch after a hour. it produces more light output thana 40 watt Incandescent light bulb, to push it brighter woudl require a much larger finned top heatsink. (thus it wonā€™t be pocket-sized anymore.

I am actually not sure what 500 lumens from this lantern will look like. I am sure that it will be more than enough for campfires and cat fishing on the riverbank. If I need more light I will use more than one lantern. :slight_smile:

Will the lantern collapse when not in use? Or will you have to pack all that space with it?

no. (I donā€™t see how it would be possible to collapse a beer-can sized lantern with 4 18659 cells in it, would drive the price up to high.

The demonstration photos in the OP shows how bright it is to an extent. ( the first photos shows its brighter than a Coleman Fuel pressure camp lantern.

Iā€™m extremely excited for this lantern. Please take your time and do it right. I think most of us are plenty patient and just want a polished end product. Thank you for tackling this project!

I am changing jobs in 3 weeks, so I have to concentrate on that for the next few weeks,. but after the change over I will have much more free time to focus on the lantern project finally. ( considering over the last year my life has been chaos with nearly no free time to work on projects.

interested. please include me in the list

Good luck with your new job :partying_face:

Best of luck on the new job, I know how stressful a new gig can be. :slight_smile:

According to the CREE PCT, a XP-L V3 @700mAh would produce about 331 lumens. I prefer brighter, but as has been said, a lantern is different from a flashlight, and that may be plenty of light, if the lantern is well designed to put the light where it is needed.

Interestingly, a XP-G3 S6 would give us ~373lm @700mAh, and have a lower Vf than the XP-L V3, and is probably cheaper to buy.

Yes, finding the most efficient LED at the aimed current would be verry usefull.
Perhaps a good CRI would be nice too.

I havenā€™t really thought about emitter choice for this projectā€¦ Iā€™m not very involved in the hardware. Maybe XP-G3 would be good, or maybe 219c, or maybe XP-L or XP-L2, or ā€¦ etc. I hope itā€™ll be high-CRI though, and hopefully no warmer than 4000K. 219c 4000K could be good.

Itā€™s worth mentioning that high CRI isnā€™t going to be as efficient.

Nichia 219C would be nice - good CRI and neutral white.

Cheers
Nico

Take care of you source of income first, so you will have money to buy more lights :slight_smile:

Interested