When you are planning on spending some time out camping, it is only natural to want to bring along something to see with at night. Sure, movies tell you that all you need for lighting is a campfire, but that’s not exactly practical in most cases. I find that the best thing to take with me when I’m camping is a LED lantern. If you’ve never used one, they put off a great amount of light without adding too much weight to your gear. And if you’re backpacking, then you already know how important this is for your back. This type of camping or hiking lanterns is a battery powered lantern, which means that you do not have to worry about a power source for it. Most of them seem to run on D batteries and they get a pretty good battery life before you have to replace them. If you plan on camping for a long period, then I suggest getting rechargeable batteries and then a solar charger so that you are not carrying around a heavy pack of D batteries. Before you go out and buy just any of the available models, let me share my top picks with you so that you do not waste money on something that is not worth it. Keep reading for my LED lantern reviews.
Best Battery Powered LED Lanterns
There is no mistaking the fact that one of these stands above the rest as being the very best LED lantern for the money. It is the Rayovac Sportsman LED Lantern SE3DLN.
It is consistently one of our best and highest rated LED camping lanterns for the money. Plus, it has a good price.
And since Rayovac is a battery maker, you know that you are getting something that is designed to run well on battery power.
But probably the best thing about this one is that it comes with a lifetime warranty guarantee!
Here are the other features that you’ll be interested in:
- water resistant
- durable, quality build
- runtime of 40 hours in high mode or 90 hours in low mode
- weighs just 12.8 ounces
- features 4-watt LEDs last 100,000 hours that never need replaced
- 240 lumens with three modes; high, low, and strobe
- easy to find in dark as green LED light blinks every 5 seconds when unit is off
- rubber grip handle so you don’t drop it in the rain
- folding tent hanger
Overall, this battery powered camping lantern is very compact but offers a bright beam of light that is perfect to meet your needs.
If you need a longer runtime of light, and you don’t mind spending a little more money, then the Streamlight 44931 The Siege Compact Alkaline LED Hand Lantern is the best choice for you.
With this one, you get a whopping 295 hours of runtime in low mode. That is a LOT of light for your camping or backpacking weekend.
As mentioned though, it does come at a slightly higher cost. We suggest comparing prices at several online stores for the best deal.
This model has a similar design to the Rayovac above, but it slightly smaller in size. It still casts a good amount of light though, even in the darkest of nights.
The handle has an ergonomic design, and you can lock it in the upright or down position.
Some other top features include:
- D-rings incorporated on the top and bottom for easy hanging
- runs on three D batteries
- has four white C4 LED’s and one red C4 LED (for preserving night vision)
- weighs 14.4 ounces
- water resistant
- floats in water
- lifetime warranty
- durable with 2-meter impact resistance tested
Overall, this is a great compact unit that offers a lot of brightness. And, you can’t beat the extended runtime that you get from this one.
If you are short on space, then the Coleman MicroPacker Compact Battery Lantern is the perfect choice for you.
It is the best small LED lantern for the money as it has a great low price – but we suggest that you compare prices at several online stores for the best price.
And, you get a lot of light out of this little package for that discount price. Of course, a cheap price alone isn’t enough of a reason to buy it, but it has some great features that make it a good buy.
This one runs on just three AA batteries instead of those large (and heavy) D batteries. And you get about 15 hours of light from those batteries.
A really cool features of this one is that it has a reflector that slides so that you can use it as a flashlight or as a regular lantern. The versatility is great.
Other important features include:
- weighs just 7 ounces
- is only 7.5-inches tall
- has two bright, long-lasting, 0.5-millimeter LEDs
- comes with a one-year warranty from manufacturer
- only one brightness setting
This little lantern comes from a brand that has a good reputation when it comes to outdoor products and that reputation shows in the quality of this gadget. It is a great piece to add to your backpack or camping gear and it works well with rechargeable batteries. Overall, I think that it is probably the cheapest LED lantern that is worth the money.
Still interested in other options? Click here for all the LED lanterns at Amazon.
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