I'm new and have a question, I'm looking for a good quality LED lantern, I've seen the ones at Wallyworld and the like, they seem rather cheap, is there anything better out there, does anyone have one or ideas or sources?

Thanks
Shadow Out!!!

The rock river brand at Target works surprisingly well.

Bill

I've got a couple of Viatek ones(came in a three pack)only have four LED's each but they are water resistant(?) and can be used with AA batteries,the crank-1 minute of cranking gives more or less 20 minutes of light and has a hole for an adapter(which doesn't came with it)They aren't going to turn night into day but seem to work rather well.I haven't had them too long but they survived a single camping trip so far-look to me though that they are designed to be hung around a camp sight or used during power outages-which I guess is why they come three in a pack.

Agreed. The Rock River K2 is quite bright, and the top screws off for use as a flashlight.

Hi Shadow_ooOO

A 4 AA Cree LED lantern for $14 with free worldwide shipping, sounds to good to be true, but here is the link anyway.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3300

They also have the latern with a Cree XR-E 7090 Q2 LED Emitter for $16

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3346

On the exterior, these two are identical to the Target River Rock lantern mentioned above. The only difference is that, unlike the River Rock, the wire bail on the DX version has a "hump" in the middle to facilitate hanging. Can't speak to how the innards compare, except the River Rock (mine anyway) doesn't have a Cree LED.

personaly i like the petzl e+lite. it is not a lantern but a headlamp. what i like about it is the size and options for your buck. it has a shelf life of 10+ years. it is my back up light for my bob.

Shadow_oo00,

We had a power failure at home a couple of weeks ago, and while we have plenty of flashlights we didn't have much in the way of 'area' lights. So I've been looking for a good lantern as well.

I found what I think was a good buy at Walmart for $13.95. It appears to be a brand new product, because I can't find it on the manufacturers web site and a Google search of the model number (WRTWL41E) on the package comes back empty. The batteries included it the package had 'best by' date of 2014, which also suggests it's very new.

The front of the packaging reads:

"3 IN 1 LED FLASHLIGHT
100 hour run time with 2 LED flashlight (on one set of batteries)
360 degree area light with 3 LEDs
Nightlight with amber LED"

It is the Energizer 'Weather Ready' "3 in 1 LED Flashlight". The light is the shape of a traditional flashlight, but the 'rear' section where you would normally insert batteries is a translucent chamber used as a lantern 'globe'. The translucent section is 2 inches out of the lights overall 6 1/2 inch length. The light uses 4 AA batteries (included) in a battery holder inserted through the front of the light.

The first time you press the switch two bright LED's turn on facing 'forward' as you would expect with a normal flashlight. When you press the switch again those two LEDs turn off and three smaller LEDs turn on in the translucent handle section. You can place the light face down and it stands up like a tiny lighthouse. It's not blindingly bright, but I think it provides a useful amount of 'area' lighting. The third time you press the switch the three LEDs turn off and a single tiny amber LED turns on to serve as a night light.

The light has an elastic band that goes from the top to the bottom of the light. In that orientation it serves to help hold onto the light. It can be unclipped from the front of the light and clipped to the opposite side of the back, making it into a hanger for the lantern mode.

I took one home to try it out, and I was impressed. Enough so that I went back the next day and bought the remaining four they had on the shelf. Now there is one in each Jeep and three in the house. I think I'm a little better prepared for the next power outage.

Dennis

I have a Sylvania Osram lantern. It is a small LED lantern like the River Rock. Good enough for my purposes when camping. But my wife wants LOTS of light, so I take two lanterns when we go family camping. The Coleman double mantle one is for outside use and we have a Coleman 8D Pack Away with a fluorescent tube. For a battery lantern, that sucker is super bright. Fully lights up a large family sized tent so that when a load of kids cram in for stories, they can all see really well.

For power outages and car camping, it is awesome.

For packing your gear in, a head lamp and a flashlight is my combo of choice.

+1 for the Target Rock River K2 lantern. A mighty fine lantern at a very nice price.