Customer Reviews

Rayovac SE3DLN Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern

5 star:		(404)
4 star:		(87)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Just received this product so I will defer commenting on battery life until later. Overall I have been very pleased and surprised with this product. First off, this lantern is fairly compact...I was under the impression that this would be larger from the pictures but once I opened it up, I was pleasingly surprised. The unit is very compact and feels very sturdy. There is rubber on the base and around the lower portion of the lantern, the switch is very easy to operate and has 3-modes (High, Low, and Strobe). The entire top/globe can be unscrewed and hung upside down (clip in the base) to use as a room or tent light in "bare bulb" mode. Overall I have been very impressed with the output of this lantern as well. This is a very bright lantern for it's compact size; outshining normal 4D fluorescent U-tubed lanterns and a coleman pack-away LED lantern. The diffuser is also very pleasing with no rings, lines, or shadows to speak of. In bare bulb mode, the light is almost too bright for your eyes but works well if it's hung high overhead (so you're not looking directly at the unit). Low mode is also very useful and brighter than your typical "nightlight" levels in other LED lanterns "low" modes. Overall I am very impressed with this product and plan to purchase more of these units for use while night fishing, camping, and to use during power failures.

Update (10/31/09): Just an update, I recently used this light in a power outage and it performed great. Bright and the batteries are still going strong. I also purchased 2 additional units and with just 3-D batteries each, who can complain! This is a great compact lantern.

Basically in agreement with the positive reviews, with a few quibbles.

(1) Changing the batteries is a clumsy operation. The base twists off to load the batteries. Putting back the base however requires a tricky alignment of the contacts. The base has two sections. The section with the contacts rotate freely about the section that you grip. Maybe I'm just clumsy, took me six tries.

(2) Overall rugged materials and construction, with the exception of the tent hook. Cheap plastic, probably would break if dropped. Folds flat into the base. But held in place only by friction fit. If you use it enough, it will probably wear and no longer stay folded in place. If you don't fold and unfold the hook often, not a problem.

(3) Even when the power is off, one LED flashes every couple of seconds (like a smoke detector). This is a "finder beacon" to allow you to locate the lantern in a dark tent or room. I keep it around for emergencies. I don't know whether this causes any significant drain on the battery. When I have time, I'll check with the manufacturer.

(4) Still, it's one of the few units that run on a few (3) D-Cells. Many run on AA cells or then jump to 8-D-Cells. AA cells don't last as long, of course, but 8 D-Cells by themselves weigh a ton. Good unit for the price. Another example of Amazon's quirky pricing,though. Seems to vary from $26 - $30 on a daily basis. Still, Amazon's shipping and customer service is amazing.

Note added 9/13/09: There are differing opinions about ease of battery installation. As I originally reported, the problem is that the bottom cap consists of two pieces that are joined by a pivot. The inside piece, with the notches that lines up with the tabs in the battery compartment, is free to swivel about the outer piece that you actually grip. So you first line up the notches with the tabs, but when you try to seat the cap, the inside piece can swing out of alignment. I bought two units. One is easy to assemble because the pivot is tight, and the inside piece doesn't swing too freely. The other is a pain because the pivot is loose, and the inside piece swings easily. I think that's why some people say it's frustrating and others have no problem...depends on how tight the pivot in their unit is. This is difficult to explain without a diagram. Still, I think the configuration is poorly engineered. However, this is an operation you don't need to do often, unless you use it constantly.

Note added 4/27/10: I've had a unit with the same set of batteries for a year now (infrequent use), so current drain by the beacon LED is minimal. No need to disable it or remove the batteries. But I do agree with others that the beacon LED is useless because its emission field is so narrow that you can't see it unless you're staring at it straight on.

Note added 11/6/2011: Here's a comment I posted in response to another review concerning the battery installation issue. I thought others might find it helpful, so I'm reposting it here.

Look at the first two photos posted by SirMontego. The first shot shows a close-up of aligning the groove on the top contact plate (which is mounted on the cover and is free to pivot) with the tongue on the bottom contact plate (which is fixed to the body of the lantern). The second shot shows a wider angle view of the contact assembly. The problem comes about at the next step (not shown). You now need to swing the cover over the body of the lantern in order to seat it. In so doing, the tongue can slip out of the groove since the top contact plate is free to pivot about the cover. If the pivot is snug, then the tongue tends to stay in the groove, and seating the cover is easy. If the pivot is loose, then the tongue can easily slip out of the groove. I have three of these units. One pivot is snug, one is slightly loose, and one is very loose. Customers who get units with loose pivots cuss about the idiotic contact assembly; customers who get units with snug pivots can't understand why others are such klutzes. I have seen many designs of battery installations in flashlights. Streamlight gets it right consistently. The most idiotic is on the Eveready Hardcase Pro 4-D lantern. The one on this lantern is on the clumsy side, but would be fine if the pivots were consistently snug.

Note added 11/6/2011: I notice that recent reviews are still concerned about current drain from the beacon light. Here's another data point. I've had one lantern now for ~2-1/2 yrs, still with its original set of batteries. Until this past week it was used only intermittently. I was caught up in the pre-Halloween snowstorm and had no power for 4 days. I ran this lantern on low for ~20 hrs total (not continuous). I still have not had to change out the batteries.

OK folks,

let me start off by saying that I am a flashlight afficionado. If you ask me about pistols, rifles, knives, or lights...you are now in my world, and I will talk your ears off.

Let me say that this is a great little lantern. I was walking around my local "Big Boys Covet Store" (Lowes) and saw this lantern on sale. I went over to check it out and inspect it, and then kept it on the back of my mind. When I got home, I went to one of my internet hang-outs (CandlePowerForum.com) and plugged in the lantern for some feedback, or reviews. Evidently it was very highly talked about. So I went back the next day (or was it IMMEDIATELY?) to purchase the little lantern. I gotta admit, I was not disappointed.

Since I have gotten the lantern, it is my new ruck sack companion. I will not leave to a mountain trek without it. And when I am not out in the bush, it stays on top of my reloading bench in case of an emergency blackout...or an earthquake. (I live in the San Freakcisco Bay Area).

The light is small (3.5" x 3.5" x 7.5"), but is plenty tough. It has a great rubber base, a rubber top section, and rubber side grips. Like the earlier folks stated, it has a HIGH, a LOW, and a STROBE function. As for the installation of the batteries...yea...I was scratching my head for a few seconds the first time. (No, not minutes - seconds). But after I looked at it for a second or two, it was pretty easy to see how it was supposed to go on, and I have not had a problem since then.

The little plastic hook on top is a total waste to me. Why? Because everthing else on this little beast is built so well, and then the did this?! (Added a flimsy little "Alfalfa Hair Piece" to the top of this exceptional little lantern). It has not broken on me yet - but then again, I will not take the chance of hanging the lantern from this flimsy little hook and provoking Mr Murphy to curse the lantern to fall and possibly break.

It is small and compact, but beefy and with heft.

Like I said, it's a great little lantern for the money.

You will not regret it.

In Christ: Raymond

Let me start off by saying that this is overall a VERY good product, but receives 3 stars for a design flaw.

The green LED is ALWAYS blinking, even with the main switch "off". This constant parasitic drain on the batteries ruins my intended use of a long-term storage emergency light for the house.
I did call Rayovac on this issue and they said that it will drain the batteries in 32 days. This cannot be accurate and I know that this small load will take MUCH longer than 32 days to drain the batteries. Still, for my purpose I now must remove the batteries and fumble in the dark to put them in during a power failure.
The difficult battery cover (mentioned by many in the reviews) does not help this issue!

Yet another product that is ALMOST great. I would have bought many more of these for family members to use as emergency lights, but now have to find a better option where the batteries will still be full after long term storage.

Hope this helps!

I bought this Rayovac latern off of Amazon after reading tons of reviews and visiting some other sites about the quality of this product. I did happen to give this lantern it's full fledged test at a camp out this past 4th of July weekend and put it head to head with other lanterns. One of the other lanterns were Energizer's 3D cell 12 led Weather Ready from Walmart, the other was a Coleman 8D cell CFL type lantern, and the third was your basic Coleman propane lantern. The Rayovac was the most compact of the bunch, next was the Energizer, then the CFL Coleman, and lastly the propane lantern.
Now when it came to my shopping there were 2 things that were high on my list. 1st was the brightness level. 2nd was the energy (batteries,fuel, etc.) needed to run the product and the longevity of the energy (how long could I run it before having to change the batteries etc.

Let me run through the energy and consumption level. Obviously since the propane lantern runs on "fire" it did consume it's fuel the fastest, because we had to change the propane canisters at least twice for the 3 night camp. As for the other 3 I still have no idea. I would think that the CFL lantern would go out before the Rayovac and Energizer, that and the fact that it takes 8D cells make running it a little more costly. The Energizer claims 3 weeks running time at 5 hours a day use and the Rayovac claims around 75-150 hours running time, so I would call it a fairly even match between the two.

Now let's get to what your really interested in and discuss brightness level. This is purely based on what I saw and has nothing to do with comparing LED's with CFL's etc. On an overall brightness scale reguardless of type, the overall winner was your standard propane lantern. On max output it clearly outperformed the lot. To my surprise, the Coleman CFL was the second brightest. It was equivilent to your standard CFL light in a household setting and we were all impressed at how bright it was coming pretty close to the propane output. As for the LED lanterns... the Rayovac outshown the Energizer. With the top portion of the Ravovac removed and flipped upside down as a tent light, the Rayovac quickly impressed me with lighting up a fairly reasonable amount of area with light. The only edge that I thought the Energizer had was it's adjustablity to brighten and dim at the turn of a switch while the Rayovac had either bright or semi-bright. Though this is about light output and 2 of the Rayovacs hung upside down with the top removed can easily light a 10X20 camping area (the size of our canopy tent).
My conclusion on overall performance. One of the three propane lanterns caught on fire due to some kind malfunction and the fact that you have to light them with a match, change canisters on a regular basis, and change those bag things every other trip puts propane at the bottom. 3rd place would have to be the Energizer. Although it uses only 3D cells and had light adjustment equivilent to the propane lantern, it was still the dimmest (although still very bright) of the lot. 2nd would have to be the Coleman CFL. It uses batteries, although a wopping 8D cells, but is much safer than a propane lantern catching on fire. It is extremely bright, 2nd only to the propane. It's only downfalls would be the price and I'm assuming battery life as compared to LEDs. The winner in my book, is obvioulsy the Rayovac. It was the brighter of the two LED models, it's very compact, uses only 3D cells, has long battery life, can change from a free standing lantern to a hanging light(very good bonus feature), and is very well priced on Amazon. I am the owner of three of the products tested and am giving my unbiased opinion. I would highly recomend the Rayovac and plan on buying one or two more for some serious light.

I was looking for an emergency light that was inexpensive, rugged, efficient and battery powered. No open flame flammable fuel powered device would do. An LED light source is currently the most efficient. But everything I saw used small dry cell batteries or expensive exotic hard to find batteries sometime rechargeable and sometime not rechargeable. I wanted the batteries to be readialy available and able to operate the light for days at a time. After searching the net I ran across the Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme. Looked like what I was looking for. The fact that it was powered by three ordinary D sized dry cell batteries made a lot of sense and was in fact perfect for the intended uses. The rated battery life at full light output was impressive at 72 hours. And 150 hours of light was possible a lower light setting. Sounded too good to be true so I ordered one.
It arrived in less then 4 days in excellent condition. I had read reviews concerning the battery compartment and how difficult it was to install the batteries. Boy they weren't kidding! But I eventually got the batteries installed and the light working. Wow! That thing puts out more light then the 300 lumen rating would suggest. All this at only 4 watts! Wow!. The lower light setting with the much longer battery life is more then adequate for most situations. Next I tried hanging the lantern from the bottom with the light diffuser removed. Plenty of light to light up a 16 X 26 foot room with an open beam ceiling even at the lower light setting! Impressive indeed.
The strobe setting could be useful in an emergency on the road with an automobile and I am tempted to buy another one for the car. But there is that pesky little flashing locator light that you can't turn off. Can be useful camping but keeping the lantern in the car as an emergency light makes me wonder. The batteries could last many years in such a light tucked away in the car for emergencies but that flashing locator light that you can't turn off worries me. How long can the batteries last in storage with such a light draining them. Keeping the batteries and the lantern separate until needed isn't practical. Being that the batteries are so tricky to install I'd hate to have to do it under emergency conditions..
The lantern is built far better then I expected. It looks and feels rugged and capable of hard use. Seems to be water resistant also. The battery box is heavy duty but I don't understand why the battery installation has to be so complicated.
We are very satisfied with this lantern and pleased that we bought one. Now we are contemplating purchasing several more to give out as Christmas Presents. I gave the unit 4 stars only because of the battery installation issues and not being able to turn off the flashing locator light. Otherwise a robust 5 star rating would apply.

I bought this lantern; because when compared to all the others that I looked at - it was smaller, lighter, more durable, and used less batteries but provided more light. After using it on a 2 week camping trip - it didn't let me down.

When we lost "house" power in our RV, I placed it on the kitchen table to play cards. The couple that we traveled with complained that it was too bright. Rather than turn it down to the lower level, I unscrewed the top and used the bottom hook to hang it upside down from the ceiling. This application provided more than enough light to play cards and see everything else within the entire RV. It was no longer "too bright"; because it was above eye level.

I also hooked it to a tree branch above our picnic table. It provided enough light to cook on the camping stove and eat dinner for four. At the end of the camping trip, I couldn't detect any depreciation in battery power. The couple that we traveled with has been camping for years, with all kinds of equipment. Yet, they too are going to buy this lantern from Amazon.

I'm going to buy the Coleman Multi-Purpose Lantern Stand in case the next time we go out, there isn't a tree branch above our picnic table. I'm also going to buy another one of these lanterns to put in our emergency kit in case there's ever a prolonged power outage at home. With two of them, we'll have "his" and "her" lanterns.

This lantern is about 7 inches high and is fairly lightweight. The D batteries do add some weight though, enough that I wouldn't want to hang it from the ceiling of a tent as shown in the picture unless you're sure it won't fall. It is very bright, amazingly so for its small size. It sheds enough light to illuminate a small campsite, or a large tent. It is a pain to get the batteries installed, but not so much that it should be the deciding factor in your purchasing decision. I'm satisfied with my purchase and would not hesitate to recommend it to others.

Pros:

Sturdy, solid, nice rubber grips all around it. Handle is solid also. Surprisingly small footprint also. Very well made unit.
Extremely bright, I was very surprised. Lights up a room like a ceiling light! I want 3 of these for the next Hurricane and I can light up the entire house.
Bright and low light mode for battery saving. Uses 3 D batteries at a time.
You can easily remove the top and hang the light upside down (there is a built in hook) from anything you can hook it onto. Extreme lighting this way.
3 super bright LED's, no propane fuel to mess with. Its nearly as bright as my old Coleman propane lantern but tons more usable.

Cons:

Very difficult at times to get the battery cover back on, read the other reviews. Very poor design. I think it has to do with making it water proof which is great but, in the dark I think it would be nearly impossible to get the cover on, which means no light. Ugh. You have to line up a turning plastic ring inside the light, if its not lined up right, it won't screw up. In the dark, I don't know how I would ever get the rings to line up unless I had another light to shine on it.

There is a tiny blinking green light on the base so you can "find" the lantern at night. Seems unnecessary to me plus it drains the battery. There should be a switch or something to turn it off. Plus if the lantern is turned so the green light isn't blinking right at you, you'll never see it. So really, why have it at all.



Summary:

Best, brightest, most versatile LED lantern on the market. Well worth the price, despite the flaw with the battery cover. Just practice it a few times so you can replace it in less than optimal conditions. I wish it had a rechargeable option, but I guess you can use rechargeable D batteries.

This has to be the best LED Lantern I have seen. The 3D batteries last a long time and the Lantern outputs allot of light. Well worth the price.