Coleman Cree at Wal-Mart

DaveG

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
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Picked up a Coleman 8-d cell at Wal-Mart today.Cant do pix,black and silver plastic body about the size of a Coleman retro w the sprial tube.It has one Cree on the bottom that shines up on a silver cone to spread out the light.Switch is round knob on lower part of body off-nightlight-low-high.Has a battery pack that holds 8-d cells in the bottom of the light.Clear plastic globe,metal hanger for carrying.Good looking lantern,very traditional Coleman style,if you know what a Coleman looks like then you have the basic outline of this one.This light has the glare factor that many bright led lanterns have,but I can live with it.Dont have it with me now but pkg said something like 170 lumens,30ish runtime on low-60ish on high,these numbers are off the top of my head.
 
Thanks for the thread. I'll be checking my local Walmart tomorrow, but they are usually a few weeks behind ones located in large cities.
 
I was at a Walmart yesterday but didnt see them. But, some lanterns were slightly discounted so maybe they are coming. I am so tired of the lame Nichia ones they have all over the shelves now. it would nice if these actually showed up nationwide.

How do you know it is a CREE based lantern? does it say it on the Package? anything I should look for?
 
I stopped by my local store today. They had the 8D one for $30 like previously posted. It comes in a silver package and not hard to miss. If you flip the box over, the underside states "Cree is a registered trademark..." or something to that effect.
 
8 D cells seems kinda... heavy to run a cree. Why not go with 4 Ds and keep the other 4 as spares?

unless they're in parallel:thinking:
but hey, it would be nice for once, a lantern that has built in "spare" compartment for field installations:thumbsup:
 
I went to Walmart tonight and sure enough they had them. There were 4 new lanterns in total.
The first was a smaller sized rechargable dynamo lantern with a .7watt LED (that's what it said on the package). It also had some charge ports or a radio or something.
The second was the 4D packaway lantern. It used a Cree and claimed 145 lumens on high. Looked pretty nice, but still a little large for my liking.
The third was the 8D lantern. It used a Cree as well and claimed 170 lumens. It wasn't a packaway and I would imagine is VERY heavy with batteries installed.
The last one was the same size as the 8D but it was rechargable. It weighed a freaking ton! It claimed 145 lumens.

All of them were reasonably priced, and now it's only a matter of time before more Cree products pop up at Walmart!
 
8 D cells seems kinda... heavy to run a cree. Why not go with 4 Ds and keep the other 4 as spares?

There is a 4D version that Wal-Mart does not carry. It looks like none of the new 2008 items are up on the Coleman web yet either. I will have the Product Manager try to get them up by the end of next week.
 
I checked my target
the 8D one is indeed cree, with the entire dome looking yellow from the side
the 4D [more compact] version also uses CREE but aside from the phosphor region the dome appears waterclear :confused:
both of these indicate CREE & XLamp at the bottom of the packaging

theres another interesting model...a personal CREE lantern that uses 3AAs and a "CREE XR-C" LED:D
 
There is a 4D version that Wal-Mart does not carry. It looks like none of the new 2008 items are up on the Coleman web yet either. I will have the Product Manager try to get them up by the end of next week.

My Walmart carried both the 8D family lantern,a 4D packaway, and two new rechargeable models.
 
My Walmart carried both the 8D family lantern,a 4D packaway, and two new rechargeable models.

There is also a 4D non-packaway model, that neither is carrying. ****'s Sporting goods will be carrying it in March.

The 4D and larger models all use the CREE XR-E, the 3AA Lantern uses the CREE XR-C

the Dynamo lantern uses a Nichia LED.
 
The rechargeable versions are usually charged, so you can fire one up to check the output. I tried one myself and the output look surprisingly even. Although it is a bit hard to tell in the store I was able to use it to peer into the darker areas of the shelves and I did not see any of the striations or other artifacts to common to many of the reflectorized lanterns. You do have the glare from the reflector, but that's going to be a common trait for all of them without a diffuser. Sitting on a table it will be below your vision and not be a factor.

The price surely makes these a good value for someone looking for long runtime. I already have a couple of flourescent (sp?) Colemans or I'd be picking up one of these myself.
 
Both of my Coleman 8D lanterns came today. 3 levels and very bright (nightlight-low-high). Grippy switch. Heavy with the batteries installed but if you are a car camper it shouldn't be a problem. They are 4 metal globe protectors which is nice. Box says water resistant - with the batteries in a holder and secured with strap up in the body. However, don't place this in an inch of water. LED shines up through a hole in a reflector and on another reflector. Box says "Cree". Claim is 175 lumens with 32 hours on high and 66 hours on low.

This is a bright lantern. Took it in a 12X12 room and lit it up nicely where you could work (put it up 6 feet high), so it could work well in a tent about that size. However, as a comparison, not as bright as my Fenix T1 on high level shined at the ceiling.

Does it have a lot of glare? Yes, but so does every other bright led camp lantern I have (Coleman, Target, Egear, Brunton). This doesn't bother me but it may be of concern to some so diffusing may be desirable. As far as artifacts, pretty clean light with only the globe guards making shadows.

So far, after being living with it all of 3 hours, bright, long burning (if as claimed), nice levels, and good price. For your next car camp or power outage. Preliminarily, I think Coleman did their homework! :D
 
I took my 4D pack away lantern and sprayed the globe with Krylon matte finish giving it a light matte finish like from the Glad Kling wrap. It works very well and takes away the glare.
 
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