Thinking about adding one of these to my preps/stash; just want to hear from users first.

I can’t think of any scenario where I would not prefer this:

Sofirn sc 03


I believe it’s 25% off right now. make sure you get it with the battery.

how about a scenario where there's no batteries

Or you want that little bit of heat.   An UCO candle or two will take some chill out of a small tent.   So will 18 farting MRE fed Marines.   We jammed 18 marines in a 10 man tent with cold wx liner during one cold weather session.   Two UCO candles helped.

I have all 3 versions.
UCO Candelier, Original, and Mini.
I would buy the Candleier and Original again but not the Mini.

The light output is exactly what you would expect from a candle (or 3 with the Candelier).
Take a tea candle or taper candle into a dark room and it is the same from a UCO lantern. A candle is a candle.
A reflective surface behind the lantern helps reflect some of the light back towards you.

The benefit is the candle holder provides an easy way to carry, hang, and is wind resistant.
The welds on mine are solid and clean, quality is good.

A cheap alternative is Mason jars, a piece of wire wrapped around the lip, and whatever cheap candles you can find.

The glass chimney needs to be protected in transport. On the Original the chimney slides into the base for storage but can still break if dropped or bounced around. I wrap them in a piece of reflectix in transport for some extra impact and crush protection and have it wrapped in my extra clothes or sleeping bag.

I'll take the Candleier car camping sometimes but it is heavier and bulkier then I would take backpacking. You can warm a cup of liquid on the top plate but you won't be cooking on it.

The Original goes winter backpacking sometimes. Nice to have a little light around camp on winter nights when it is dark from 4PM - 8AM.
I typically hammock and not use a tent so even if the candle is under my tarp it is not adding any warmth to my shelter.

The tea candle one I took an a couple of backpacking trips when I first got it but I have not touched it in several years now.
Still nice to have around for an emergency as I picked up 1,000 tea candles at Ikea many years ago.
In a prolonged power outage a simple clear glass bowl or pint mason jar will work fine as a tea candle holder.

I have a neoprene pouch for mine.
I can't remember if it came with or was an accessory.

Run out of batteries. Run out of candles. Same difference.

The thing with wax is it handles long term storage better.

I bought an original one back in the 1980s or early 90s. They’re a nice source of light, but I haven’t been backpacking since lots of good small LED lights became popular, so I don’t know if it would make the cut if I were to go backpacking again nowadays. I’m more of a car camping guy now than back then.

They have had a version made from brass as well- more expensive, and MUCH heavier than the aluminum version. I ran across one of the brass models at an estate sale and couldn’t pass up the price- $2, so I picked it up for home prepping. The brass one would be too heavy for backpacking, IMO.

ETA:

+1.  Nice little pouches- decent protection for the glass. I think my neoprene pouch came separately, from REI, IIRC.

ETA 2: The specs table on Amazon lists the weight of the brass version as 8.8 oz., versus 6.4 oz for the aluminum version. I can’t find my brass one right now to get a weight, but I recall being struck by the weight difference between the aluminum and the brass one. So much for being prepared. If I were buying a new one, the aluminum version is just fine, but if I came across a used brass version for a good price, and weight isn’t an issue, then go for it. UCO makes a neoprene rubber sleeve for the original model- a neoprene cover is a worthwhile investment.

ETA 3: I dug out my aluminum model, and realized that the protective sleeve, actually a small bag with a drawstring, is made of fleece material, not neoprene. IIRC, it was REI aftermarket. It’s fine for protection, though.

I've got the aluminum version with the neoprene case. I like that it puts out some heat and just a little bit of ambience and light. Perfect for warming a small tent when it's pretty dang cold out.

I found that the beeswax candles are the best, but in Texas summer don't store them in your car!

The truth is modern LED headlamp paired with Jon-E-warmer or the newer to market Zippo warmers is pretty much the best option.

These catalytic warmers stuffed in your wool sock worn during the day will keep you very toasty on the coldest nights when camping.

its a fun little toy but there are better options out there and it is really easy to burn yourself, break the glass, spill hot candle juice everywhere.

I like owning it but only really needed it once in 20 years.

as a back up to the back up of the back up light source its not bad and it looks neat on my shelf

I bought a red alum version with the neoprene sock. So far, I've used it while camping for Scouts with my son in cooler seasons. It is enough to keep condensation down inside the tent and break a bit of the chill. I have not used the beeswax candles, just the standard ones. I seem to get through about 3/4 of a candle per night. Works well within size and weight considerations when camping out of a car or truck. Would not carry in a pack due to fragility.

Might want to do a search for "oil insert for uco lantern".

Interestingly, UCO now also offers LED lights:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015SE2IP2?tag=arfcom00-20
They also have 110 lumen models which run on AA batteries, and are less expensive.

I own 3, good option when camping, packable... I have headlamps, flashlights... Just another tool...

I own a couple originals and a couple minis. I use them around the house when the power goes out but that's about it. They work to light bathrooms and such. For backpacking there are so many better choices, I would never carry a candle lantern.

I have an original and mini.  Never used them much more of a stash at the home base in case of long extended power outage type item for me.  For camping or short outages, I just use a cheap LED lantern.

I have a few extra candles for the original, but they are specific to the lantern.  I have a whole box of tea lights for the mini.  In the end they are just things that hold candles.

This threaded is a good reminder to inventory my candle stash and possibly get another UCO mini since I have a large box of the tea lights.

I had two of the original in brass.  Yeah, I'm a gluten for punishment so I carried them backpacking.  Both of the holders developed cracks  that eventually resulting in the candle assembly falling out the bottom of the brass holder with too much regularity.  

The candlelier has been holding up fine for 25+ years.

They're cool, but not all that practical

That said, I would never get rid of mine.

They work great.  Get the beeswax candles for them since they burn a bit cleaner.   Their regular candles are very clean too but the beeswax is better.

They get pretty hot which is useful during winter months.

I have one left over from my boyscout days. They were awesome back when batteries didn’t last long and solar wasn’t a thing yet. I keep it with my other stuff and about 2 dozen candles that are at least 30 years old.
They’re cheap and definitely don’t hurt to add it to your preps.

I hope I never have to use mine again but I’m glad I still have it.

I've got a couple of discontinued "Micro" lanterns, and like their big brother, they collapse to protect the glass. I've used them a few times just to test them out and while they don't give off a ton of light, they do okay. Where I found them to work best (the tealight versions) is when used a "Palmer furnace". Essentially wrapping yourself up in a reflective lined thermal blanket, sitting on some type of ground insulation with you back to a tree and the candle lantern between your legs. Not really comfortable, but you can retain quite a bit of heat in with that method and the lantern helps keep the open flame a little safer. The collapsible micro and three extra tealight candles will fit in a standard UCO lantern cocoon for extra protection.

They're just another layer of preparation. Candles are still pretty inexpensive and will store much longer than other types of "fuel". I have a box of beeswax tealight candles that are a decade old and no issues. My larger UCO lantern candles (regular wax) are twice that old and still work! Every winter I pick a weekend or two to just use the oil lamps and candle lanterns...also a very primitively romantic ambiance to get your woman in the mood

ROCK6

I have a few originals...somewhere...they haven't been used in years...modern LED lights, li-ion batts, and a solar charger will ensure I have more light than the UCO could ever produce. As for heat, people actually use a UCO for heat? They don't put off much heat at all, I can't see that being a practical heat source. There are plenty of other viable options that will do far better at keeping you warm.

I love the UCO lanterns. I use all of them from the tea light to the three candle version.

From a thread where some knucklehead proclaimed that all defensive guns must have lights mounted on them.  

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Mine spends most of it's life in the little neoprene cover in the back of my truck but I have carried it plenty of times camping and even backpacking, usually when it was cold but you can get citronella candles for them too.  The little reflectors help a bit.  It was supplanted by a Black Diamond Orbit for summer camping when those came out but I don't think BD makes that style anymore.  My current UCO is probably twenty years old and it replaced one I'd had since college that I apparently lost (ironically, back when I was a broke college student I had a 2" Rossi that would have gone everywhere with me, if it had been legal.  I wish I still had that revolver too, just for nostalgia's sake.).  I prefer the beeswax candles but the others store a little better; as long as I keep them low in the wooden storage box (the truck stays set up for camping with a shell on it) they seem to survive the SC summer heat most of the time.  Candles that get deformed get repurposed.

Since this is the survival forum and talking about candles I'll add in a quick bit.

a couple years ago, on a whim I wanted to see if deer fat (which doesn't taste good and doesn't really intentionally go into my grind pile other than the small bits) would make a useable candle. Short answer, it totally does, and was stupid simple and I used what I had in my house.

I cut all the easy to get to back fat from my doe, and put it in a pot. I melted/rendered it down and ended up with about 16oz. Since I didn't know if it would work, I only cut/saved enough to fit in my small sauce pot. I split that liquid into two small mason jars, soaked a couple short lengths of butchers twin for wicks in a tablespoon of borax and water (read about that on the Internet). I added a bit of my wife's old citrus-y essential oils for fun. Centered the wicks hanging in the jar and let them cool.

they burned amazing. Like a store bought candle, slightly smaller flame, but 100% a useable candle.

anyways, that's what popped into my mind when someone said 'run out of batteries, run out of candles' I get it, and everybody should have rechargeable lighting methods and solar, but just another way to know how to make light.

I have several of them, but I know that they're much more mood lighting than anything else. I have... a lot of candles for them, though. Back in the late 2000's, Walmart had them on clearance so they could switch over to new packaging. I got a few hundred of the three packs of candles for 15 cents each.