CCFL or LED latern for power outage?

Which would be more useful and what models do you reccommend?

If you do not have any lanterns then I would recommend:

1. 4-AA River Rock from Target. 8-9 hours vs 4 hours for the coleman 4-AA CFL.

2. 4-D lantern from wal-mart with a replacement LED. I would probably get the Sears 3-AAA flashlight and take the bulb out. Use three "D" cells and a dummy cell. Put the batteries in backward if the LED doesn't light (reversed polarity). This will give you in the range of 60+ hours of light (10-20 hours of bright followed by MANY dim).

3. If you can find it a 4-AA energizer folding LED lantern will give 80+ hours of low level lighting to get around as a night light.

4. For KIDS Big Lots has the Disney 4-AA LED night light in Pooh, Princess, and Buzz Lightyear. They are about $3.00 and will run 1-2 weeks of nights (all night) on a set of 4 rechargables. Good enough to walk around with and use the restrooms.

wwglen

The only CCFL *lanterns* I know of is the discontinued coleman micro CCLF and the energizer ccfl/led lights or arcwhite. I think you would have to first figure out two things to decide.... 1) light output needed 2) temperature and climate used in.
As to 1) fluoros can be easily and cheaply made that spank LED lantern of 2-3 times the cost or more.
As to 2) LEDs don't mind any climate but fluoros don't like cold nor wet climates so you have to waterproof lanterns in wet climates and they suffer in colder temps
You can get a lot of hours off LED but at light levels perhaps ususable for reading and socializing. I would guess a 1 watt LED lantern would be outdone by a 4watt fluoro and blasted to dimness but the whopper 15/18 watt fluoros out there using 8D cells.

I'd say LEDs. You can get a lot of light from fluorescents, but, when you want to scale down to the <30 lumen range, then LEDs are where it's at. Smaller size, good enough efficiency, more durable, and fully dimmable.

Re: CCFL or LED Lantern for Power Outage?

Speaking about the CCFL type of lanterns, I saw the cordless/rechargeable type at Home Depot. Seems to be the same one or type in the movie Batman Begins when he was checking out the cave under the mansion. Anyone here have experience with this lantern or know of someone who has?

I picked up a light at Target that didn't know what it wanted to be! The Vector is half bright bluish-white LEDs and the top has a fold down CCFL lantern. It runs on 4xAAA batteries.

Hey there TrueBlue! That sure looks nifty-[safety]kleen!!! I gotta check it out myself. . .Just wondering though, how bright is the CCFL? Comparable to that 13W Coleman on Hi or Lo?

I consider the CCFL more of a bright personal area light or a dim larger area light. The lights are handy and safe to use for a power outage. If the little lights were compared to a larger lantern they wouldn't compare. But the CCFL lanterns take smaller batteries, are lighter and easier to carry and are cheap. They are so cheap that I can keep a couple of them in different places around the house or give each member of my family their own personal light.

The picture below and starting on the left shows the Coleman CCFL. I think I paid $5.99 for the light at Ebay. It uses 4xAA batteries. Then the item in the center is the bottom view of the Vector LED/CCFL that uses 4xAAA. Finally...yeah...the future?