I am looking for an LED lantern for our barn as it is starting to get dark earlier.  I would prefer something that is re-chargeable, but that's not a requirement.  Any recommendations?  

Thanks

The Fenix CL 25 or 30 would be a good choice. They both run off an 18650 and are on board rechargeable.  I have the 25 and my wife loves it for when I'm away.

Thanks! That is exactly what I was looking for.  

Isn't it wired so you can just put in a LED bulb?

No, the barn used to have power, but someone cut the line at some point, and I don't have time to run a new line yet.

The problem with the Fenix lights is that they take 18650 li-ions if I'm correct, but I believe you can charge the cell in the light.

I went with two D size Streamlight Siege lanterns.  You can get Tenergy Centura/Premium D batteries and just charge them in a dumb charger, if you don't have a smart charger.

You can get almost two of the Siege LED lanterns for the price of a Fenix, but the Fenix is a great recommendation if you have the $50-$60 for one.

Chris

How much is a nimh D rechargeable battery each? How much for a charger?

You need three for the Siege, so they're about $8-$9 for the Centura (LSD) and Premiums (HSD,) so you have to drop some cash on them, no doubt.  However, they have about 8000mAh-9000+mAh of capacity and will last pretty long on one charge.

The chargers are going to be a bit trickier, since we don't see a lot of the D/C NiMH versions, but they're out there.  The king of the hill is the Maha/PowerEx 808M smart charger for $90ish.  It is an 8 bay AA/AAA/C and D fast charger with some battery conditioning.

As you can see, there are some upfront costs.  The Fenix CL25 can be charged by a USB adapter, or even from a computer, but it will be slow.  At ~$60-$65, it's a bit spendier, but it is a nice lantern, no doubt.  The CL30 is their new 650LM 3x18650 jobbie, which doubles as a powerbank, but it's close to $100+ and charging up three 18650s will take some time to fully charge.

It's a trade off.  I also have a GE Weather lantern, that runs on either 3xAA, or 3xD and while not as bright ast the Siege lanterns, it's good for a smaller room.

You could probably fine a D size dumb charger for cheaper than the Maha, but I haven't looked all that long and they're generally pretty slow.

Personally, for my SHTF needs, I've held off on the Tenergy D batteries and have 16 Duracell Durablocks waiting until I pull the trigger on them.

Chris

I don't know anyone who doesn't have a 2.1 to 2.4 amp USB smart phone charger to charge the Fenix. My car chargers are 2.4 amps also.

Sure, the 2.1A/2.4A wall warts are ubiquitous, but that doesn't mean the CL25 is charging at 2A...more probably it's charging at 1A.

It's a nice little lantern, no doubt.  

Chris

I standardized my storm supplies to re chargeable AA Eneloop... if you are looking for  a small LED lantern, I like my Coleman High Tech 3AA LED

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-3AA-High-Tech-Mini-Lantern/dp/B00339C2VA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473205731&sr=8-1&keywords=coleman+high+tech+AA+led+lantern

This bad boy might just be the ticket for your barn.

Internal (proprietary 8800mAh pack) battery, 1100LM on high for 5 hours, 550LM on medium for 10+ hours, can be used as a USB power bank and comes with a AC wall wart for charging.

I'm not a fan of proprietary batteries, but what the hell...it's a bright lantern.

Behold, I give you the Streamlight Super Siege lantern...

$105 shipped off of Ebay by an authorized SL dealer with full warranty.

Too spendy for my blood, but that's El Jeffe.

Chris

I've been looking for a reason to mention the Luci Lux here on the forum, we have several Luci lights and all have been really good. My personal preference is for the Lux model because it looks like incandescent light. The newer models have a battery charge meter on them and are supposed to give 8 hours on an 8 hour charge in full sunlight. I don't know the actual run time because even using it for a week as a read before bed light it doesn't get any dimmer than it does coming off of a day long charge.

Being inflatable, they might not be barn rugged but damn if they aren't cheap and convenient. Put out a lot of light too.

I have two. They are pretty awesome for the money. I've never checked the run time.

I am a big fan of the Siege series. We have 2 with eneloop AAs in D adapters. I haven't had a problem running these like this, but I haven't tested run time vs standard Ds. I also keep several of the small versions. They are great for power outages.

Fenix makes the absolute best lanterns out currently. I have the middle on in this picture and it's amazing. Runs on 1 18650 and has a rare earth magnet base. The larger one can also be used to charge your phone or whatever off the internal batteries which are also 18650s.

I bring my Milwaukee Stick light camping. They do make a lantern light as well. I like it because it uses batteries I use for other tasks. I bet the other manufacturers have nifty lights too.

This is a bit old of a thread now but Streamlight makes some great ones! I have their smaller ones that take AAs and then a larger one that is D batteries.