LED campsite lanterns worth looking at?

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Tallbald

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On a recent camping trip with our young granddaughter, Miss Penny and I talked about the hassle of liquid fuel lanterns. I love tradition and old Coleman lanterns. But for quick use-it-here-and -there applications, we have decided to investigate battery operated LED lights. We can't use the Coleman gas lanterns in our converted cargo trailer camper, and hanging one from our pop-up shelter means taking great care not to burn the nylon top. Also, safety out in the dark prevents me from feeling it's OK to have children carry a gas lantern around.
Now. Most of the LED "lanterns" I have seen are cheaply made hard plastic products that contain inside them thin, spindly soldered wires and hardware without the rugged construction I want for a working tool. A few years ago I was gifted just such a "lantern" that accidentally fell maybe four feet from a closet shelf and broke into several pieces. I didn't even try to repair it and threw it out after saving the fresh batteries.
What I hope for is an LED lantern similar in quality construction to a MagLight. I don't mind paying more for a good tool either. Aluminum would be great. Industrial grade plastic would be fine too. I want soundly assembled wiring and high quality switches.
Suggestions for a line of LED lanterns to look into would be appreciated.
Thanks. Don.
 
Several years ago I was given a Dorcy camp lantern, this one takes four "D" cells. We used it for emergency lighting, now sort of use it for a bedside lamp. We bought one just like it for Nita's mother, and after her death, we acquired it.

We have used these for emergency lighting during power outages without any problems. Ours are not LED, but the newer ones are. They are of seemingly rugged construction, though we have never really subjected them to hard use. Battery life seems good, but our use is somewhat infrequent and for short periods But as to quality, these do seem to be first rate.

Bob Wright
 
Take a look at the Streamlight Seige. I have three of them.

http://www.streamlight.com/en-gb/product/product.html?pid=287
 
I have an older Coleman led duo version that works well and similar to the pictured quad version.
http://www.coleman.com/product/coleman-quad-led-lantern/2000024041?contextCategory=FullSizeLanterns#.VZQublK2qGY
2000024041_hero.jpg


And I have a Micro Quad LED Mini Lantern that works well.
http://www.coleman.com/product/micro-quad-led-mini-lantern/2000006666?contextCategory=MiniLantern#.VZQu4VK2qGY
2000006666_500a.jpg

Coleman has an assortment of led lanterns.
 
Look at the ones on the Cabela's site
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/lanterns/_/N-1100173/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104428080
or this one: http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-led-lantern/
 
I have an LED combination(flash light/flood light) that powers from my Ridgid 18 volt tool batteries. It seems robust and capable of taking some knocks w/o coming apart. Upside is, I don't have to buy batteries. Downside is, weight and slight inconvenience of having to recharge every 24 hours of use.
We bought one of the "el-cheapo" ($4 minus 11% @ Menards) LED lanterns for our frequent wienie roasts where there's no lighting. I doubt it would stand much rough handling but that's not likely anyway.
Definitely safer when the little ones are chasing around and possibly could run into or knock over a Coleman lantern.
 
luci inflatable solar lanterns. don't laugh an outfitter friend of mine tested them last season, switched over completely this year. I did too.
 
TitanX said:
WAYNO said:
You fellers must have pretty good night vision. I have yet to find an LED lantern that gives off enough light to be truly useful. I rate them as only better than nothing.

WAYNO.
Click to expand...

From what I hear, 250 lumens is approximately equal to a 60 watt lightbulb.

Many of these lantern options will put that out.

The GZ stuff operating off a battery pack can put out 350 X 8 = 2,800 lumens (just over 11 60-watt bulbs), enough to light up a pretty large campsite.

It sounds like you're a fan of Coleman fuel lanterns. For me, I gave up bothering with fuel and mantles.
Click to expand...

Not being a physics major, I don't understand everything there is to know about lumens. I have handled flashlights and lanterns claiming incredible lumen ratings. Individually, each little LED will fry my retinas, but collectively, they don't broadcast a usable lighting pattern. From my experience, (and I really am trying to make these LED lanterns work for me), lighting even a page from a newspaper or magazine would not allow me to read the page, but if I hold these devices really close to the page, it will just about fry the words off the page.

Guess I will continue to experiment.

Or maybe my cataracts are worse than the insurance-paid doctors are allowed to admit to me. :mrgreen:

WAYNO.
 
Hey thanks so much to everyone here who responded. Following all the links listed and reading a lot of reviews such as on Amazon about the build of the Streamlight, it looks like the best setup for us would be one of the large Streamlight Sieges and one of the smaller ones. I appreciate that they float (if I understand right). When not in our camper they will be in the house for power outages. No fuss no fumes like my liquid fuel lanterns, except when outside in the yard having a cookout. I also love tradition and will keep using them too as appropriate. Don.
 
I think I would go with a Xeno (pronounced Z-no) F7, F8, G42 or F42.
The F7/8 come in 300 lumen (on high), 150 L on medium and about 40 L on
low. Aimed at the tent roof would illuminate the whole tent (not enough for
reading, but so what) The F/G42 double the output.

NOT CHEAP! The 7/8 run near fifty and the 42s run $60.
High(er?) output flash lights
 
Okay. Ya caused me to go out today and buy a Streamlight Siege lantern. Still wont replace a propane lantern for when I really need a lot of light, but it is quite convenient. Tried it out in my dark garage a few minutes ago, and it is enough light to negotiate a campsite.

Some years ago I bought an inexpensive Coleman incandescent lantern. Even with only a single flashlight bulb as its light source, it worked quite well. It quit working last year and I've bought numerous LED lanterns to replace it, and they did not compare to that old Coleman light. This Streamlight I bought today is even better than the cheapie Coleman. So now I am pleased.

Thanks for this thread.

WAYNO.
 
TitanX said:
Pistolero said:
Don Lovel said:
New Thermocell is camp light and mosquito repellant
http://www.thermacell.com/mosquito-repellent/lanterns
Click to expand...

I am interested to know how well it works as a mosquito repellant.
Click to expand...

I don't have the Thermacell lantern but I have this from them...

710417.jpg


It works fine for a personal repellent within a 15 foot circle, if the wind isn't very strong.
Click to expand...

That looks like a serious personal repellant gadget. I went ahead and ordered a Thermocell repellant lantern from Amazon. It had some good reviews. I will use it when I drive up to Chama next week for a month vacation. The mosquitos in Chama are fierce!
 
At our campsites, we have been using propane for lighting, cooking, and heating for a long time.
If a light isn't hooked to a 20# bottle, we use the 1pound for portability, which we refill our small bottles with the 20#. All our flashlights are LED... I would say, LED lanterns would be best around small children.
 
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