The Amazon page for lists no light output聽and no weight. Run time on the three included AAA batteries is simply stated at 20 hours, though there鈥檚 no mention of whether that鈥檚 in high or low mode. And I think it鈥檚 safe to assume that they鈥檙e not waterproof. But you know what? None of that matters, because these聽perform the fundamental job of making light better than anything聽else out there.
It鈥檚 the job of a lantern to light up as large of an area as possible聽but not necessarily to do so with as much brightness as possible. Lanterns need to give you the ability to work on stuff,聽see other people, and聽easily move around your campsite. A diffuse source of light helps more than a bright one, because it聽can聽eliminate areas of light that are blinding聽or difficult to look at. That light also needs to spread across a聽wide area, continuing not just in a horizontal circle聽but also reaching up聽or down.
All of that seems to have been forgotten, though, in the聽rush to better mousetrap the category with extreme levels of brightness, unconventional form factors, solar charging, and other needless complication.
You know what makes just the right kind of light to illuminate an area? A lightbulb. Heck, make it a frosted one so the light is more even. You know what would enable you to take a lightbulb outdoors? Some batteries and a hook. That seems to be the level of thought applied to this product. And it鈥檚 just right.
E-Trends鈥 concept聽is simple:聽a plastic LED lightbulb with room for batteries, a switch on the side, and a hook on top. Because it鈥檚聽plastic, it won鈥檛聽break if聽you drop it. On聽high mode, it offers聽plenty of light to prepare dinner by. On low, a $13 pack聽of four聽provides聽enough light to illuminate your campsite. The hook聽means you can hang it聽from anything. And because the lights aren鈥檛 corded together, you can spread them out any way you please.
My wife and I聽took one of those four-packs on a monthlong road trip, which included eight nights outdoors. We used the lightbulbs for a couple hours each night, and the basic batteries included in the package haven鈥檛 run out yet. would probably last even longer. None of the lights gave us any problems.
Because they鈥檙e so lightweight, I plan to drag one off-brand plastic lightbulb thing聽along on our next backpacking trip. If you鈥檙e planning a big family campout, maybe consider grabbing two of the four-packs. They work in a tent, they work in the back of a truck, they work under an awning, and they work on a tree branch.
Will they work for you? They will. What more do you need to know?