Review: ThorFire Camping Lantern
Kevin Felts 04.17.17
The ThoreFire camping lantern is a personal-size solar rechargeable flashlight that resembles a lantern. The design reminds me of an accordion with a round disk on each end. One disk has a small solar panel on the outside and an LED light on the inside. The other disk has a lens that focuses the light.
Operation is with an on/off button with three settings: low, high, and slow flashing strobe.
Straight out of the box, the lantern provided around 10 hours of light.
After being outside all day with the solar panel up, the lantern provided around 4 1/2 hours of light.
Specifications:
- Diameter: 3 5/16 inches
- Height collapsed: 1 7/8 inches
- Height expanded: 4 3/4 inches
- Weight: 5.35 ounces
- Rechargeable via micro-USB or solar
- Solar panel size: 1 3/4 inches
Camping Lantern Review
Awhile back I did a review of the ThorFire TK4A flashlight. Even though I broke the flashlight during the review process, I thought enough of it to buy another one.
After the TK4A review, ThorFire sent me an email asking if I would like to review another one of their products. I got on Amazon, looked through their product lineup, and picked the solar powered camping lantern.
When the box arrived, I thought it was rather small. However, my thoughts changed when the box was opened and the camping lantern was pulled out.
First impressions were good. This is a combination of a personal flashlight and a lantern.
When compressed, the lantern is a personal flashlight by focusing the light through a lens.
When expanded, the lantern shines light in an easy four foot radius. Out of the box with no extra charging, I was able to read my bible from four feet away.
With two lanterns, there should be plenty of light to play a board game during a power outage.
The lantern has a plastic handle that folds to the side and is shaped like the housing. The handle is on the solar panel side so it can be suspended from the inside of a tent with the light down.
Portable Charger
The ThorFire camping lantern has a built in 1,800 MaH battery. Left in sunlight for around 8 hours, the light had enough charge to give my Android phone a 3% charge before the lantern battery was drained.
With the light in direct sunlight and the phone plugged in, the phone displayed that it was charging. How much of a charge, I do not know.
Personally, I would not consider the lantern as a portable charger.
Final Thoughts
As of April 16, 2017, the ThorFire camping lantern has a list price of $35.99 on Amazon, but is currently on sale for $15.99. I can see having three or four of these for a power outage.
The lantern is lightweight and compact, and with Amazon Prime, you get free shipping.
I like that the lantern can go from a personal flashlight to a lantern just by expanding it. During a power outage, a couple of these on the table would be nice for the kids to play games or color. When the kids are done, collapse the lanterns and the kids can have personal flashlights.
