The fine folks over at MPowered asked me about reviewing an inflatable solar lantern. Of course I am. What a neat concept. I’ve been playing around with it for a few weeks now. Testing out the features. Trying to use it in my daily life. Sadly I forgot to take it out to Dual Homestead for an overnighter. Another reason that packing lists are so good. I have used it at home as a lamp. Finally I’m ready to tell you guys about it. So let’s have a closer look at the Luci inflatable solar lantern.
Luci Inflatable Solar Lantern
The Luci is a small inflatable lantern weighing only 4 oz. The bottom of the lantern has a solar panel. The control button is on the panel. You have three light modes. A low, High and beacon mode setting. Luci has a 10ft lighting area. A 3.7vdc lithium battery stores the solar energy. On the bright setting you can get 12 hours of light. There are 10 led lights for a 65 lumen light output. The Luci is waterproof and durable.
Uses
For grid down uses this would be great. I think every blackout kit should have a luci inflatable solar lantern. Especially if the power is out more than a day. During the day set it out to charge and use for light all night. During my testing I have not charged it or ran out of power. I have used it as a table lamp at night. It gives out enough light to move around. Sitting next to it you could read. Conserving power during a blackout is important. Trying to light up your entire house is ridiculous.
I don’t think the ultralight backpackers will be adopting this light. 4 oz is light and it does pack flat when not inflated. I see this more for car camping. It will light up a tent easy. It you had a few you could light up a whole campsite. You can take it out into the woods for a late night bathroom break.
Cons
I have a few issues with the light. Cycling the button through all the settings turns it off. This makes the control more simple in terms of circuitry. More an annoyance to the user though. I also have issues with the battery. Being sealed shut keeps you from changing the battery on the Luci Solar Lantern. I know lithium batteries have a finite life span. Eventually the battery will die and the device will no longer work. At that point I would salvage parts from it. I simply prefer changeable batteries. Another reason I don’t care for the IPhone.
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I found copies of this lantern at Best Buy in a kiosk for $9.99 each, work great.
I might have to pick some up for comparison
I’m with you on replacable batteries, but cutting this thing open and sealing it back up after a battery change doesn’t seem like a big deal. The fault I see with the battery is that it probably isn’t a common size that you could find a replacement locally. One other observation on this is the clear globe. Clear globes tend to give poor light quality on LED lanterns. This company does have another model with a frosted globe but it’s $5 more. I do like the low weight for its potential use as a backpacking lantern. My favorite small lantern at the moment weighs about 4x what this thing does with the batteries in it. That would be a coleman 4AA packaway. It also had a clear globe on it, but a spray can of frosted hobby paint cleared that right up.
One thing i notice is that inflating it causes condensation on the inside. Not quite frosting but close.
I’ve been using 4 of these for the past 3 years or so. They work just fine as long as you remember to put them in the sun to charge.
I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old that love them. We also have used them at night in the pool for floatable light. They seem to charge well and also hold a charge fairly well.
When I backpack, I stored on the outside of my pack attach with a loop of cordage. I have left them outside overnight in the rain. I have let them out for a few hours and freezing rain as well. I’ve also left them out in the hot sun all day. Like I’ve said I’ve had these for three or so years and after that amount of time and physical abuse on these items. The plastic over the solar panel tends to fog/glaze over. But 3-4 years of use without needing to change batteries feels well worth the $14 price I paid for them.
I agree that these are tough as nails. Ive had mine outside on my pourch for over a year and it still works great