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

The tech behind it is solid, tested on a large scale in Norway if I remember correctly and also in the Netherlands (there is a 32KM long dyk with fresh water on one side and salt on the other. Waste product is semi salt water, well that occurs on all places a river flows in the sea.
Very nice to see this on a small scale, think I am going to back this.

Itā€™s a great idea for sure. I canā€™t tell you how many times I have looked for a really good lantern that runs off of 18650ā€™s. Of course I make my own, but I really canā€™t keep up with the demand for the ones I make right now. Using a SRK for the base is a brilliant idea. I canā€™t say for sure if Iā€™ll be in or not right now. But it sounds very promising.

I have seen that lantern with water/sodium cell, its an interesting idea though it will not likely have a long run time or expect it to have a very bright light output. we will have to see one it does come avaliable. it still used ā€œconsumablesā€ though, in the form of the metal anode (rod) and water + salt, instead of batteries. ( also it will require maintenance like cleaning & drying the cell periodically, along with draining & clean when storing the lantern.
great concept for long term off-grid or back country use, but will have to wait it see how it really performs when its available.

Definitely interested if in the $20 to 30 range. For sake of size and weight, suggest 3 cells or even 2. Maybe have an extender for extra cells if not too complicated with the batteries in parallel (I have no idea). Whatever you do, please keep the batteries in parallel (and also keep the low voltage detection).

Den, Iā€™d also like to suggest another project for you and your learned colleagues here. Iā€™m also interested in an ultra-cheap down firing diffuser adapter thingy to create a lantern from a standard flashlight. Iā€™m sure youā€™ve made things like this for yourself but I havenā€™t seen anything like this for sale. Iā€™m not suggesting this as a substitute for your original idea ā€” I like the idea of a dedicated lantern that is optimised for such. It would however be great to have a bunch of these adapter thingys around the house for emergency use or whatever.

What about the Solarforce lantern adapter That interest you? BLF review here.

-Garry

Already did that one :slight_smile:

After a few dozen different designs i tested for basic flashlight diffusers, ( including factory built diffuser covers, hoods, etc.) The one that seems to work the best is the ones i have built below. (this sample is a small unit to fit my Roche, Convoy, Olight S15, etc.) The principle of this design is the reflect as much light downward at the same time allowing a diffused flood beam to be directed upward, while reducing the eye-level ā€œglareā€ as low as possible, in this case this diffuser below almost has no glare at all. (that can even be seen in all the photos of the lantern head below where there is even no camera lens flare.)

The first photo shows the Lantern-Head used on my warm white 3000K Roche F6, on low mode. I placed it against a white wall to show the beam emitting pattern, where it emits more light up and down at the same time, while reducing the ā€œside glareā€ that is a big fault of 90 % of the factory lanterns on the market. (second inset photo shows the light output in all directions at the levels i designed this lantern head to do.)
The next photo below shows the lantern head close up, ( its built from a simple acrylic bottle with a white frosted top, and a section of ball-point pen tubing in the center as a ā€œlight carrierā€.
The inset photo to the lower right shows the Roche on medium mode using the Lantern Head, here you can see how even it directs the light where its needed most. The floor areas are illuminated very evenly along with the ceiling area, while the side glare at eye level is almost non existent. I have used these Lantern Heads out on camping trips, and they work great out doors too with low glare and illuminating everything where the light is needed most.

This will be the principle design of this BLF lantern project of this topic, but in reverse. (also will be much more powerful.)

Im interested, depending on the price. Do you have any rough idea?

have no idea yet, that will depend on the manufacturers and what Kronos can work out with them once the prototype is a go.

I like the idea of a bright, efficient. Warm color led. High cri
But it needs to be able to actually go camping with. It needs to be sturdy, wind rain, who knows it could get tipped. Or fall off tree branch.
When I camp I load a military large pack up and hop on my dirt bike.
All of this is difficult to make happen, especially at an affordable price.
But if you can swing it, I am interested.

Puh, thats great, need it in summertime this year, or next year, orā€¦
Thank you!
Ahm yes, im in for one or two, depends on size and extras. Maybe one fully equipped - charger, power, mirror,ā€¦ and one with the basics you told in the beginning :smiling_face:
ā€”

Iā€™m interested.

Updates coming soon, been overloaded with work the last week)

Wonder if weā€™ll ever see this

http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2016/03/cree-demonstrates-134-lm-w-packaged-led-with-incandescent-quality.html

ā€œCree has announced the results of laboratory tests of a single high-power packaged LED that delivered almost 1600 lm with light quality that matches the incandescent lampā€

The closest we have right now is either the Cree XP-L U5 7A3 , or Cree XM-L2 T4 7A4. (which i will be testing both in the lantern project.

Thinking about ordering this
Flash diffuser

Mod it so it fits either the Uniquefire UF1401 (if I wor it out with Gearbest to get a working one) or a SRK with the V2 moonlight enabled driver.
Would that not make an ideal tabletop camping light?

Or with this

Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like a great adapter but a little pricey. I was hoping someone like Den could design something cheap that can be attached to various flashlights around the house during an outage.

Which is why youā€™d be a great candidate to design an ultra cheap universal adapter for mass production. Heck you might even make a buck or two. Just be sure we forum members get a discount :wink:

Great project! Iā€™m in!

Sounds good as long as itā€™s not too expensive.

Sounds interesting! I am interested.

Interested, depending on cost. Iā€™ve been working on a ā€œlidā€ light for a while, though much less powerful than this (two 18500s). Adafruit makes a stand alone Lith Ion/Li Poly micro USB charge board 3/4ā€ square for 7 bucks. Itā€™ll only push 500ma, but itā€™s self contained, affordable, available, and made here. Also, should it be of use to you, Nalgene 4 and 8 ounce polycarbonate straight wall jars have Mason threads on them (very close to the diameter youā€™re working withā€”2.625ā€ thread OD and 2.52ā€ jar ID). Stainless one piece Mason lids and silicone seals are available from Mason Lifestyle. Iā€™m thinking that riveting a stainless lid to the base plate would be an easy and waterproof way to join the diffuser (if using the Nalgene jar) and body. Even better may be to cut mason threads in the aluminum housing itself and skip the lid, though the two may not work out diameter-wise.