im going camping soon and would like to get a nice lantern. i bought one of those 18 led lanterns from china a couple years ago, and they dont do diddly squat. they do ok in a small room, but outdoors, they were not very bright, plus you needed to turn the lantern horizontally to get more light…wierd.
im looking to spend around $40-$50, and ran by batteries. i been eyeing this one on amazon for a while, but i would like to ask members here first for suggestions.
Can’t stand em’… big (no HUGE), heavy, battery monsters. Give me a Zebralight flood optic I can tailstand, clip onto my tent or wear as a headlamp ANY DAY. I also use a fenix MC10 with the flood-diffuser. If theres a tree branch at the right location, I use paracord and strap these lights overhead for close area flood. You can actually do this with any light thats geared for flood.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally anti-lantern. I mean who doesn’t want EVERYTHING around them lit up all the time? I just have found that the amount of flood-light necessary to do that is a LOT, and its big, $$$, and takes a lot of watt-hours for even a relatively short camping trip. I have found that its better (more efficient) for me to place light specifically where I (and maybe others) will need it. When you factor in cubic volume of pack-space, or vehicle space… theres no contest…. IMHO of course.
yes they are huge battery monsters. thats partly the reason why i havent bought one yet. yes i can just use my flashlights and tail stand it, but that only works well in a closed environment. and i have a head lamp ill be bringing as well.
i forgot to mention, this lantern will be used for our table/bench that seats 12. i wanted something to put like on the middle of the table so we just have some light while we’re eating or doing whatevers.
that idea of paracording my floody flashlight is a very good option. but if there is nothing to hang the flashlight to, then im screwed.
I don’t like lanterns because of the fact that it, it ends up blinding me or killing my darkness-adjusted eyes.
I rather ceiling bounce floody lights, or remove reflectors to produce a candle effect, but i point it away from my eyes since it’s still bright.
That Rayovac is my favourite lantern.
I have the warm white version (only available in Japan I think… or was back 3 years ago when I got it.)
I like it. It is my go to lantern when I go camping.
The removable cover means you can hang it by the recessed hook above your table and shine the light down with no artifacts.
If you have a lot of AA batteries you can grab 3 of those AA to D plastic converters and use them.
Of course run time suffers. There are even 2AA to D converters available.
I find using 3 D cells gives me plenty of run time.
Compared to other led lanterns available this puts out a lot of light.
Definitely not a hiking lantern though with those D cells it has a bit of weight about it.
THIS just came in today. I ordered it for my mum, who said she wanted a lantern to keep around the house.
I gotta admit, for the price it’s pretty well-made. The tube wall is quite thick and overall build is good (for the price).
Only downside is the stupid blinky mode.
I’ve got one of the Rayovacs. Very nice for the price, though starting to get dated compared to the latest LED’s coming out. The fact that it has a hook on the bottom and you can remove the top and hang it upside down and use like a lightbulb is a cool feature. I keep mine in a little storm shelter/closet I built under the stairs in my house and use it for the light source since I didn’t feel like running new wiring and in a storm, you’d probably lose electricity anyway. I sometimes use it as a worklight out in the garage too, in addition to taking it camping (I’m not a backpacker, though).
Fenix diffuser on my Xeno E03 and UF-H3 are my lantern duty lights. Same as you I had the same nothing to hang from problem.
I put the E03 in a small glass(not stable tailstander when camping), place it on a small box to elevate it a little so it can cover more area, then put it in the center of the table. Works great as the beams goes outward and downward it doesn’t blind your eyes.
Though the pale bluish tint of the UF-H3 looks ugly compared to the NW E03.
The Rayovac is the best that I have seen for anywhere near that price. Decent output, long run time, cheap, durable, non glaring and that hanging hook is quite handy inside or outside. Don’t expect that you can get away without two or even three at a good size table, it just doesn’t output that much light. We figure 3 battery lanterns to 1 ratio of light over a double mantle gas lamp. Wish they would update it with a better emitter.
Black Diamond has a slick lantern, but you will pay upwards of $80 for it. Its the best I have ever used. Coleman also has a high output lantern, also running about $70-80, though I have only seen it at a fellow campers table and he was thinking it would replace a gas lantern. Much safer in a tent or pop up, but not to replace all that glaring, hissing, gaseous light, no…
The lantern adaptors from Solarforce are the bomb for us kayak/canoe campers. You can run 2-3 of those per two- four man campsite and then in the tents at night). The higher power emitters really pump the light out, but of course, heat and battery run time are your issues there just as in a handheld light.
If you are staying closer to the car, we have been using Goal Zero’s 12v LED lamps for three seasons and can’t say enough good about them. Nice quality, decent output, a bit pricey (but fair for the build quality), durable and hopefully upgradeable at some point. We have 4 of these in camp - two for the popup shelter and two in clamp on fixtures bought at a hardware store and rigged with battery clamps and cigarette lighter adaptors. So little drain on the battery. Switches, daisy chainable, sweet! And with the NE two big storms last fall, ever, ever so useful in the house for the 16 days we went w/o AC power from the pole!
I have them, but only use when I’m going camping, just cause they aren’t that useful other than in a campsite. And for the use in normal situations, the bulk of them isn’t worth it. And I have thse little rayovac xenon bulb lanterns that last at least 1 hour with like 50 lumens on 4 aa’s.
That collection of lanterns and stoves looks like our old Boy Scout camp room - except there isn’t remnants of crusty old mac n cheese spread in every direction…
