LED Lanterns

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LED Lanterns

Postby Rich » Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:05 pm

So on our backpacking trips my son has this weird thing where he wakes up and panics (and then wakes me up) because he thinks he's outside of the tent. Not really an unreasonable feeling. It's pitch black in the canyon at night and the tent material is so thin (to save weight) that it does nothing to muffle the sound of the river 20' away.

So my solution was to buy a small adjustable output LED lantern. On the lowest setting it will run forever and is dim enough to sleep through. It worked perfectly.

On the high setting I was extremely impressed. At a single watt - this thing was almost as bright as my fuel lantern. I couldn't help but replace my fuel lantern with the larger 3 watt version formy upcoming trip.

You may be able to make out that the LED's are in the bottom of frosted globe area and point straight up where the light hits a light difuser in the roof.

Advatages are many: No fragile mantles, no fragile glass, No heavy fuel/fuel cells. No dangerous fuels. Use it in your tent at night without fear of burning the tent. Compact to save room in your pack or gear bag in your truck. These weigh less than any of my lanterns WITHOUT fuel/fuel cells.

Light output on both is adjustable. Hold the power button down and the light dims. Let off the button when you get to desired light output.

Small lantern has a clever split d-ring that allows hanging on a tent loop without need for a separate clip.

Cost is $30 and $50. There is an optional charger/battery system with these lanterns. Put in rechargeable batteries and plug the lantern in directly (no removing the batteries to charge).
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Re: LED Lanterns

Postby Seth » Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:45 pm

Whoa, those are small. I really like that. Can you give a little more detail on the light output? Can you snap a pic with the led's a different power output?

One complaint with most LED lights is that they seem bright in the immediate area, but they don't shoot out a light pattern very far. Can you discuss this point with your two LED lanterns?
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Re: LED Lanterns

Postby Mark » Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:08 am

Ok, so let me get this right. You are taking bids between $30 and $50 for the two LED lanterns and you will include a $10 bill....SOLD :lol:

I like those. I have a couple of LED lanterns that I keep in the camper (just moved them to the new one this weekend :where: 8) ) that work fairly good but not the greatest coverage. I suspect these are much higher end though, might have to check them out
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Re: LED Lanterns

Postby Rich » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:25 pm

Seth wrote:Whoa, those are small. I really like that. Can you give a little more detail on the light output? Can you snap a pic with the led's a different power output?

One complaint with most LED lights is that they seem bright in the immediate area, but they don't shoot out a light pattern very far. Can you discuss this point with your two LED lanterns?


I'll try to remember to take pics tonight. Maybe even fire up my gas lantern for comparison. There is plenty of output at longer distances, I think the reason it's better than past LED lighting is the light disuser in the top of the globe. I will say that to get the most widespread light - you need to hang the lantern a little higher than you would a traditional lantern. This could also be viewed as a good thing because at normal height the light isn't blinding you.
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Re: LED Lanterns

Postby Rich » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:27 pm

Mark wrote:Ok, so let me get this right. You are taking bids between $30 and $50 for the two LED lanterns and you will include a $10 bill....SOLD :lol:



For you - I'd sell either for $10. Shippings going to be pricey though. :lol:
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Re: LED Lanterns

Postby Mark » Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:36 pm

Rich wrote:For you - I'd sell either for $10. Shippings going to be pricey though. :lol:

:lol: :lol:
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Re: LED Lanterns

Postby Brock Samson » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:57 pm

We've been waiting a long time for those pictures! :)

It would be cool to rig a solar panel charger so that the lanterns could be charged on the go if you're hiking and using the high setting frequently.
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