This is a review of a product at the TSA auction:
Brunton, the company famous for compasses, has been making some of the
best LED lanterns,
and seems to always be one step ahead of everybody else in this market.
They recently upgraded their popular Polaris LED lantern, and created
a new model called the XL.
It is brighter than the original Polaris, and has nearly twice the
burn time on a set of batteries, and
has adjustable light settings to save battery power and to make the
brightness just the way you need it.
It also has the best light pattern of any LED lantern on the market,
and would easily replace a propane
or gas Coleman mantle burner.
http://media.rei.com//media/gg/d0aa5800-764b-48df-a0b3-75bd7ce23563.jpg
This lantern, in my opinion, is the latest and greatest on the market.
One was for bid this past Saturday night at the TSA auction. A
lucky caver got it fresh out the box, with
less than 5 minutes of use. And their bid was only $ 25.
Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention, as they were jokingly
bidding to send it back to Fort Bend County
with me, as many of the bidders were doing for fun. I didn't know
who the bidder was until later in the evening, and
found out it was my friend Mallory from Houston, who had one the bid.
So I am sorry, for not getting in on the
fun of the bid.
Eventually, they sold it to Saj Zappitello who had assisted the
fabulous auctioneer. She purchased it for only
$ 20. I was glad to see it end up in someone's hands who could appreciate it.
http://www.rei.com/product/799802?preferredSku=7998020015&cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-product-_-7998020015&mr:trackingCode=4DB1A1E3-F810-DF11-BAE3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA
As for the review,
There are 3 things I don't like about the Polaris XL, and they really
are not important. The dimmest setting is still
too bright for when you just want some light around camp, and two, it
does not have a built in night light. You can
overcome this, buy purchasing an LED light stick - the kind that look
like a cyalume stick, or getting a tiny LED lantern
that has a night-light feature. And 3, the upper hanging hook, does
not fold flat, like on almost all other lanterns.
This lantern is to big and heavy for taking in a cave for camping.
But there might be special uses for it near the entrance
or in the entrance. It is certainly better for commercial lantern
tours than a propane or gas lantern.
I think this lantern is a sign of the things to come in the market in
the future, meaning, there will be similar quality lanterns
sold at Walmart and Target for $ 20, that have improved features like
the ones I mention above.
David Locklear
caver in Fort Bend County
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