We won’t discover America by saying how important it is to have a reliable source of light during longer trips. Recently, however, we have discovered a very cool American product from Nite Ize®, which, although not indispensable, made our camping out much more comfortable.
We usually traverse the woods armed with our cameras. It also happens that we put up a tent and spend the night in the great outdoors. As already mentioned, in such cases it’s good to have solid light. And when the device is additionally a source of stable power to charge phones or GPS devices, it’s like a dream come true. In both cases, a compact rechargeable lantern Nite Ize® Radiant® 300 turns out to be very useful.
CONSTRUCTION
It was specshop.pl who made this gadget from a very well know manufacturer available to us. Next to the said rechargeable lantern in a cardboard box, we received a USB / micro-USB cable and a white light-diffusing bag with a drawstring and a small pocket for the said cable.
A small lantern made from plastic has an integrated carabiner-style metal handle to “clip, carry and hang” the Nite Ize®.
Part of the lantern responsible for providing light features two “cones”: a lower one equipped with both white and red light-emitting diodes and an upper one which functions as an optical diffuser for uniform beam pattern.
The main – white – diode has been placed at the top of the lower “cone”. Six red LED diodes have been evenly distributed below. All of them have been enclosed in a tube made from transparent plastic.
On the front of the lantern we find a multi-mode switch, USB / micro-USB ports and a battery indicator.
The lantern offers four modes: high, medium and low white LED mode and a red one, which is turned on by pressing and holding the switch.
USB ports are available upon opening a rubber cover protecting them from moisture and dirt.
The bottom of the lantern has been coated with rubberized plastic which improves both the grip and the stability of the product on the ground.
UŻYTKOWANIE
We’ve been using the Nite Ize® Radiant® 300 for quite some time now, mainly during various outings (when stopping somewhere for the night). We’ve also used it at home, when fuses blew, and at the lodge in the woods, when the lights went out and the weather was so terrible that there was nothing else to do but to read a book. For the time being, this compact product of simple and attractive deign has served us well.
One of the most important things in the case of gadgets like the Nite Ize® lantern is their battery life. And in this respect the American product (made in China ;)) doesn’t disappoint. At full capacity (max 300 lumens) it works for about 3.5-4 hours. After that time, the lantern still shines although the light intensity is affected. The battery-life can be prolonged by switching on a different mode. According to the manufacturer, in the white-medium mode (75 lumens) the battery will run down after 20h, while in the white-low (15 lumens) – after up to 110h. In the red mode (18 lumens) it’s up to 27h. We must admit, though, that we haven’t been using the lantern for so long (without switching it off in the process), but the aforementioned reading a book, which included falling asleep with the light on for the entire night, resulted in the late morning wake-up in the company of a still working lantern. We consider such result to be more than satisfactory.
The battery indicator light located next to the USB / micro-USB ports turns red when the battery life has around 2 hours remaining on high. After that time, intensity of light changes.
The only small disadvantage may be the lack of a switch lock for the light switch. And that’s because if we’re carrying our lantern in a heavy, fully-stuffed backpack, the button may get turned on by itself.
Attached to the set, a soft white carry/diffuser bag is very useful and it doesn’t considerably affect the quality/intensity of light (maybe it’s just less blinding ;)). A great addition for the sleeve is a small pocket sewn onto it.
We’ve also used the built-in USB output port to recharge our phones (the lantern served us as an emergency power bank). It’s worth noting that it’s possible when it’s on. However, it’s impossible to use the lantern when it’s recharging (which takes around 3.5h).
If need be, the lantern can be recharged with an additional powerbank. Unfortunately if our smartphone or other devices aren’t equipped with micro-USB ports, we’re forced to carry two cables – one to recharge the lantern and one to recharge our gear.
Nite Ize® Radiant® 300 is weather resistant, with an IPX-4 rating, which means that it should be protected in heavy rainfall. Furthermore, the manufacturer assures us that it’s impact resistant (drop proof to 1 meter), but we haven’t checked it yet ;). All in all it looks quite solid.
Summing up, we really got to like the lantern from Nite Ize® and we recommend it with clear conscience 🙂
Pluses:
+ Strong, stable, bright light,
+ possibility to recharge e.g. a smartphone,
+ multi-mode switch,
+ comfortable carry/diffuser bag,
+ convenient size,
+ attractive design.
Minuses:
– lack of a switch lock for the light switch.
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SPECIFICATION:
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Nite Ize products can be found at nite-ize.eu or at specshop.pl
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