Customer Reviews

Brunton Lamplight Extendible LED Flashlight/Lantern

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of my passions is motorcycle touring. But one of the realities of the adventure is limited space for stowing gear. (Think about it - the biggest touring motorcycle has wimpy trunk space compared with the average automobile. When you're traveling with throw-over saddlebags and a bedroll, space and weight become even more critical.) So - I'd LOVE a flashlight that doubles as a tent lantern for reading, finding my stuff, etc.

This Brunton isn't too bad. It operates on three AAA-size batteries, and since the light is generated by a bluish-white LED, I would expect the batteries to last for substantially longer than an incandescent flashlight. (I'm still on my first set of batteries... which are included in the purchase price.)

The Lamplight is translucent blue plastic construction, with what appears to be a textured aluminum outer skin over the main body. The LED is encased in a clear plastic housing. The distinguishing feature of this light is a sliding blue-plastic sleeve. When the sleeve is retracted, the lamp works like a conventional flashlight, projecting a fairly tight beam from the front. When the sleeve is extended, the lamp works more like a minature lantern, projecting a soft blue-white light 360 degrees around the sides of the lamp, plus a less-intense beam out of the front. The only other "control" of the light is an on-off switch.

Unfortunately, it ends up with neither mode being particularly good. The standard-flashlight beam is fairly weak. (LEDs have come a long way in the last few years, and are getting brighter all the time, but this light isn't particularly bright. A little AA-battery Mag-Lite is WAY brighter by comparison.) And the "lantern mode" is too dim to provide a comfortable amount of light for reading or most any other detail-oriented activity. If you like a bluish-white "mood" lighting, however, lantern-mode might be just the ticket.

The Lamplight is attractively small, at about 4.5 inches long and 1.3 inches in diameter. (It looks like it could be smaller yet, if they improved on battery-compartment configuration.)

As LED technology continues to improve, I hope that other manufacturers come up with dual-purpose designs to compete with, and improve upon, the Lamplight. There's not much available currently that is designed to serve both "beam" and "lantern" functions, but surely there's a market for such devices among bike and motorcycle tourists, hikers, backpackers, and others who have to economize on space and weight. (Being somewhat of a small-flashlight fetishist, I'd be willing to lay down some bucks for a nice, sturdy, beam/lantern LED that's small, bright, and well-constructed.)

For now, if you're shopping I'd probably recommend that you take a look at a Petzl "Zipka" light, my favorite motorcycle-travel camping light. It's a tiny little thing with 3 (or 4) LEDS and 3 AAA batteries (that last for hours and hours and hours), and it has an ingenious retractable spring-loaded nylon string, that enables use as a "headlight," or on your wrist, or wherever. It's about twice as expensive as the Lamplight, but is smaller, substantially brighter, and the "headlight" function makes it very handy for multiple uses - even tent activities like reading or finding all the stuff that just fell out of your pocket when you took your britches off.

I was surprised by what I got. This Flashlight is NOT BRIGHT at all. Especially when used as a lantern. I could hardly see the other side of my living room.

This is a good, bright flashlight. I was surprised at how bright the beam was. The lantern functionality is also bright enough to read by, but does not have a very large diameter, so you'll have to sit very close to it.

The only thing that could be better is that the metal casing on the handle is rather sharp. Gripping it too hard is rather painful as all the little metal bumps dig into your skin. This wouldn't be much of a problem except that, to turn it on and off, you twist the ring right between the light and metal, and it's rather tight. So you have to grip the metal solidly and twist, which makes me afraid I'm going to be tearing up my hand each time. Sometimes I have to hold the light inside my t-shirt in order to get a good grip to be able to turn it on and off.

Other than that, it's light and portable. I just got it, so I'm not sure how long the battery will last (hopefully a long time, since the battery cover is also very tight and difficult to remove), but it seems it will be a good flashlight for camping or emergencies.

I have a few of these lights. Although they are not the brightest LED lights I have used, they are a great item for the task I purchased them for. The first use is in my overnight bag, I enjoy traveling and have a bag in my car for on the go road trips. This item is in the bag and great for getting around if I am not familiar with the area at night(ie. I don't like to stub my toe in the dark). The second is in my briefcase, lightweight small and easy to get at when needed.

I bought this item and it has been so worth while. It's small compact and puts out a good amount of light. You can use it as a flashlight or a lamp. I personally use mine for doing the coke rewards. You have to read the letters inside the caps to enter them on the coke rewards site.. well they are hard to see, but this light I discovered is the perfect size so I put the shade on it down all the way and sit the cap right on top of it, and the code is perfectly readable then. I have found this to be a durable light, for multiple purposes, and dependable. The batteries seem to last forever. I love it and couldn't be more satisfied with this purchase.

This is a very usable light. It has a sharp beam and it can be converted to a nice night light by pulling up on the top. It just uses one large LED bulb which looks more tipical. The on -- off function is controlled by twisting the flash light--it has a non-slip case--which is a little hard on tender hands(my wife's), but I found it good. The light works on 3 AAA batteries--included in the package.

I was surprised by how bright this LED flashlight is when used as a flashlight. They've got a nice mirror/lens for focusing the beam. When you pull it apart to make the lantern, it's ok - would probably light up a tent just fine. Would be a nice little light to take camping.

Very happy with all aspects of this flashlight. I am a nut job when it comes to buying these things to prepare for hurricanes. Size, light output and battery life are all excellent for this particular model.