Looking for a powerful LED camping lantern

Hey guys, I'm looking for a lantern that could be placed on the ground and would be as bright as an average-sized bonfire. We're going camping soon and the location is a nature reserve, lighting actual bonfires is very illegal. However, we'd still like to be able to sit around a light source throughout the night and share some stories, you know the stuff.

I'm actually leaning towards DIY, parts from Ebay or Dealextreme, as that would be significantly cheaper than a pre-built one. I have various old standard lanterns, both kerosene-powered and ones with candles in them. They could be used for the housing. I also have lots of various LiPo batteries from my RC models, those could work nicely as a power source.

The question is what LED and driver to choose. Also the reflector/diffuser, to make the light spread evenly along the ground. Can you guys help me? Has anyone done anything similar? I've looked around on Instructables and Youtube, couldn't really find what I need.

In the days of my youth, I did a bit of camping and we used Coleman mantle lanterns with propane tanks. They were good area lighters, but terrible to look at.

I believe that you may have a similar problem with a VERY bright lantern. If you put it on the ground and sit people around it, they'll have a tendency to stare at the light, and not be able to see anything else.

I have two florescent camping lanterns, and I didn't take either with my on my last camping trip. I have used them during power outages, and this is what I found. One is a bright white, the other more incandescent tinted. The bright white is better for kitchen duty when handling knives etc, but the more neutral tint is much more pleasant to sit around and chat.

A ceiling bounced flashlight is great indoors, but not so good out-doors. Therefore a diffuser of some sort needs to be used. Considering that you might want to replicate the coziness of a fire, you might try a few things. I found that a half gallon milk container makes a good diffuser. Shine a good flashlight at it, and it becomes a lantern. You might experiment with an orange tinted water in the container, and it may look more like the tint of a fire. Maybe fill the container only half way, and drop the light into the top of it head down and wire or tape it in place.

Just a thought.

Get a 40, 60, 75, and 100 watt incan light bulb and a lamp and put it on the floor of the living room and turn out the light and see which is bright enough for you. This will give an idea if what you want requires either a custom made, gas lantern, or store bought LED or fluorescent model.

Rayovac sportsman extreme is the classic well made led lantern many people like.

I also like the general electric 8D with remote phosphor tech.

I'm also fond of the Coleman twin led.

Poppy said:

A ceiling bounced flashlight is great indoors, but not so good out-doors. Therefore a diffuser of some sort needs to be used. Considering that you might want to replicate the coziness of a fire, you might try a few things. I found that a half gallon milk container makes a good diffuser. Shine a good flashlight at it, and it becomes a lantern. You might experiment with an orange tinted water in the container, and it may look more like the tint of a fire. Maybe fill the container only half way, and drop the light into the top of it head down and wire or tape it in place.

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That's what I was thinking, I just need a good diffuser. I tried a milk container, also a transparent water bottle with water and a little bit of bleach in it. They work decently, but the problem in this case is size and weight. Carrying around a half-full milk jug is a bit cumbersome. I'll need to look around for semi-transparent "frosted" plastic tubes, or something. The goal is to have a lantern that would easily fit in a backpack, leaving enough space for other stuff.

Lynx_Arc said:

Get a 40, 60, 75, and 100 watt incan light bulb and a lamp and put it on the floor of the living room and turn out the light and see which is bright enough for you. This will give an idea if what you want requires either a custom made, gas lantern, or store bought LED or fluorescent model.

Click to expand...

I don't think incandescent bulbs are for sale anymore over here. It's all LEDs and CFLs now.

In either case, I'm leaning towards LED model. Gas lantern poses a fire risk and fires have happened in that park before, it didn't look pretty. As for homemade vs. store bought, well, homemade will always be cheaper because I already have some components. Also, using it will feel a lot more rewarding, if you know what I mean.


I'm guessing that something around 200 lumens should be enough (tried a few options with various flashlights), it would be a Cree LED from dealextreme, now I just need to figure out how to diffuse the light efficiently.

I agree with netprince, the "Rayovac sportsman extreme" is highly regarded, and it might be something to look at if you plan on sitting at a picnic table and want to use it for playing cards etc.

OTOH, if you want to simulate a campfire, perhaps do a google for a traffic wand baton
I have a 21 inch 2D cell one, I just laid it on the floor of my garage, and it throws enough light for a group of people, with dark adjusted eyes to see each other fairly well, without destroying their night vision. It is very lightweight, the 2 D cell batteries probably weigh as much as the entire light. There are red traffic diffusers for flashlights available that might work for you. A ping-pong ball makes for an OK diffuser. Maybe a light thrown into a bag of ping-pong balls and covered with red transparent wrapping paper would look like a bunch of burning hot coals.

One of those satellite looking camping / tent lanterns covered by a sheet of red transparent wrapping paper might work for you. They're less than $10

Airazz said:

That's what I was thinking, I just need a good diffuser. I tried a milk container, also a transparent water bottle with water and a little bit of bleach in it. They work decently, but the problem in this case is size and weight. Carrying around a half-full milk jug is a bit cumbersome. I'll need to look around for semi-transparent "frosted" plastic tubes, or something. The goal is to have a lantern that would easily fit in a backpack, leaving enough space for other stuff.



I don't think incandescent bulbs are for sale anymore over here. It's all LEDs and CFLs now.

In either case, I'm leaning towards LED model. Gas lantern poses a fire risk and fires have happened in that park before, it didn't look pretty. As for homemade vs. store bought, well, homemade will always be cheaper because I already have some components. Also, using it will feel a lot more rewarding, if you know what I mean.


I'm guessing that something around 200 lumens should be enough (tried a few options with various flashlights), it would be a Cree LED from dealextreme, now I just need to figure out how to diffuse the light efficiently.

Click to expand...

There is a lot of choices at 200 lumens in LED and fluorescent models but LED is better as it is more efficient and getting a dimmer mode on it allows long runtimes. Now you have to decide battery type and runtime. I saw a lantern at walmart the other day not sure of the price or quality but it said 500 lumens output and has a dial on it to dial down the light level at low I think it is 30 lumens. It uses 4 D cells. The brand was something like mountain or tree or some sort of nature trail like brand I don't remember that either. The walmart I saw it at they had all the lights thrown around none were on hooks I think they were remodeling the area it was in chaos.

Could it have been Ozark Trail ? I've seen that brand at both walmart, and at Kmart

I picked up a Streamlight Siege lantern that I'm pretty happy with.

Nothing can replace a camp-fire, but just setting up a ring of chairs and using decent good area lighting would still be great fun. Maybe set the campstove in the center and make hot drinks or s'mores, or something.

Do consider a dedicated lantern or two- they're purpose built for long run-time and won't overheat like flashlights will when set at higher output in a static position.

The Favourlight brand is a good one, but Coleman just came out with a new model that might interest you - see here for ideas: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?90-Lanterns

You would have to let us know how far from that average bonfire you would want to fucntion.
Not knowing that I suggest looking at the Ultimate Survival Technologies 30-Day Lantern.

300 lumens on high for 32 hours, 150 lumens on medium for 84 hours and 29 lumens on low for upto 720hrs.

The UST lantern uses 3 D cells and has a hook that allows one to hang the light on a hook to provide light in a room or garage.

The light is available online and in many outdoor retailers. Worth considering.

We have one and have not put it to the test in a black out. We tried in our living room and had enough light on high to read comfortably.

Poppy said:

Could it have been Ozark Trail ? I've seen that brand at both walmart, and at Kmart

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yeah I think that was the brand.... it slipped my mind. The design and specs on it looked intriguing but having no price sort of made my enthusiasm wane.