Just got home from a hiking trip... I just felt I need a new light.

Our group just came from a hiking trip to the mountains and camp at the entrance of a cave. It really rained hard that day that we are forced to leave our tents and take refuge on the caves. Now the Fun begins.:twothumbs

My LED lights withstood usage during this trip except for my Energizer 3AAA headlamp which I lend to a friend, it now malfunctions since it was soaked with water. I used my Quark Mini AA attached to a head strap and a Solarforce L2M converted to Take AA and 14500 batteries.
I also have a Tank E07, a common LED headlamp, SmallSun ZY-C4 which I brought for my friends.

It made me realize that I needed a LED lantern or a LED flashlight diffuser.

What you guys suggest?:thinking:

You don't have an rc-n3 do you? If you do, or want to buy one, a clear film canister fits perfectly over the head and makes a great diffuser. They will give you them for free at most camera shops. Fenix makes wand attachments for their lights that works in the same way.

If you want a big lantern, rayovac makes a sportsman lantern that I've heard is quite good and I like the coleman collapsible lantern I have although it only puts out 120 lumens.

Coleman makes some collapsible and packaway lanterns that look pretty nice and are a good price if you purchase them through the coleman family store(password=family)

I use a KL3 or a KX2 with a beam diffuser. Pop off the diffuser and you got a decent thrower. The runtimes are impressive also. The Minimus head lamp is a great light. Too many choices...

im guessing you'd want a smaller lantern if you're taking it hiking? The Rayovac Sportsman is a bright tough lantern, but uses 3D batteries so it's a bit on the heavy side. They also have a 3AA version also though.

Another nice small lantern is the sylvania 4AA lantern which are easy to take apart and mod with something a little brighter.

The coleman lanterns mentioned produce really bad rings, here's a review. Black Diamond has some nice collapsible lanterns, but i don't own any so I don't have any personal experience with those.

Also if you have a solarforce, you may want to just consider carrying the SL-1 lantern head to turn your flashlight into a lantern. A zebralight may also be a wise investment. Tough as nails and its beam is pure flood

sol-leks said:

Fenix makes wand attachments for their lights that works in the same way.

If you want a big lantern, rayovac makes a sportsman lantern that I've heard is quite good...

Click to expand...

Heys, I'm not sure if the Fenix TK diffuser tip will fit on your L2M. But it sure fits on the TK20, since I noticed you like AAs. TK20 is neutral white though, solid build, 2 modes and has a tight hotspot. The diffuser tip makes it into a very good lantern. Tailstand may seem to be an issue on uneven ground. You'll need to lean it against something, hang it or source a portable stand for it. The rayovac sportman extreme lantern can sit well on uneven ground though.

The Olight's M20 white diffuser fits well on the TK20, again not sure about your L2M. It's a good diffuser to look at the trail you're walking on.

SF E2L w/ F04 diffuser...last "outdoors" light you'll ever need...EVER! Sounds like ya had fun though!

duboost said:

im guessing you'd want a smaller lantern if you're taking it hiking?
Also if you have a solarforce, you may want to just consider carrying the SL-1 lantern head to turn your flashlight into a lantern. A zebralight may also be a wise investment. Tough as nails and its beam is pure flood

Click to expand...

Yes I need it light weight. I'm also thinking of getting the Sl-1 lantern but Solarforce seems heavy to take for hiking specially my L2 that runs on 18650.:sweat:Thats why I brought my L2m but runtime is definetely a problem.
Is a fenix diffuser bright enough? I don't want to buy a new light since I already got plenty of them, I think I just needed a lantern.

Will the brightness of a flashlight with diffuser match a lantern?
I needed long runtime so if I'll use a diffuser it will definitely under Med mode for my light.:thinking:

L2 with 18650 is heavy ??? +1 on the Solarforce Lantern .

What about the Solarforce LT-1 Lantern Attachment?

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/236138