I've bought some other simialrly priced LED lanterns, and this one is fairly bright. DO NOT expect it to light up a campground like a kersone mantle-type lantern. But for ambient room light during emergencies, and compared to others that claim they have a 10-20 LED's, this 'one-LED' type was brighter than all my others (and they did an especially good job of design to reflcet back light that would normally be 'lost'). And the fold-away capaility is a nice feature since it IS full-size like any Coleman camp lantern. I haven't tested how long it will burn with 4D cells, but definitely use it on the half-power setting. Half-power gives almost as much light as full power. Reason: If you know anything about luminosity, you know that you would need about 4 times the energy to double the light output as perceived by the eye. So save your batteries and stay with the one-half power setting. Coleman 4D Pack-Away LED Lantern
Works as advertised. A couple nits to pick:
1. It's almost impossible to see the settings on the switch on top of the lantern if it's dark outside.
2. It collapses a bit too easily. If you barely touch the top, then it collapses. Why no catch to hold it open?
3. It can be left on AND closed, which would drain the batteries (my wife did this to "turn it off").
I can't help to feel that some others on here have gotten confused about this product. While it is seemingly not as rugged as Coleman gas lanterns, it just might prove to be more durable. I have personally had the glass globe on my traditional Coleman lantern broken twice by little more than bumping into it with something hard. The heat produced with the gas powered lanterns is intense and makes that glass globe very easy to break. The plastic lens/globe on this lantern seems very durable and I'm sure it will take a bit more shock than the glass one. Another point on this is the fact that it can retreat down into the case (like a turtle) and suddenly become half the size that it was in the expanded operational configuration.
This light is the small, portable, more compact version of the 8D cell unit. It is designed to be compact enough to fit into places where the bigger ones can't fit. It's designed to be lesser weight than the full sized ones. The weight thing comes with a trade-off. If you want to cut weight, you cut down on strength. I've handled this light quite a bit and even intentionally bumped it pretty hard. It doesn't seem too fragile.
Light emissions are very good. I agree that switch placement on the top seems strange but not that big of a deal. I wasn't really planning on use outside, as it will mostly be an emergency light backup for power outages. As such, it seems to be built very well.
The carry handle makes an excellent structure, when down, to build an aluminum foil reflector on, or you can easily mold one on the side of the globe.
When the top is retracted into the case, the unit is very small and compact. A nice design for storage. But extending it again requires a bit of practice to determine the exact force required to make it stay open and not so much that you'd damage it.
Overall, when considering that this has a high output cree LED that is still relatively expensive (more or less), the price seems very cheap for what you get.
I am so dissapointed in this purchase.
I bought this lantern at the beginning of last summer for when I worked at Girl Scout camp as a counselor. I needed something bright so I could lead my kids up the mile long hill to the cabins at night.
This sure as heck is bright. BUT, the way the plastic is put together it creates a weird pattern. Also, it projects out so if you hold it low, you don't get any light infront of you - just at your feet. Ran into a lot of trees and bushes.
Although it is nice that it is collapsable, this function broke almost immeaditly. There was no hard use with it, either. It lived in the cabin storange area where it never got bumped or knocked over. It was used only after campfire, once a week, and the occasional night time breaks.
Once it began to collapse randomly, the plastic around the light broke. Then the batteries wouldn't stay in.
Honestly, if you want a good lantern get the old school propane or LED ones. This one just isn't worth the money.
I have run this lamp every night(all night as a night light for kids) for 4 months on one set of duracells ( non-rechargable)I have used it in camp at -40degrees for a week with no problems on the same batteries. the collapsable globe makes it travel friendly. I can't recomend this lantern enough. I am usually very critical of gear when it comes to camping and outdoor use and not usually a big fan of coleman but this is the bee's knees.
Nice lantern for camping or emergency use (living here in hurricane country). I like that it has three brightness settings, used the lowest to make my tent easier to find at night. Puts out good light at highest setting. I dock it one star because of the collapsible feature, very easy to close it when you don't mean to, then need to be sure the light is off when collapsed so you don't waste batteries. Would be better if it took a bit more force to shut it when open, also if there were a switch to turn it off when closed. On the other hand, it's a great value as is. - Emergency Light - Coleman - Camping Lantern - Camping'
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