My thoughts and impressions of the Coleman 2-in-1 Packaway™ Lantern

[Weylan]

I just ordered and recieved one of these
Coleman 2-in-1 Packaway™ Lantern

This is sort of a mini review and thoughts.

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5324-700&categoryid=70012

I got it from Ebay for about $24 delivered to me.
Retails for about $37.


Features of interest.

It is a compact florescent 12V light. Running 11Watts.
This can be used as a spot light directing all the light like a flashlight.
Faceted reflector.

Or it can be used like an area light to light up a whole picnic area.
It uses 8 D cells. It runs a pretty long time on D cells.

Effective range in flashlight mode is 20 feet to 30 feet.
Effective range for flood area mode is 10 feet to 20 feet. This lights up a regular sized room nicely.

Impressions and desires going in.
I wanted an area light that I could use to light up a room with CF brightness to
cook
read by with reasonable color rendition for more then 1 person (comic books for the kids)
eat by with reasonable food rendition (I will not eat in fancy restaurants that I can't see the food I am eating.)
take a shower.

I use the light in the following format of 8s2p which is 2 sets of 8xAA = 16xAA.

Overall I like this light very much. This light was available at stores like Walmart, but can't be found except at discount brokers now and Ebay. (as of 5/15/2007).

Things I liked.
I like the fact that it is CF. And the bulb is said to be readily available standard 12V 4x pronged bulb. (I have not hunted replacement bulbs yet, but may try to just in case.)
I liked the volume of light it produces. It is pretty darned bright.
There is no hotspot so, it is all flood.
I like that I can use the light in "flashlight" mode and not be blinded while using it. So I can see things.
It is a very effective as an area light in that since it is not as blinding a point source as a RiverRock lantern.
It stands up and does not tip over too easily.
I could use rechargeable NMIH cells or alkaline cells.

Things I did not like
The light uses 8 D cells.
Which is kind of hard to swallow for the cost of the batteries
The weight of 8x D cells is kind of heavy. Some of the 4xD light formats might have been better for this light for me, but I think they were designing the light with this many cells for runtime.
Runtime on 8xAA(8s1p), is not very good, but 16xAA(8s2p) and 24xAA(8s3p) seems to be ok. See note below.

Changes I made:
I used and adapted the light so that I could use AA cells in it. I can use sets of 8x AA(8s1p), 16x AA(8s2p), 24x AA(8s3p) and 32x AA(8s4p).

This made it so that I can use for me
A more standardized battery format.
A way to take extra AA batteries, and be able to use them if I need them for other lights or reasons.
With 8x AA, 16x AA, and 24x AA, the light is lighter then with 8x D cells.
I can recharge the AA cells in a solar battery charger as a way of making the light totally portable and usable during extended travel.

Changes I have not tried yet
I have heard people changed out the 11W CF bulb to a slightly different color temperature, but the one in this seems to work fine for now.
I would like to be able to plug the light into a regular 12V external source, so the light can be run, or charged without taking out the batteries.

Changes I would like it to have
Add an external 12V plug for use to run the light off 12V source, or a plug to use as a charging jack.

 

[mapson]

I really like this light, the flood is relative easy on one's eyes. I've used it as a lantern, in candle mode with it pointing up the ceiling (I think Coleman recommends pointing it downward instead).

The 8Ds do make it a bit heavy, what I want to try out is using either lithiums or rechargeable AAs in an adapter to run it.

Strange how Coleman's family "discount" is more than the msrp. It has to be a glitch but my emails to Coleman haven't been answered. I was going to get a couple more for emergencies.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Re: My thoughts and impressions of the Coleman 2-in-1 Packaway? Lantern

I bought one a couple months ago, and overall I like mine. Great floody light! I would love to get a much more compact version running on 8AAs or even 4 123s but for car camping and such it has served well. I hope Coleman makes a smaller updated version someday. You can still find them around, but they are getting more rare.

 

[Weylan]

I did like the flood of the CF bulbs.

The size looked huge in the store originally when I saw it and it first came out, but after living with it and seeing some of the other versions of portable CF lighting, this was by far the best best choice. especially since I can get it to run off of easily rechargable and easily available AA cells.

My only problem now is that recently I have gone through most of my excess AA cells because I got a MAG mode finished that uses AA cells and now this light, so 6xAA + 16xAA = 22x AA taken out of circulation in the past 2 weeks made the extra AAs that I had "laying around" go really quick.

The adpaters use 1, 2, 3 or 4 AA cells for 1 D and the way I have the light used, I am only using 2x AA per D adapter, so over all the light is 1/2 or 2/3 lighter then if it had D cells in it. Which makes it pretty convenient and a ton lighter for a CF light. Almost as light as some of the 4D cell lights.

I have not done a runtime test with this configuration, and I don't expect more then 2-4 hours of run time from this light, but if I get that much per charge for the light, I will be happy.

I really like this light, the flood is relative easy on one's eyes. I've used it as a lantern, in candle mode with it pointing up the ceiling (I think Coleman recommends pointing it downward instead).

The 8Ds do make it a bit heavy, what I want to try out is using either lithiums or rechargeable AAs in an adapter to run it.

Strange how Coleman's family "discount" is more than the msrp. It has to be a glitch but my emails to Coleman haven't been answered. I was going to get a couple more for emergencies.

 

[Blacklight]

I really like this light, the flood is relative easy on one's eyes. I've used it as a lantern, in candle mode with it pointing up the ceiling (I think Coleman recommends pointing it downward instead).

The 8Ds do make it a bit heavy, what I want to try out is using either lithiums or rechargeable AAs in an adapter to run it.

Strange how Coleman's family "discount" is more than the msrp. It has to be a glitch but my emails to Coleman haven't been answered. I was going to get a couple more for emergencies.

I got your PM, I will find out why the discount price is higher....sounds like a snafu...like when we had a flashlight on there for $1000. I will PM you back, when I find out whats going.

 

[Blacklight]

I just ordered and recieved one of these
Coleman 2-in-1 Packaway™ Lantern

This is sort of a mini review and thoughts.

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5324-700&categoryid=70012

I got it from Ebay for about $24 delivered to me.
Retails for about $37.


Features of interest.

It is a compact florescent 12V light. Running 11Watts.
This can be used as a spot light directing all the light like a flashlight.
Faceted reflector.

Or it can be used like an area light to light up a whole picnic area.
It uses 8 D cells. It runs a pretty long time on D cells.

Effective range in flashlight mode is 20 feet to 30 feet.
Effective range for flood area mode is 10 feet to 20 feet. This lights up a regular sized room nicely.

Impressions and desires going in.
I wanted an area light that I could use to light up a room with CF brightness to
cook
read by with reasonable color rendition for more then 1 person (comic books for the kids)
eat by with reasonable food rendition (I will not eat in fancy restaurants that I can't see the food I am eating.)
take a shower.

I use the light in the following format of 8s2p which is 2 sets of 8xAA = 16xAA.

Overall I like this light very much. This light was available at stores like Walmart, but can't be found except at discount brokers now and Ebay. (as of 5/15/2007).

Things I liked.
I like the fact that it is CF. And the bulb is said to be readily available standard 12V 4x pronged bulb. (I have not hunted replacement bulbs yet, but may try to just in case.)
I liked the volume of light it produces. It is pretty darned bright.
There is no hotspot so, it is all flood.
I like that I can use the light in "flashlight" mode and not be blinded while using it. So I can see things.
It is a very effective as an area light in that since it is not as blinding a point source as a RiverRock lantern.
It stands up and does not tip over too easily.
I could use rechargeable NMIH cells or alkaline cells.

Things I did not like
The light uses 8 D cells.
Which is kind of hard to swallow for the cost of the batteries
The weight of 8x D cells is kind of heavy. Some of the 4xD light formats might have been better for this light for me, but I think they were designing the light with this many cells for runtime.
Runtime on 8xAA(8s1p), is not very good, but 16xAA(8s2p) and 24xAA(8s3p) seems to be ok. See note below.

Changes I made:
I used and adapted the light so that I could use AA cells in it. I can use sets of 8x AA(8s1p), 16x AA(8s2p), 24x AA(8s3p) and 32x AA(8s4p).

This made it so that I can use for me
A more standardized battery format.
A way to take extra AA batteries, and be able to use them if I need them for other lights or reasons.
With 8x AA, 16x AA, and 24x AA, the light is lighter then with 8x D cells.
I can recharge the AA cells in a solar battery charger as a way of making the light totally portable and usable during extended travel.

Changes I have not tried yet
I have heard people changed out the 11W CF bulb to a slightly different color temperature, but the one in this seems to work fine for now.
I would like to be able to plug the light into a regular 12V external source, so the light can be run, or charged without taking out the batteries.

Changes I would like it to have
Add an external 12V plug for use to run the light off 12V source, or a plug to use as a charging jack.

we had talked about a 12V version, let me see if we ever did any, I think we made some for Japan or Austrailia (I may be remembering wrong), if I can get my hands on one, I will contact you, maybe santa will come early for you (no promises yet, and it may take a couple weeks for me to get back to you, this time of year is very busy).

 

[Blacklight]

I really like this light, the flood is relative easy on one's eyes. I've used it as a lantern, in candle mode with it pointing up the ceiling (I think Coleman recommends pointing it downward instead).

The 8Ds do make it a bit heavy, what I want to try out is using either lithiums or rechargeable AAs in an adapter to run it.

Strange how Coleman's family "discount" is more than the msrp. It has to be a glitch but my emails to Coleman haven't been answered. I was going to get a couple more for emergencies.

The discounted price is now fixed, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Weylan]

Oh man! This is a great price Blacklight! At this price quite a few people should own one of these.

But not only do I want another one of these, but if I get another one of these, I will not be able to get the Cree version of the micro packer when it comes out...

 

[StuGatz]

I picked up several of these from Costco some time ago, see - http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127993

The difference at the time appeared to be that mine had an aluminum (or metalic) main body.

I have to say that although they are somewhat heavy and the 8 D cells are hectic... They have proven to be a very nice main camp light as long as it does not need to be "packed in." Mine have easily illuminated the area around a single camp area such as a picnic table and has served as a huge "homing beacon" after dark.

It would be nice to have a 12 volt version or a smaller AA version. However, I've gotta say (as I said before), thumbs-up... :twothumbs:twothumbs

BTW Backlight. If you have additional info regarding new developments and if you have the time, please kick a PM my way and I'll be happy to get in touch.

Best regards,

Stuart

 

[mapson]

I thought the discounted price was so so, I can get one same price retail locally, just add tax but no wait and no shipping charge.

Oh man! This is a great price Blacklight! At this price quite a few people should own one of these.

But not only do I want another one of these, but if I get another one of these, I will not be able to get the Cree version of the micro packer when it comes out...

 

[mapson]

I really like the usefulness of this 2 in 1, can you tell?

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