LED lights for general and task lighting

[LonghunterCO]

So we have our thread on lanterns (kero and propane) and a couple of us mentioned LED lanterns. So I thought that I would start a new thread.
I have two little ones and have been around wood buring stoves since they were two year old. They do great staying away from it, but I am looking at a LED light source for general and task lighting that can be moved around (an possibably, if need be, used by the little ones). I was looking at some LED lantern-style lights. Some are battery only, some with solor charges built in and yet others with dynamo charging cranks. Does anyone out there have an experience with any of these?

[M4Fundi]

I have about 10 of these that I keep in every tent, every pack, every first aid kit, every emergency kit, etc. They run on one AA and are bomber and small and run for a good while. They also come in different LED colors. I prefer the green or white LED. You can also clip them to a hat.

http://www.gerbergear.com/index.php/product/id/5

[karmapolice]

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com...lighting/orbit

The Black Diamond orbit is the best led lantern on the market currently and black diamond is a top notch company with top notch products. They have bigger sizes as well if you are looking for something bigger.

[luckyguy1]

I like head lamps for task work, (checking the breakers, starting a generator, working on something in the house.

I like flash lights for walking, and travel, and I like lanterns when just sitting around and or reading, or general tasks like cooking, getting dressed, working on the car, etc.

[M4Fundi]

I agree I live with a Petzl Duo LED on my head.

[sgtjosh]

For Camping, I use a Coleman LED lantern that I got at Wal-Mart. It cost about $15.

[Beat Trash]

I have about 10 of these that I keep in every tent, every pack, every first aid kit, every emergency kit, etc. They run on one AA and are bomber and small and run for a good while. They also come in different LED colors. I prefer the green or white LED. You can also clip them to a hat.

http://www.gerbergear.com/index.php/product/id/5

I bought 4 of these a few years ago when a online dealer sold the grey bodied white light models for $5.00 ea.

Had I known how well they worked, I'd had bought a dozen. My kids liked to use flash lights to read with in bed. These were actually too bright for this purpose!

Great light that's bomb proof.

[Stump70]

Not a lantern, but a 3 battery AAA LED flashlight that I have with 9 bulbs ran for over 4 days last week. I was trying to burn out the 4 year old batteries that were in the thing. They could have ran another 2 days I think. LED's are great.

[Jellybean]

For Camping, I use a Coleman LED lantern that I got at Wal-Mart. It cost about $15.

Some of Coleman's LED flashlights also seem pretty decent in price and quality.
Got one in W-mart for around $17.90something- 80 lumens, 3AAA batteries, rubber tailcap clickswitch. Comes in black or silver aluminum body, bezelled lensecap. Actually seems to work pretty good- has a better focused and imo, brighter beam than some of their other more expensive, higher lumen lights (like the ones in the blue-ish aluminum body.).

[hikeeba]

My go-to light for any sort of task lighting is a Petzl e+lite headlamp. it is small, lightweight, and will run for 40+ hours on the low white light setting per set of CR2032 batteries. I have found the low light setting to be adequate for almost all work done within arm's length. I have also found the red bulb to be sufficient for rough-terrain night hiking. Prior to the e+lite, a Petzl Duo was my headlamp of choice. I now feel the Duo is gross overkill for most of my lighting needs.

http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/head...nd-elite/elite


For handhelds, the Gerber Infinity Ultra Task Light is simple and durable, and supposedly will get you around 25 hours of peak brightness before it begins to diminish. At one time, the Infinity Ultra Task Light was state/rumored to deliver about 100 hrs of light out of a single alkaline battery, but how true that is I do not know. Also, I've read nothing about how many hours of usable light are included int hat 100 hrs. I have a couple of the 1st gen Gerber Infinity Ultras, but I've never put them on the clock. Perhaps I'll do that soon.

I have a Maratac AA Extreme light from County Comm. What hooked me with this light was besides it having 2 levels of brightness (120 and 1.5 lumens), it was stated that it would run for 225 hours on the low setting. 225 hours! Holy cow, that would be awesome! And yes, it would. Too bad I have only managed to get about 42 hours out of an alkaline battery, and around 78 hours out of a lithium AA. Regardless of the hyperbolic runtime claim, it is a nice little light, and still has what I think are pretty respectable runtimes. It is a little pricey at ~$36 +shipping, but figure that it is a multi-mode, mutli-use light.

http://www.countycomm.com/aatactical.html


I also have a couple Streamlight Twin Task Xenon/LED hybrids. These are handy, but I've found that I rarely use the Xenon bulb. I've also found the 28 hr runtime Streamlight states for the LEDs to be pretty accurate.

http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=49