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. 
Will the lantern collapse when not in use? Or will you have to pack all that space with it?
no. (I don’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.
I’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.
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 haven’t really thought about emitter choice for this project… I’m not very involved in the hardware. Maybe XP-G3 would be good, or maybe 219c, or maybe XP-L or XP-L2, or … etc. I hope it’ll be high-CRI though, and hopefully no warmer than 4000K. 219c 4000K could be good.
It’s worth mentioning that high CRI isn’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
Interested
Count me in for a BLF Lantern, thanks!
If interest list is still being updated, I like to be added to it. Thanks
I wouldn’t want a camp lantern over 4000k. The Fenix CL25R lanterns are in the 5000k region I believe. Bought some Lee filters to warm them up
Given that this is BLF, I’m willing to bet the emitter will be easy to swap if you aren’t happy with it out of the box. Hopefully we can an update on the design soon!
add me to the list , 4000k hi cri pls