Hi! Does anyone know of a nice bright portable LED lantern. I’m envisioning a single XM-L run off a single or double 18650’s. The size is the most important consideration for me, then weight, then brightness. Even a single T6 XM-L might be too bright, but I’m assuming it would have multiple modes. I’m not set on XM-L, so fire away with other suggestions. It should go without saying that I’m looking for a “budget light”!
Thanks!
pick a decent, floody, 1x18650 flashlight - add a white balloon 
http://www.rayovac.com/Products/Lights/Outdoor/LED-4-Watt-3D-240-Lumen-Area-Lantern.aspx
Uses D cells instead of 18650, but on NiMh it'll run for about three lifetimes. Stock it comes with a triple 5050 SMD array (LEDs in parallel) but it's fairly easily swapped to a single XML/XML2, the old board pops out and the new one pops right back in. It's an odd size but they are available, I forget if it's 25mm or 32mm. Stock driver-thing outputs, I think, around 650mA. Works nice with a single XML with no other changes.
edit: Same lantern is sold under different brand names, might be cheaper if you do some searchin'.
Hmm, I’ve never YET modded a light, but this would be an easy intro! I’m still hoping for something smaller, but if it doesn’t come along I will certainly consider this one. Thanks!
There's also this: http://www.solarforceflashlight-sales.com/product_detail.php?id=445&s=19&t=FA
Or if you're super-cheap, similar effect can be had by sticking an empty white pill bottle onto the head of a normal light.
There was another one that I cannot think of off the top of my head. It was a cheaper brand that some people here showed interest in, but didnt end up seeing much more than that...
I will try to find it and get back to you
Love it! I thought about doing something like that. I’ll have to play around some tonight.
most of my few dozen lanterns i have in my collection & in the RV i have already modded with LEDs, drivers, etc.
Most of my lanterns have a run time of over 24 hours, some up to a few weeks. an XM-L and single 18650 would not give much run time unless its on a driver with a low, but then its not that bright. Running an XM-L at full output on a single or even a dual 18650 will only give between 1 to 3 hours, not much good for camping unless you bring lots of spare cells.
I have used my solarforce lights with lantern head and an XML. Heat is a problem. I solved the heat issue by dropping my lantern into a tall glass of water. Also depending on the ceiling that you have it usually is nicer to just use a water resistant light in a glass of water. Any ripples on the surface make a relaxing design on the roof and people can look at the table without being blinded by the lantern head. Of course, all my lights are overdriven so that might not be an issue for you.
In modern LED camping lanterns, you’ll be hard pressed to beat this GE at any price:
http://www.amazon.com/General-Electric-Bright-Latern-Technology/dp/B007IIYL5C
The emitter uses a remote phosphor technology like the high end LED household bulbs, so it produces a true flawless omnidirectional beam without reflectors and cones. Its also cool running and extremely efficient. The only thing that I dont like about it is that the low mode could stand to be a great deal lower. The switch is electronic with high/medium/low modes. If you dont mind the size, Im not aware of an offering that comes even close to matching its overall performance, efficiency and flawless beam pattern.
It can run from either 4 or 8 D cells:
With 4 batteries, it can run for 50 hours on the High setting and 100 hours on Low setting.
With 8 batteries, it can run for 100 hours on the High setting and 200 hours on Low setting.
I paid $20 for mine at Costco. The one I bought shows a 300 lumen rating on the box and I had absolutely no problems loading the batteries. I suspect the poor early amazon reviews were from the first generation release (260 lumens) and all the bugs have been worked out long ago on the new 300 lumen version. Its hard to believe what you get for your money with this well designed lantern. :bigsmile:
I gave away my Rayovac Sportsman Extreme lantern after comparing them side by side.
Still, nothing in LED comes even remotely close to providing the mega-high light output of a gas mantle lantern.
You have a good point. What would you recommend as a better emmitter?
I love my Solarforce L2P with lantern head. As far as versatility it’s hard to beat. The lantern head can also be mounted on a standard camera tripod. It’s an excellent flashlight. You can choose your drop in so it can be any combination of mode, tint, or beam shape. It’s waterproof. You can get a forward or reverse clicky. Can be extended to run on 2 18650’s. Basically there’s almost no limit when it comes to easily modding these hosts.
On the side too is a Fenix HP20 diffuser fits perfectly. Great for completely making it floody without losing a lot of lumens like most DIY diffusers.
Another 18650 rechargeable lantern.
edited post for similar thread.
I have placed this 1W Warm White emitter with its own AMC7135 driver on the star in almost every lantern i have.
>> https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001864/1134701-generic-1w-led-emitter-with-350ma-amc7135-driver
They run anywhere between 2.5 volts to 6 volts with a resistor (tested)
Some with a 22 ohm 1/2 watt resistor in the circuit to lengthen the run time to a fiew days on just three AA alcalines.
I have two of these units in a Coleman lantern that was converted over from flurescent, and re-wired it to run with 3 D cells and it runs for a week continous on low, and a couple days on high and is brighter than the orginal flourescents were.
i have also used the bases alone and added my own emitters for different lights.
Bases 3-pack: >>
https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10001840/1133803-universal-star-base-plates-with-350ma-amc7135-driv
Star/Driver only:
I always place the emitter at the top facing down, as all the small LED lights have the emitter facing up and always glares the eyes when on a table. ( same with using a flashlight with a diffuser, if its tail standing it always casts a shadow on the table below it and glares to much. I never liked the idea of having the emitter facing up in a lantern.
Here is one example of my many, many modded lanterns.
its one of those small Dorcy 4-AA lights, ( adjustable from beam to lantern mode) formerly had a Krypton Incan bulb.
with the incan it ran roughly 3 to 4 hours on a new set of Energizers to about 50 % flat, and in 6 hours it was dimmer than a birthday cake candle burning out.
I used a 1 watt warm generic white LED, replaced the filament in the incan bulb with the LED, ( no heatsink, no star, just the bare LED !) and added two 1/4 watt 56 ohm resistors in series in the circuit to regulate the LED to a brightness level where it generates almost no heat but still brighter than the Krypton bulb was, and measured a load amps of only 0.04 amps with the four new AA alcalines. i ran this light over a full WEEK continously, and at the end of the week it was still as bright as the orginal Incan was on new cells, and i measured each Energizer volatage to be still at 1.39 volts each.
There seems to be fine line between run-time efficency in a Light Emitting Diode and that efficency drops drastically when its pushed to the level and beyond when it begins to produice alot of heat that it requires a heatsink.
I have lanterns we turn on at the start of 3 - 4 day camping trips, and they never get turned off for the entire trip, not even in the day.
I have bought some pieces of Solarforce lanternheads to my friends.
The new model differs a bit from the older. Price 20USD is not too bad for what you get but just a generic cheapo-diffuser (like pill-can) will get you pretty good results for free.
i had one of those SF lanternheads, i was not impressed with it and gave it to a cousin with it modded to a generic light for a gift.
energizer fusion folding lantern is an incredibly good looking lantern It really looked like it would work …It ramps to desired output and seems very easy on the eyes where most lanterns imo just suck bad…most are just lame or so glarey…<(??) they are hard to be around
http://www.target.com/p/energizer-fusion-folding-lantern/-/A-14438842#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink
I almost bought it last summer just to try it with the intention of returning it if I didn’t like it .
Instead I've been using two s2 convoys with 5c tints with diffusion material on the lens .Get a qlite driver and maybe multiple layers of DC-FIX .