parnass
Flashlight Enthusiast
This is my first post on CandlePower Forums.
I had read the discussions of the River Rock 4AA LED latern sold by Target with interest and a recent 10-hour power failure was the catalyst for buying one.
At about 4:30 PM last Thursday, a semi truck hit a power pole near my home, breaking it in half. That caused a power failure on my road. The AA Mini Maglites I had converted to LED (Nite Ize kit) last week came in handy, along with the Gerber Infinity Ultra worn on a shoelace lanyard around my neck.
A half hour later, the wife and I left our dark house to enjoy coffee and reading at a well lit bookstore. We called home several times using a cell phone to check if our answering machine responded, a sure sign that the power had been restored.
We were surprised that after a couple of hours, the power was still off. That persuaded us to walk to the adjacent Target store, buy a $20 River Rock 4AA LED latern, and bring it home.
Back at home, the first task was to open the lantern's tamper resistant plastic packaging in the dark. I used LED flashlights to see what I was doing while I employed a large desktop paper cutter to slice the edges off the packaging.
The next task was installing the batteries. Removing the bottom door to the battery compartment took so much torque that I thought I would break the lantern. After some huffing and puffing, the bottom section moved and I was able to unscrew it and insert the 4 AA alkaline cells.
I turned on the lantern and marveled at the slightly bluish-white light which streamed forth as I placed the lantern in the dark living room. The light was really too intense for a direct look.
The lantern provided a decent amount of light during the next 4 hours, though not enough to read while sitting across the room. I used the Infinity Ultra while solving a crossword puzzle, relaxing in a recliner. A battery operated scanner monitored the local police and fire frequencies, while I used a battery operated AM/FM radio to enjoy 1940s and 50s swing music broadcast from a distant Canadian radio station.
After about 2-1/2 hours, the lantern's light had decreased a bit, although it was still bright. I turned it off after a total of 4 hours so I could sleep.
The next day, I measured the alkaline battery voltage at about 1.384 volts/cell -- not too bad for 4 hours of light.
Recalling how difficult it was to unscrew the battery compartment lid, I bought a small container of Danco clear silicone grease in the plumbing department at Home Depot ($3.49 US) and applied it to the threads. The grease made the battery compartment much easier to open.
The River Rock lantern remains atop our fireplace mantle, awaiting the next power failure.
I had read the discussions of the River Rock 4AA LED latern sold by Target with interest and a recent 10-hour power failure was the catalyst for buying one.
At about 4:30 PM last Thursday, a semi truck hit a power pole near my home, breaking it in half. That caused a power failure on my road. The AA Mini Maglites I had converted to LED (Nite Ize kit) last week came in handy, along with the Gerber Infinity Ultra worn on a shoelace lanyard around my neck.
A half hour later, the wife and I left our dark house to enjoy coffee and reading at a well lit bookstore. We called home several times using a cell phone to check if our answering machine responded, a sure sign that the power had been restored.
We were surprised that after a couple of hours, the power was still off. That persuaded us to walk to the adjacent Target store, buy a $20 River Rock 4AA LED latern, and bring it home.
Back at home, the first task was to open the lantern's tamper resistant plastic packaging in the dark. I used LED flashlights to see what I was doing while I employed a large desktop paper cutter to slice the edges off the packaging.
The next task was installing the batteries. Removing the bottom door to the battery compartment took so much torque that I thought I would break the lantern. After some huffing and puffing, the bottom section moved and I was able to unscrew it and insert the 4 AA alkaline cells.
I turned on the lantern and marveled at the slightly bluish-white light which streamed forth as I placed the lantern in the dark living room. The light was really too intense for a direct look.
The lantern provided a decent amount of light during the next 4 hours, though not enough to read while sitting across the room. I used the Infinity Ultra while solving a crossword puzzle, relaxing in a recliner. A battery operated scanner monitored the local police and fire frequencies, while I used a battery operated AM/FM radio to enjoy 1940s and 50s swing music broadcast from a distant Canadian radio station.
After about 2-1/2 hours, the lantern's light had decreased a bit, although it was still bright. I turned it off after a total of 4 hours so I could sleep.
The next day, I measured the alkaline battery voltage at about 1.384 volts/cell -- not too bad for 4 hours of light.
Recalling how difficult it was to unscrew the battery compartment lid, I bought a small container of Danco clear silicone grease in the plumbing department at Home Depot ($3.49 US) and applied it to the threads. The grease made the battery compartment much easier to open.
The River Rock lantern remains atop our fireplace mantle, awaiting the next power failure.
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