Posted: 4/4/2008 4:19:43 PM EDT
| I'm looking at getting 3-4 for the house. It looks like some of these will last 60 hours on the batteries and would be better then candles. Anyone have any experience with them? |
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I guess I either have or have used most of them on the market. I've pretty much totally gone away from the full size lanterns to the RockRiver/Brinkman 4 AA single high output LED models. They put out about the same light as the big ones on battery saver mode if not more and take up less space using smaller lower cost batteries. I use one every night as my bed stand light with MiAH rechargeable. I also use these camping as tent lights. It puts out enough light to do most average tasks in a good size room and to read by within say six feet. These are very high on my recommend list. I did just buy 3 of the Vaitek, same light principle of deflecting the light out except 4 LEDs. They're hand crank as well as 4 AA. Downside to these is if you want to keep the crank battery working you need to crank them once a month. They put out a decent light a little larger than the RockRiver but not much and similar styling. All I can say about them so far, they're kind of new to me as far as lanterns go, is that they're still working after four or five months. I'll need some actual field time with them before I can give a better recommendation. As far as the big ones go, I far like the Jeep with remote over the Sportsmansguide models. Its simply built more sturdy and one drop isn't the end of them. It has a steel handle as apposed to plastic and rubber bottom as apposed to plastic. The remote actually comes in handy if camping in larger tents/boats and allows you to adjust the light or turn it off without climbing out of bag. Tj |
+1 I have had good success with the new CREE version of the "river rock" style lanterns, noticeable whiter and brighter light. Same artifacts as before but a single ply piece of toilet paper wrapped around the globe diffuses the light to a very nice and even throw. |
Oh my, that's sweet! Its a heck of price too! I have at least six of these small lanterns but I so like the Crees. I upgraded a couple flashlights with their LEDs and quite impressed. It is a shorter run time but boy I bet puts out the light. Tj |
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The only thing I don't like about the River Rock lights, of which I have two, is the harsh nature of the light. Damn things are so bright that they are hard to look at! I tried putting some scotch tape on one side of one of them and it helped on that side. Now I may try putting it all the way around to dampen the light some. They are very bright. If it works, I will probably just bead blast the plastic window. Another great little lantern is the cheap AA Coleman at walmart for $10. It is not nearly as bright, but it puts out really decent light. I added scotch tape to one of the River Rock lanterns and it worked awesome! I bought one of the 3AA coleman Cree LED lanterns that was plain brutally bright, with horrible focus and inclusions. Scotch tape made it ten times better with much more useful light. I posted a thread about this in the survival gear forum that has all the lanterns I own in it. |
If you don't need a tremendous amount of light, Wal-Mart is selling a nifty "Ozark Trails" 7-LED lantern in the Sporting Goods department for $4.88 (yes, you read that right - under five bucks!) that runs on 4 AA cells. It looks a lot like the old, original River Rock lantern... ...but has switchable high (6 white LED), low (3 white LED) and flashing (1 red LED)functions instead. It's not nearly as bright as the River Rock or other Jupiter/Luxeon/Cree lanterns, but makes up for it in price and battery life (runs on the "low" setting for 48 hours continuous). |
I don't disagree. Try a single sheet of single ply TP wrapped around the globe of the light - it evens things out veeerrry nicely. Certainly not a durable solution and I will have to try the tape method you are using in comparison, but for indoor use the TP works cheap and easy!  The CREE versions of the light are a nice step up and a little more useful over the original Rock River lights. The CREE lights have a low-high-flash setting that works out about like this: LOW - about like the original Rock River but whiter/brighter since its a CREE HIGH - nice step up in intensity, not OMG huge difference. Probably 25% - 33% improvement FLASH - FAR slower strobe over the RR lights...about 2 flashes per second - not a bad thing and a little more useful If you compare the CREE versions to the original RR versions you will see they are almost the same but lack some refinements: - No O rings around the top/bottoms but the room is there to add them, should be easy. - Base black grip is more plastic feeling and less rubbery compared to RR Generally speaking they are the same chassis but lack some refinements yet have a better emitter. Some CREE emitters are more white than the others but they are all a nice step up from the original Target RR lanterns. Still not really bright enough to read by but in a generation or two....LED lanterns will be nearly perfect for indoor use. |
We have candles, but my only concern is that they burn out and oil lamps need fuel. Some of these LED lamps seem to last for months. My wife is concerned with power outages from major events that could last 1-2 weeks or longer. |
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Hey guys since I use my Rock River like every night, I have found a little trick for your harsh light concern and it is very simple. I go to bed much later than my wife due to differing work schedules and use the little light to not wake her up. What I found is if you position the little lanterns two dimensional height and distance for a given activity you can address that. I simply use them below eye level but close enough for the activity I'm doing. For reading that's as simple as on the nightstand beside me or end table. In a tent that's on cooler or pack rather than suspended and if I suspend lower my suspension level. I think much of this comes from the fact we also use candles and oil lamps/lanterns indoors where distance is such a factor and Coleman style globes where the bright light direct in your eyes is such a factor. Tj |
This is a very good solution! The river rocks are not too terrible, but that coleman micro packer with the cree is just plain painful, no matter what angle you look at it. The river rocks are more directional and have that large dia. top that lends itself to your solution perfectly. |
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Energizer just released a buttload of new LED lanterns. Some listing 500 hour run times at lower settings with three led's. Some of these seem pretty good with both krypton and various LED settings. With the advancement of LED technology in the past 2 years or so the run times and brightness are better than previous LED lanterns. I am starting to see these at Target and Walmart. www.energizer.com/products/flashlights/preparedness/Pages/emergency-lights.aspx Full-Auto |
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This is one of my favorite lights. The florescent seems to run for a very long time and it is very bright. The led is only marginal, but very useable. The florescent is totally awesome. I am running this light with AA rechargeables and I can't remember the last time I charged them! 
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That looks just like my brunton that I spent a whole lot more on |
That's the type I mentioned in my earlier post. So far as long as your remember to crank them up once a month, they seem to be lasting. I don't know about the Walmart but the Vaitec also uses 4AAs which is good for when the rechargeable batter finally dies from life of charge. I paid $25 at SG for three of them. Tj |
I have never had much luck with a fluorescent for outdoor use, however, like you say, they are fantastic for home emergency use. I bought one of the high output large flashlights, 500,000 candle power, that has the two long fluorescent bulbs on the side that plugs into your wall to keep it charged. That thing is also fantastic. Power goes out, you know right were it is, turn it on and it lights up a room like a grocery store. The big flood beam is also handy for checking out wide areas outside lighting up like daylight. Being indoors, you don't run into the contact corrosion problem as fast as outdoor use. Tj |
Not even close build wise. I have a Brunton and I've looked at the Ozark trails. |
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There are a couple versions of the rock river model out. I have one of those and the cheap walmart one, and also the cheap coleman one. There is an led glowstick that's pretty cool too. I like them better than candles because our electricity goes out a lot and it heats the house up to use candles. I really experienced this recently when our electricity was out for about 16 hours recently, it went out about 8pm, and the neighbors that used a lot of candles had hotter housed than the ones that didn't. I have a couple of battery powered fans as well. I have used rechargeable batteries in the past and not had much success with them but learned on the geocaching website about better batteries and chargers. I got a lacross one from thompson distributing and some sanyo eneeloop batteries. The charger lets you choose how fast you charge them, what ma's and will recondition batteries that have gone bad or gotten a memory. THe eneloops worked great in my camera and gps! I put some in my headlamp and they last as long as regular alkaline batteries! I am also trying the sanyo 2700's . I go through batteries so this will be a money saver. Oh, the charger came with these adapters that lets you use AA batteries in things that take C and D batteries. The eneloops come precharged because they do not lose their charge from sitting like other rechargables. THe link will give you all the hoopla about the design but I guess it's true because mine had a stamp of 2006 on them and was only a few volts less than fully charged. With the eneloops I can actually have back up rechargable batteries and use the others from day to day. this is my charger |