Lanterns???

Hi all,

So, either my night vision has gone to pot or the the woods in Maine are a lot thicker than in CO because I'm finding I need a lantern to function around the kitchen when camping.

Does anybody have a recommendation of a good powerful LED lantern that puts out light equivalent to a propane one? I would prefer the ease and safety of LED, but have only seen ones that are basically headlamps on a stand.

Thanks,
Evan

The big Black Diamond lanterns are terrific. We used one on a Grand Canyon boating trip every night for around 5 hours, and the 4 D batteries lasted for 15 days. We never bothered to even bring out the propane lantern we had as a backup.

If weight is not an issue, Costco sells a good one from GE for around $16. Really powerful, runs on 4 D batteries.

There is a black diamond lantern on sale at REI right now: rei.com/product/768658

Save your money from the big BD titan. I bought a Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme from Lowes for $25. 300 lumens and it's built like a tank and it's damn bright. I took it car camping at Lincoln Gulch campground a few weeks ago when I was climbing Indepepance Pass and it worked great. Thinking about getting another one and retiring the propane lantern. I have the BD Apollo, which works really well for backcountry and lighting up the tent, but if you need something for car camping, you can get 3 of these rayovacs for the price of one BD Titan or get another cam or a couple of tri cams. Of course it's not as cool as having a BD, but you can't beat the price or the light.
And last time I was in Maine on Katahdin it was really really dark compared to out here!

lowes.com/pd_305152-708-SE3…¤tURL=/pl__0__s?newSearch=true$Ntt=rayovac&state=R

Yeah, the Apollo is nice for the tent but really small. The Titan is what I use for river trips.

How is the battery life on the rayovac?

Battery life on the Rayovac is great. We were out there for 4 nights and used the lantern at least 4-5 hrs a night with no obvious deterioration of the brightness. Only downfall is there are only 2 light outputs, high and low. I think the newer one has a strobe. Takes 3D's and I believe it is water resistant as well as Marine proof! LOL!!!

All BD lanterns kick butt, the largest would do the job at any campsite.

Thanks for the input, guys.

There aren't Costco's around here, so I'm going to give the Lowes one a try. Worse comes to worse, they have a 90 day return policy.

Evan

amazon.com/Tooluxe-Recharge…

this thing is money. charge lasts for 4.5 or so hours, and takes about 5 hours to charge it from the wall adapter that comes with it. combined with a headlamp for topping out you are golden. really light too. comes with a wall charger and a car adapter/charger.