So, being a cheapskate and not wanting to spend a lot of money for a rechargeable LED lantern, I decided to try making something myself. I figured USB power packs (the type you use to recharge your phone on the go) are ubiquitous and pretty affordable, so that would be the power source. For the light itself, I got some of these:
http://www.amazon.com/2-Pack-Lightbu...ilpage_o02_s00
With a cheap ($10) 10,000 mAh pack, one of those will run for about 5 hours straight. That would probably be a weekend's worth of light for a lot of folks (assuming it's not the ONLY light you're using). Plus, since it's just plugged into a charger, it would be a fairly simple matter to just carry a spare one and swap it out when needed.
The problem, though, is finding a way to package it. On a scout campout once, I saw some lanterns that one of the leaders (an electrical engineer) had made which used a similar light source but a fairly heavy (2-3 pound) rechargeable battery, all encased in PVC. The inside looked like standard gray PVC (3-4" OD), but the outside was clear PVC (or maybe Lexan?). Also, there was a conical reflector on the bottom, with the LED array at the top, pointing down, so when powered on, the light spread out in about a 15' radius. Very impressive.
The bottom line is that the person who made them refused to give me any details about their construction (not very scout-like, if you ask me), so I'm left to reverse-engineer something I saw and handled (but did not take apart) for about 15 minutes over a year ago.
I guess what I'm asking here is: what materials would you use to make a sturdy, preferably weather-sealed lamp/lantern housing? I can find the gray PVC easy enough, but the clear stuff is crazy expensive everywhere I look, plus it's only available in 6' or 8' lengths. I need maybe 3-4 feet. I've also looked into custom reflectors, but they're on the pricey side as well.
http://www.amazon.com/2-Pack-Lightbu...ilpage_o02_s00
With a cheap ($10) 10,000 mAh pack, one of those will run for about 5 hours straight. That would probably be a weekend's worth of light for a lot of folks (assuming it's not the ONLY light you're using). Plus, since it's just plugged into a charger, it would be a fairly simple matter to just carry a spare one and swap it out when needed.
The problem, though, is finding a way to package it. On a scout campout once, I saw some lanterns that one of the leaders (an electrical engineer) had made which used a similar light source but a fairly heavy (2-3 pound) rechargeable battery, all encased in PVC. The inside looked like standard gray PVC (3-4" OD), but the outside was clear PVC (or maybe Lexan?). Also, there was a conical reflector on the bottom, with the LED array at the top, pointing down, so when powered on, the light spread out in about a 15' radius. Very impressive.
The bottom line is that the person who made them refused to give me any details about their construction (not very scout-like, if you ask me), so I'm left to reverse-engineer something I saw and handled (but did not take apart) for about 15 minutes over a year ago.
I guess what I'm asking here is: what materials would you use to make a sturdy, preferably weather-sealed lamp/lantern housing? I can find the gray PVC easy enough, but the clear stuff is crazy expensive everywhere I look, plus it's only available in 6' or 8' lengths. I need maybe 3-4 feet. I've also looked into custom reflectors, but they're on the pricey side as well.
Comment