LED Lantern

I'm looking for a lantern to take on a fishing trip. We stay in a cabin. Mainly for some light by the bed. I bought a Ozark Trail 400 luman lantern. Enough light, but needs a diffuser. Way to bright to look at. It took 3 D cells which I would rather have than rechargeable.
Any ideas?

nightowl,
THere is a lantern section here
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?90-Lanterns

I agree with you about the ozark trail lantern and the need for a diffuser. Unfortunately, most lanterns have a similar failing.

The energizer lanterns with "Light Fusion Technology" do a great job of diffusing the light, but I don't think there are any D cell units.
Here is a well written review, unfortunately the photos are gone.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...with-Light-Fusion-Technology&highlight=fusion

For me a great lantern would be the Streamlight Siege:
https://www.streamlight.com/products/detail/index/the-siege

I have to of them, really great lanterns. The old one is years old and perfectly working. The light itself is very diffuse, but cold. I would grab a 3rd one if there would be a warmer version of this lantern.

nightowl66 said:

I'm looking for a lantern to take on a fishing trip. We stay in a cabin. Mainly for some light by the bed. I bought a Ozark Trail 400 luman lantern. Enough light, but needs a diffuser. Way to bright to look at. It took 3 D cells which I would rather have than rechargeable.
Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Streamlight Siege in 3D, is three mode and works well. Got my GF and I one for hurricane seasons a few years back.

Chris

Pick up a report cover or plastic peechee and cut to fit around the Ozark Trail. Could also buy some craft foam in white at a JoAnn's and use that to maybe cover one half of it. The foam acts like a light barrier for the most part so it wont diffuse as much as it would reflect.

Check out all the Fenix lanterns - they are all excellent.

For something a little smaller Nitecore has several lanterns in various sizes, some rechargeable, some cells, and one both ways. Probably not real good for lighting a large area like a room enough to be useful for something like a card came, etc., but all would make good small area lights. I have a couple of the LA10s, which look like a large chapstick, and they work great for personal lighting.

I have one of the large Energizer lanterns with "Light Fusion Technology", the one that takes 4 or 8 AA cells. It works great, but if you happen to be situated so that the lantern is side on to you there is some glare. Since it's just me, that's not a problem. A black permanent marker would take care of the problem if it proves troublesome.

If you can find a silicone sleeve or opaque cap from various products, you can turn almost any handheld light into a lantern of varying intensity and run-times. I have done that to a few of my lights and it saved $$ and space on having to get a dedicated lantern.

Matt Smith's youtube channel (cpf member vestureofblood) has a youtube video for a DIY Camping lantern that uses an empty plastic ice cream tub as a diffuser. I've used an empty semi-opaque gallon milk container. Others suggest using the finger of a surgical glove. It allows me to have a lantern, but then pull out the flashlight for other chores, hiking, etc.--and, depending on the diffuser, the pack size/weight could be smaller.

I have a couple of the energizer fusion lights, a 4 AA Pop-up and a folding lantern that runs on either 4 or 8 AA's - both are bright and diffuse light well, though they don't seem to be the most ruggedly constructed or water resistant lights out there. BTW don't get the energizer fusion compact lantern that runs on either 2 or 4 AA's - it sucks!

A cheapie that I have been using a lot lately is the Life Gear AR tech flashlight/lantern, which runs on 3 AA's and is pretty bright in lantern mode without a lot of glare - again not the most rugged construction and it has a timer that shuts the light off after 1 hour.


Another thing I like to do when camping is to prop a bright flashlight so that it shines into the side of a clear or opaque water bottle, preferably a 1 gal milk jug type, at a 90 degree angle....gives off a really nice diffused glow!

This is what I took on my last camping trip.



All 18650 powered:
a CH10 Crelant headlamp
a convoy S2+ with a diffuser and biscotti software... 1% low as a tent lantern.
And another S2+

On my car keys, I also had a little D2, and I also usually had my cell phone on my person.

A duraflame log started the fire quite nicely

In a cabin, I'd prefer to have three convoy's with diffusers hanging from the rafters at 100 lumens each, than a single 300 lumen lantern. Also, I don't want a lantern to be more than 300 lumens; typically... too much glare. They also drain the batteries too quickly.

For non-rechargeable lanterns I prefer the 3 D cell variety.

Keitho said:

Matt Smith's youtube channel (cpf member vestureofblood) has a youtube video for a DIY Camping lantern that uses an empty plastic ice cream tub as a diffuser. I've used an empty semi-opaque gallon milk container. Others suggest using the finger of a surgical glove. It allows me to have a lantern, but then pull out the flashlight for other chores, hiking, etc.--and, depending on the diffuser, the pack size/weight could be smaller.

Click to expand...

I like the diy camping lantern. I don't have enough knowledge of electronics or time before we leave to do this right now. By the time I get all the parts I can probably buy one. I might try to make a diffuser for the ozark trail I bought. Menards has a energizer lantern for $12 I am going too get and try.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

Before buying another lantern even though there are many I'd recommend over the Ozark, I'd try putting on some Glad Press n seal wrap as a better defuser around the Ozarks own and see how it looks.

I got that same tip from another cpf member years ago and it did wonders for a little very bright and glaring lantern I had.

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

filibuster said:

I'd try putting on some Glad Press n seal wrap as a better defuser around the Ozarks and see how it looks.

Click to expand...

That worked great! Just what I was looking for.
Thanks

I keep trying to find an ideal Lantern too and after trying several I like the UST the best!
They make 2 sizes like the Streamlight but I found that both choices have a noticeably warmer tint to the light than anything else that I have tried.
I was pretty surprised really and the difference is pretty dramatic to me too.

So I have a few of them and still have the Seige' in both sizes as well but I reach for the UST first for the quality of the light.

We use the Streamlight Seige (rechargeable) and Streamlight Seige AA on a regular basis. Best is always a tricky term but they have been the "best" for us. The AA kit is perfect to read by, provides a diffused light, turns on in low power mode, and offers the red output mode. It's super compact and we get multiple full nights use on a single set of 3 AAs. The hooks are the best I have ever used. To balance out the review: I wish it were a bit warmer and the plastic outer globe is a bit cloudy in spots.

sledhead said:

Check out all the Fenix lanterns - they are all excellent.

Click to expand...

I have a Fenix CL25 that is a great lantern. It is a good emergency lantern as it also has a red LED and a magnet that can be attached to a vehicle should you have to stop on the side of the road.

However, i tend to lean toward the diffuser concept mentioned by others.
I have various diffusers that fit my flashlights that i find i use more than the lantern.