gas lanterns vs. battery LED lanterns?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

concretejungle

concretejungle

10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Oct 27, 2003
Threads
490
Messages
9,911
Location
North Cadillac
I have used the Coleman propane lanterns in the past and they are very bright. Even pretty nice if it's freezing cold, you can light that sucker in the tent for a minute or two and get warm.

But at the same time, sometimes the heat is an issue....melting jackets, burning hands, need to let it cool down before you can pack it up.

So i was shopping for a camp lantern yesterday and saw some LED battery power lanterns. One even had a little solar lid on it so it would charge up during the day and be ready to go at night.

How bright are the LED lanterns? How do they compare bright-wise to a propane lantern? Are they durable?

Any input would be appreciated.:popcorn:
 
Not even close in brightness. They might be enough for a small tent, but if you're used to the propane, the LED lanterns are going to seem like a candle. Especially the ones with the solar power, those are really weak. I think a propane lantern outputs the equivilent of like 60W-100W, with the LED's you might be looking at 1W-5W.

The LED's themselves are really durable though, you'll probably never have to worry about changing them. The rest of the lantern would probably break before the LED's. If heat is a problem, you could use both lanterns, the propane for the outodor camp lantern, and LED's for inside a tent or near people.
 
ducktapeguy said:
Not even close in brightness. They might be enough for a small tent, but if you're used to the propane, the LED lanterns are going to seem like a candle. Especially the ones with the solar power, those are really weak. I think a propane lantern outputs the equivilent of like 60W-100W, with the LED's you might be looking at 1W-5W.

The LED's themselves are really durable though, you'll probably never have to worry about changing them. The rest of the lantern would probably break before the LED's. If heat is a problem, you could use both lanterns, the propane for the outodor camp lantern, and LED's for inside a tent or near people.
Click to expand...


good info, thanks! The brightness is really the deciding factor to me.
 
We gave my brother in law a Brunton Orion 3w LED lamp...seems pretty bright .... but it is more of an emergency thing for him on his cabin boat... where open flame might be a problem .. particularly if trouble shooting an balky engine...

I like the Coleman 2 mantle lanterns...but mostly for the nostalgia of the hissing sound:)
 
Maybe check out some of the larger dual tube florescent lanterns. I think they are a bit brighter than LED's, but still probably not comparable to propane.

I really want to give one of those old Petromax lanterns a try. Even though they're before my time, I still like the old school style of pressurized kerosene lanterns. The 500W of light output would be pretty nice also :). But at $100+, I'd be way to scared to leave it around camp.
 
We use a fluoro lantern from Costco $14.99. It's great for camping and for home power outages. The 4D cells usually last two seasons, surprisingly. All of my propane and white gas lanterns are retired!!
 
I keep both around. I've got a small LED lantern that's great for in the tent. It's also great to use in food prep areas because of the easy on/off. Light when you need it, turn it off and avoid the bugs when you don't.

That being said, there's no comparison to a good propane lantern. If you want a large area of light it's the only way to go. Get it up off the ground and it's as good or better than a pair of household floodlights.

They both have their places, but really aren't comparable.
 
The beauty of the petromax lanterns is that they're multifuel. Gasoline, white gas, kero, rapeseed oil.
 
well, i pulled the trigger on the propane lantern.

It is bright as all get-out! But, it does become a hassle just in trying to package it so that it doesn't get broken when wheelin' from one camp to another. Other than that, i'm happy.
 
I picked up the coleman universal fit lantern case- the basic thermoplastic one. I've never had a problem with it. The only time I've ever broken a globe is when I dropped it down the attic stairs to my concrete garage floor. The case I have is almost 20 years old though- I don't know how the new ones are made.
 
Old thread I know, but hey.

I say dump the propane lantern (way too bright for most uses and makes a ton of noise with all that hissing) and get a good old fashioned hurricane lamp. Burns forever on a single fill up of cheap lamp oil. Puts out good light with no noise, but is dim enough to not totally destroy your night vision. I switched years ago and never looked back. Now all the people I camp with are switching too and leaving thier coleman lanterns at home.
 
I use both... the gas lantern is great if you need light in great amount, and it provides heat in cold situations. Just keep in mind that you need to protect the globe.... the battery powered lamps work well too especially the led ones; they last forever:) Oh yeah the hurricane lantern is great too because they are silent and incandescent...pretty cool!
 
FYI:

There are also a metal mesh "globes" to replace the glass globes standard on propane lanterns. Its a really fine mesh, practically see thru... Couple that with the plastic case's that are very nice for packing them away, and the lanterns become much more durable.....
 
Jomama said:
FYI:

There are also a metal mesh "globes" to replace the glass globes standard on propane lanterns. Its a really fine mesh, practically see thru... Couple that with the plastic case's that are very nice for packing them away, and the lanterns become much more durable.....
Click to expand...

I consider the white gas lantern the boom box of outdoor lighting, don't use 'em any more, have gone to florescent and kerosene and LED anything but..
I like the metal mesh globe put one on my propane lantern as well, Durable and it dims the brightness too makes it tolerable . but very seldom use it anymore my .02 .....Dusty 66
 
Concur with the white gas....I have an old 335 Coleman, made in 1974, had a guy out west rebuild it, good as new...

It's not camping without the hiss in the background.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom