The Fenix CL25R



This is easily the coolest LED lantern I've ever seen. It runs on a single 18650 LI battery. On board recharging via a micro USB port on the side.

Instead of the lamp sitting on top of the battery, the battery is inside the barrel shaped light assebly, so the LEDs surround the battery.  

10, 50, 200 and 350 lumens. The steps are very well thought out.

The run time is huge on low. 600 hours of very useful navigation level light. Almost 24 hours on medium. That is more than a week of normal working level light for me.

The best part is the powerful magnet in the bottom battery cap. It sticks like crazy.

The other best part is how short the whole package is. It is smaller than my Orbit and it doesn't need to extend or use legs. Very compact.

I can easily recharge this light with my solar panels.

I like it.

I go broke buying D batteries for my Coleman LED lanterns. I have been trying to convert to all 18650, and I think this may be the ticket for lantern issues!

I hear that, I love the coleman lanterns though.  They are 12VDC, it would be very easy to get a sealed lead acid battery (the type used in UPS devices) and use it as a rechargeable for it.

Oh teh noes

Aimless be looking at teh SF threads.

Batman, that is a real good looking light.

Call me when they make the same thing that takes AA's...

52mm x 99mm

2"x4"

Wow, that is very compact.  Sounds like a very cool little lantern.  

This for me. It looks like a neat idea, but I don't like depending on internal-rechargeables unless they can be swapped out with other batteries. IE, our gmrs radios use the factory rechargeable battery packs, but in a pinch they can use AAA's if need be.

If there's a substitute or adapter for the 18650, that'd be a tempting light, but I don't know of any...

just remove and add 2) cr123a primary batts.

 

AA, AAA, D, C etc. batteries are old school and suck by comparison to modern cells.

They may suck......but they are EVERYWHERE, when I can walk into a 7/11 and buy an 18650 battery I might think about it......if I was able to use AA batteries as well I would maybe think about it.  At this point its meh

Man, I want one.
I'm so freakin' poor right now.

Rechargeable trumps commonality in this situation.  You can pull the 18650 out and pop a fresh one in any time. With my solar panels I can recharge this thing for years without issue. I am not aware of any AA lanterns with on board charging with the massive capacity of the 18650.

I don't mind, but other designs are out there.  The Streamlight Sidewinder II will take a CR123, AA and AAA.  I could easily see the same possibility with a lighter like this...especially given the size.  Still, I'm intrigued and will give it a shot...damn you all for tempting me

ROCK6

They do make rechargeable AA & AAA and IMHO, rechargeable AND commonality trumps either one individually.

I'm a big fan of rechargeable AA & AAA batts because it gives me options both here & now, and options if SHTF... with 18650's you don't have that option.

So......I have to give away all my AA and AAA lanterns because I have this one? Who the hell only has one lantern?

I have a metric shit ton of Eneloops and that, in no possible way, makes this lantern any less totally freakin awesome. I will recharge them both with the same technology. I don't get how it's such a huge stretch to buy a kick ass lantern like this one and have a couple AA lanterns as well. Don't bother with low capacity AAA unless you go rechargeable.  

This lantern has on board charging with a proven replaceable rechargeable battery. This light with a 5 watt panel will give years of reliable service while taking nothing away from my other lights.

Price

The Streamlight AA Siege is what you want. I have several, they are very well
thought out and designed. Honestly it's probably the single best AA lantern on the market IMO.

My only complaints is that it doesn't have an ultra-ultra-low mode (aka moon or starlight mode), and that the LED on the power
button that indicates battery status stays on (but it's a very nice touch though, you turn on the light and the button is green with
full batteries, and goes to red and then blinking red when it's almost out.)

I've worked with battery companies and battery chemistries as part of my work in the past.
I'm about to go off on a rant about batteries here, that's just how much of a nerd I am.

First, batteries are extremely application dependent. So there's applications where
"modern cells" are going to shine, but I'll argue it's not most prepping applications.

"Modern cells" invariably means lithium secondary (rechargable) batteries. Now, lithium is
a very cool battery chemistry and a bunch of things we enjoy today wouldn't be possible without it,
it's got the energy density that makes smart phones possible and lets you build drones that
are light enough to get off the ground and fly for a long time. However, from a prepping and
survival standpoint, lithium secondary batteries are probably the worst chemistry second to
carbon-zinc disposables.

There are a bunch of issues -- they age, and the aging is dependent on state of charge, but
only partially dependent on cycles. So, leaving a lithium fully charged will age it out of use
faster, so you have to store it at 40% charge -- not great for standby use. And even then,
most cells are rated to be "bad" (e.g. 80% of initial capacity) after just 18-24 months,
irrespective of use. Lithium cells have a few "hard fail" modes, e.g., if they get over-depleted,
they frequently are permanently damaged, which is why they have protection circuits.
While rare, they got that nasty ball-of-fire thermal runaway failure mode as well. I could go on.
Leave a lithium cell alone for a couple years and there's a very good chance, even though
it's got low self-discharge, it's going to fail or at least be pretty marginal.

Don't get me wrong, for EDC activities and when you can resupply indefinitely, lithium
rechargables are fine. Use your high power light, battery starts to flake, get a new one,
back in business. Same thing for phones, or anything that's daily use. Lithium isn't going
to let you down that day, if you use it and monitor it every day. That's prepping and
survival in the sense of immediate need, and it's a fine application for lithium seconary
chemistries.

However, if you're caching things, putting lights into bug-out bags, glove boxes
and other places where they will sit for months to years; if you're storing extra batteries, stocking
for long-term use, keeping multiple sets around for hot-swapping for extended use of a device,
lithium secondary cells are going to fail, and fail hard. And also cost you much more money
than other chemistries due to the failure.

If you're using secondary batteries, there's a reason everyone shouts out Eneloop. The aging
rate is mostly cycle dependent, with just a small time component, so by and large a 10-year old
eneloop with a few cycles is going to be near capacity. New eneloops stored for five years
will test out at 50% capacity out of the box, and recharge to better than 95% listed capacity
on the first charge. The failure modes are benign and are usually very "soft" failures unless
there's a major over-current event. A lot of "prepping" application is exactly this kind of
use, e.g. very long term standby, storage, caches. So you can see for these applications,
the low-self discharge NiMH chemistry of eneloops is a much better fit.

There are still other applications where lithium primary is the way to go. Lithium primary
cells aren't rechargable, but have high energy density, so are ultra-light-weight, and they
pretty much zero self discharge so they can be stored forever. I've literally pulled out
20 year old Energizer E91s from storage and have them test out at 95% capacity. Coin
cell lights using quality CR2032s, for example, will work after 15 years in a cache without
issue. There's a reason these are the cells used for things like rescue beacons or other
devices that get near zero maintenance until use, but they've got to work.

If you go with AAs, you can use either eneloops or E91s, and select them according
to the application/mission requirements. YMMV, but I'm willing to sacrifice and accept
a larger light size or lower peak brightness to have the flexibility. If you really need
what secondary lithium offers, go with it, but I strongly suggest you have an equivalent
light in AA as a backup.

 
Any idea what it weighs?

 

$60

So I have to go out and buy an entirely new battery size/chemistry because this lantern is only made for 18650's??

I have a metric shit-ton of Eneloops too, and IMHO, they trump 18650's for my purposes so why should I have to get 18650's to run a cool lantern like this just because you say they're better?

Good post, thanks!

So don't buy one.....

You don't need to go out and buy a bunch of batteries. It comes with one and it can run for days of normal use. Then you recharge. Simple.  You don't convert everything to 18650. I don't know why anyone who shit on such a great little latern. It's no more difficult than recharging a cell phone.

Did you come to this thread just to argue?

As a side note 18650s are used in most upmarket e-cigs and an increasing number of flashlights as well.  As mentioned already, they can easily be substituted for two CR123s if the electronics can handle it.  I use one in my rechargeable, EDC flashlight and they are great.

I think this is the value as I would most likely just use the 18650 in EDC flashlights and store the lantern with CR123s.  If needed or planning a trip, I would swap with a 18650, but as noted, battery chemistries are different for different purposes.  I have a handful of specialized batteries for EDC stuff, a crap-load of LSD NiMHs for storage and periodic use and a smaller butt-load of lithium batteries (AA and CR123) for emergencies and specific applications (backpacking, weapons lights, etc.).  

As for alkaline, I just don't want to bother anymore.  They just suck if you don't use them in a few years regardless of their labeled expiration dates and I've lost some decent lights when I screwed up and accidently stored them with alkaline batteries.  I may by a pack every other year for the storm season, but after a couple years, I'll use them in a couple of large-capacity LED flashlights for a weekend and then dump them.  I just don't trust them anymore.

Some of these specialized batteries aren't for anyone and if you aren't interested, don't waste your time or money.  You won't use them to their advantage and it does take a little dedication to understand their application and invest the time necessary to maximize their value.  The good news is that there are some excellent options and multi-battery electronics to make us all happy

ROCK6

They sure are. I already have this battery type laying around, and that's why I just ordered one.
Currently, the black version is out of stock. Right now, only the olive color is available.

Thanks Batman, for posting this.
And thank you Paul, for posting the coupon code.

For you guys preferring an AA battery option, along with the Streamlight Seige, Fenix makes a compact LED lantern that is very unique in that it can be powered by either a single AA battery OR a single CR123 battery. The runtime is excellent especially when you consider it is from one battery. It puts out 4 brightness options with the low setting at 56 hour runtime. They can be purchased on Ebay for around $36


https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/cl20-camping-lantern/


Full-Auto

My EDC flashlight (18650 powered) is this little guy:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?396623-*NEW*-Nitecore-MH10-Rechargeable-1000-Lumen-Light

It's actually similar to the latern in this thread, built in charger, variable brightness levels, and it's bright as hell.  Since I already have a charger and extra batteries I really want the lantern.

If you buy the Fenix UC30 you don't have to send your light to China if you have a warranty issue.  I have a light I need to send back to nitecore and it's silly to not have a local facility.

It does the same on board charging and 960 ANSI rated lumens. I have one and it is simply awesome to light up a football field with your edc pocket light. It's not much bigger than my single AA pocket lights.

http://www.fenixoutfitters.com/fenix-uc30-ultra-compact-led-flashlight/

http://www.fenixoutfitters.com/fenix-uc30-ultra-compact-led-flashlight/

But mine has a 1 lumen low power mode, that lasts more than 500 hours.  

The UC30 does look just as good otherwise.

Holy cow!

I won't... at least not until it's batteries match what I already use...


Where did I shit on it? Where did I say it was sucky? I actually like it, that's why my very first post was "Call me when they make one that takes AA's). I'd like to have one... but not one that requires a battery that doesn't match my style of use or my life-style.


I think you need to take a chill pill, you're proving yourself to be a dick... I made a single comment, you expressed your vast knowledge on how superior your 18650 battery is and how inferior I am for wanting the lantern in AA (despite the fact that the 1865 is NOT superior in every way, and certainly not for my style of use)



Sorry, but I'm a super practical guy; I'm not the type of guy that has to blow my hard earned money to have the absolute best, I only want what I need. Really, what's the difference between a 2-AA light that puts out 300 lumen or a similar sized 18650 light that puts out 350? Unless you put them side-by-side you don't know the difference and it's HIGHLY unlikely that you find yourself in a situation where the 18650 will work but the AA won't. So what does the extra money, the extra battery type and extra battery charger laying around gain you? IMHO, it gains you very little and it's not worth the added expense.


That's great, I'm not a "tactical" fan-boy, I'm a "practical" guy...  It's great that this lantern is out, it's pretty cool, but I'd like to see the same thing (batteries are inside the tube of LED's for a more compact lantern) offered in AA form...

Why are you arguing for the sake of arguing?

If you don't like the bats required for this lantern then don't buy it.  Easy peasy.

The 18650 lights like I mentioned earlier put out a thousand lumens, and run for almost 600 hours on the lowest setting.  Literally every other pocket light I have is AA or two AA, but I like the 18650 enough to make the switch I would never make for CR123s.

Have a metric crap ton of eneloops. Also have a metric ton of 18650s. The 18650 has been state of the art in this house for years; ever since I found that I could light up my neighbors backyard 300 yards away with a light no bigger than my thumb.  Not a such a stretch to take a look at this lantern, I think. Thanks for the info, Bats.

I really love the capacity of the 18650. I am looking forward to more lights with the 26650 battery. I have two now.

I would recommend checking out d.light also, awesome solar lantern for less than 20 bucks .

http://www.dlight.com/solar-lighting-products/single-function/dlight-s20/

Batman, how do you like the UC30? Didn't know about it until you mentioned it(I try not to look at flashlights these days...I keep getting accused of having too many). Have you posted about it before? I was considering the Jetbeam version but held off. I would be getting two or three for guys that work with me.

I love the look of this lantern, though I don't have a need for it at the moment.

Cheap AA solution:





http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G0OVUYU/





I just got one this week. Seems like a really cool little light. Runs on 2 AAs. There's also these two:





http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NPLSZF8


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AJHHTDA/

 

I already have a 1400 lumen light... that I built myself... want to take a stab at what batteries it runs on and how far I can see with it?

Anything beyond that and IMHO you're pissing money away on lights when you need to be stepping up to night--vision...

That being said, clearly you guys don't get the point I'm making. I guess some people get offended when their chosen path isn't the holy-grail they thought it was... I'm done here... but if they make this in AA let me because it's a pretty cool lantern...

Thanks for the heads up.. Amazon does indeed carry them as well. Pick up the lantern and 2 extra 18650s + charger (Nitecore charger/battery combo) for $100 bucks..

I just got it. My boss bought it for me!

So far I love it. The reflector looks to be the same as my UC35. Both can light up a football field from one end. I don't think I will miss the tailcap switch or the pocket clip. I was tearing up my pants with the clip anyway.

The levels are nicely spaced. I will use the 110 level most for work. 10 lumens at home. 400 will come in handy for seeing inside big machines.