I bought this lamp as more of a joke than anything. Sure enough i took it on our most recent camping trip and i was blown away at how much light it emits. It will easily light up a tent or room on its full setting plus it only takes 3 AA batteries which is great since 90% of my camping electronics are AA. This is a serious lantern if your backpacking or need something small and lightweight. Infact, this lamp outperforms my 3D 3-LED Energizer Eveready lantern. Rayovac SP1W3AALN-B Sportsman 65-Lumens LED Mini Lantern With Batteries
It's advertised at 70 lumens, while other similar size lanterns with 3 AA batteries rarely 'boast' about any illumination measurement. However, this one does have ONE 'configuration' advantage over other similar-priced mini lantern models. You can remove the light diffuser, and hang it as a bare-bulb light, upside down, from the top of your tent (or house ceiling if you've pre-placed a hook in the middle of the room's ceiling). By doing that, you considerably boost the light output...in fact I've tried other mini lanterns in the price range, and none come close to this one--providing that you use it in the bare bulb, upside down configuration I've just described. (With the difusser on, and sitting on a table, it's nothing but ordinary.) If you've ever used a lantern, you know that the higher it's placed inside a room/tent, the more 'even' the illumination. (By the way, it took 2 people 20 minutes to figure out that to insert the batteries, you have to "twist" the bottom...as there are no such instructions or guide arrows to assist you.)
This is a great lantern for camp or for shop use. The lantern uses a single button on the front; click it once to turn the light on high, a second time to turn it on low, and a third to turn it off. From off, hold the button in for three seconds and the light will go into a flashing (strobing) mode in the high setting. Output is great on this thing, especially considering that it uses three AAA batteries. Speaking of batteries, it can use any kind safely; alkaline, NiMH, lithium, or even NiCad. I get a very nice amount of light before it goes dead, perhaps 40 or so hours on standard alkalines. I've dropped mine a few times and while the plastic feels cheap, the light is still crack-free. The top unscrews so you can hang the light upside-down (with the tent hook in the bottom) and illuminate your entire workspace. Overall, this is an excellent lighting product.
I think I'll order a second of these. I haven't had mine long enough to evaluate battery life, but the light output, hanger hook, removable diffuser and hi/lo power option make this a very nice lantern at this price. I also like the small size and light weight.
I don't think the tiny, flashing led to help locate the lantern in the dark is necessary. Also, the "carrying handle" is kinda silly... the lantern doesn't get hot and you can easily hold/carry it in your hand without the handle. That said, neither the flashing led nor the carrying handle hurt anything, so I'm sticking with my 5 star rating.
Oh, and removing the bottom, inserting batteries and replacing the bottom seemed logical and obvious to me; and I am no genius. Darned if I know why some folks had so much trouble. The only "trick" in replacing the bottom is to make sure the little slot in the screw-on bottom is lined up with the tab inside the battery compartment. That feature assures the battery contacts will be lined up correctly.
Buy one, you'll like it!
UPDATE APRIL 17 2011. What at first appeared to be an excellent product, which I rated 5 star, has a badly designed contact in the battery compartment. This contact is easily bent in the process of closing the battery compartment. Gentle attempts to bend it back repeatedly failed. Finally it broke off, forcing me to make a jumper with #22 wire. While this works fine, if you have a soldering iron available, this is not a failure I would want anyone to experience camping near treeline on a mountain. Fortunately I was only dealing with a power failure and had three other lanterns. The D cell version of this lantern Rayovac SE3DLN Sportsman Extreme 300-Lumen 3D-Battery LED Lantern has much larger contacts and would be less likely to fail.
I've bought four lanterns powered by AA batteries and this is marginally the brightest of the bunch. The price is reasonable. The only problem I've had so far is the insanely difficult means of inserting batteries and screwing the base back on.
this is a small size lantern but it provides pretty nice amount of light that is even a bit surprising for its size.
I found that it is very good to use as a tent light. It is very lightweight and has a built in hook for hanging upside down inside the tent. the cover can then be easilty removed. It light up a family tent pretty well (two room 8 person tent). So you get a tent light at lower price (including the batteries!) that is very effective.
It is less effective for using outside the tent though. I thought a more powerful lantern is required there.
It is also pretty good as an emergency light inside the house. It will provide some light so the house is not in complete darkness but again, the light is less powerful than a full sized lantern.
the blinking green light when the lantern is off is a very nice feature. You can easily find the lantern in complete darkness - very useful in tents!
I love this lantern because it throws a lot of light for it's size and weight. I have used it on multiple campouts (well over a year total) without changing the batteries, although I do remove them before storing the lanterns. I am always skeptical about manufacturer ratings (lumens, mpg, etc) but I know this lights the inside of my 9'x9' Eureka Sunrise tent sufficiently to do what I need when hung upside down with the defuser removed. It is also great to use in the latrine after dark with the defuser installed. It is lightweight and fits in my bag or backpack easily. The hook in the base can be difficult to open but I would rather that then be loose. The lantern is sturdy but I fear the hook could break if not secured in the base. It is waterproof and I have used in in some pretty good rainstorms.
I like the strobe because it makes it easy to find in the tent when it's pitch black. The lantern has two levels of illumination and the power button has a slight ridge over it to minimize turning the lantern on accidentally but I have had it turn on in my bag so I now reverse one of the batteries when traveling.
I practiced opening and closing the battery compartment a few time at home and don't find it very difficult at all. I guess some people are less mechanically inclined that others. No insult meant. I always have more than one light source with me while camping so I don't fear changing batteries in the dark.
I don't believe the strobe will run the batteries down significantly unless left for a very long time. As with any battery powered device, if used for emergency lighting in the home, I would recommend inspecting the batteries every six months and replacing if necessary. Even a good quality battery will die and leak if left for a prolonged period of time - in any device so don't store it with the batteries over the winter.
I would recommend the larger model (Rayovac SE3DLN Sportsman Extreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern) though, if used in a cabin or on a picnic table, but it is much heavier. - Rayovac - Led Lantern - Flashlight - Led Light'
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