Help With Latern

[POWERSTROKE]

I am new to camping and need help deciding on a good battery power latern or a gas one to purchase? Thanks in advance for any help or replies.

Power

[Mike]

Re: Help With Latern

I love the Coleman gas lanterns, but a big part of that affection is nostalgia from my childhood. I have to admit that today's LED and CREE technology has come so far along that you can get just about as much light with batteries as you can with gas and the cost of operation is similar OR the battery lights might even be cheaper to operate than gas.

I have been using CREE LED headlamps a lot lately. Wherever you look LIGHT! That's kinda all you need. I don't need light where I am not looking You don't have to spend a lot of money on LED lights. You CAN spend a lot, but you don't have to. I bought some CREE LED headlamps at my local hardware store for five bucks and they provide ample light.

The gas lights are very bright. The Coleman dual mantle lanterns give off the equivalent of a seventy five watt light bulb. They run for about eight hours on one filling of fuel. They give off considerable heat which is nice in cold weather. Coleman gas lanterns scare away the ghosts, goblins, and Bogeymen.. Jf you do go with a gas lantern, you have several fuel option types: Liquid Coleman fuel, Gasoline, bottled propane.

If you by an old Coleman lantern on Craigslist or a yard sale, you can get them for between five to thirty dollars. They need Coleman fuel which cost about twelve dollars per gallon today. A gallon of Coleman fuel will last most families two or more years. Coleman fuel is very stable and can be stored for years.

New Coleman Dual Fuel lanterns cost between seventy five dollars to one hundred twenty five dollars, depending on where you buy. These can use Coleman fuel or gasoline. You will here that if you use car gasoline that it will clog up the generator of the lantern. While this is true, most families who camp maybe four times per year will never clog up a coleman dual fuel lantern in their lifetime use

Propane lanterns offer very little advantage over LED lights. Propane is expensive, and is less functional at cold temperatures.

[James.]

Re: Help With Latern

I am new to camping and need help deciding on a good battery power latern or a gas one to purchase? Thanks in advance for any help or replies.

Power

When you say 'gas' do you mean a liquid fuel lantern or propane? If propane wallyworld has a decent propane lantern for the price.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Qu...-Case/13848594

I bought one last year and am happy with it. I also agree with Mike on the head lights. You can get them just about anywhere and they light up where ever you are looking. The down side to them is talking to someone you kind of blind them with the light if you are not careful.

[MacGyver]

Re: Help With Latern

I love these: Coleman Mini LED Lantern. Listed as running up to six hours, I've seen twice that. Not as bright as a full size propane or gas lantern, but no glaring light either. Also decidedly smaller, so less to pack. I used two of them on my last backpacking trip and they lit up everything enough to cook by and to avoid footfalls, guylines, etc.

[Moss]

Re: Help With Latern

If I had to pick one lantern, I would go with a Coleman LED with the CPX rechargeable battery pack. They have two settings Low/Hi, no glass to break, can be charged in a cigarette lighter during the day if you run the batteries down, overall good prodcut. :cool:

[Mike]

Re: Help With Latern

I love these: Coleman Mini LED Lantern. Listed as running up to six hours, I've seen twice that. Not as bright as a full size propane or gas lantern, but no glaring light either. Also decidedly smaller, so less to pack. I used two of them on my last backpacking trip and they lit up everything enough to cook by and to avoid footfalls, guylines, etc.

COLEMAN LED Lanterns are good and you don't have to spend a lot of money on them. I have a Coleman Pack-Away LED lantern that produces 95 lumens of light. It cost me around $20. It gives off very good light, is liteweight, and packs small. The one downside with the Pack-Away, which is a downside for several of the Coleman LED lanters is that the on/off switch is at the top of the unit and it often turns on by being bumped while packed. In fact, nearly every trip I have to change batteries because it turns on inavertently and the batteries burn out. Yes, yes, you would think I would pack it away inside the tea pot or something.... alas, I forget and run through another set of batteries. The Pack-Away is already an older model from two or three years back and Coleman has made some improvements - like having frosted gl**** etc.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Help With Latern

I have the coleman that you can take the led panels off and carry them separate. So for the midnight run to the restroom can have a lantern with them. Plus you can charge it off your vehicle. I love it.

[dougnash]

Re: Help With Latern

Hi I am new here.

I just purchased 2 lights from Kelty.

The Lumapivot lantern and the flashback.

Have not used them yet in the field...

[NV Camper]

Re: Help With Latern

I have the coleman that you can take the led panels off and carry them separate. So for the midnight run to the restroom can have a lantern with them. Plus you can charge it off your vehicle. I love it.

I have a similar LED Coleman but it runs on 8 D batteries I bought 3-4 years ago. I've only changed the batteries once in that time frame. Great lantern for those with kids.

[dougnash]

Re: Help With Latern

Here is a link to the Kelty Flashback



http://www.kelty.com/p-616-flashback...egory=lighting

Here is the lumapivot



http://www.kelty.com/p-391-lumapivot...egory=lighting

[James.]

Re: Help With Latern

For those of you with the LED lanterns I have a question. Can you change the bulbs? Have you had to? The reason I ask is that I had one of my customers give me a really nice LED flashlight a couple years ago and I dropped it and the light broke. I checked into a new one and it was so expensive that I just trashed the flashlight which sucked because it was a REALLY nice one. But the experience kind of soured me on the LED flashlights (and lanterns) as not durable enough.

What say you guys? Was my experience an anomaly or has the technology improved to where it can take a bit of a beating?

[Mike]

Re: Help With Latern

Yes, you can replace the bulbs on LED lights. Some guys make a hobby of switching out the bulbs. At least one source is dealextreme.com, but there are surely others.

[05Kingquad700]

Re: Help With Latern

Come on James. Your an electrician. Led's don't have "bulbs". They are a Light Emitting Diode. LOL. If you get the chance to take an led light apart, do it. They are really cool looking. I changed out a whole dining area at a university. Went from fluorescent to led's. Went from 4 20amp circuits to one. With more lumens being provided.

[gmann]

Re: Help With Latern

I purchased the Coleman Twin LED HP Lantern last summer at a garage sale for $10.00. It usually retails for around $70.00. Works exceptionally well. It does require 8D batteries though.

[Mike]

Re: Help With Latern

I purchased the Coleman Twin LED HP Lantern last summer at a garage sale for $10.00. It usually retails for around $70.00. Works exceptionally well. It does require 8D batteries though.

Wow, EIGHT D cell batteries LED?? I can't imagine. That is like an LED light on top of a car battery. Are you sure it isn't one of those fluorescent bulbs? I would question the need to go LED if you were going to need 8 D size batteries. It must be as big and heavy as a 1980s boom box ghetto blaster with cassette tape player booming out Chaka Khan. Hahaha

Seriously, I have never heard of an LED lantern that made an old two-mantle gas lantern seem compact and lightweight!

I have a smaller Coleman LED that runs on four AA batteries that puts out a lot of light. Seems Coleman is taking the LED movement seriously and pushing their product designs in that direction