A wind up lantern is a great invention, in my opinion. With just a few winds of the attached crank on the wind up light, you will have light for an hour, or maybe even more. Many campers enjoy using a wind up lantern instead of a more traditional fuel or battery lantern on their camping trips. Here are the pros and cons of a wind up lantern:Pros:
- Light: Most wind up lanterns are very lightweight, and easy to carry along even on long hiking trips.
- Convenient: There is no need to bring along any spare batteries or fuel to power the lantern. The lantern can simply be recharged by using the attached crank.
- Safe: Wind up lanterns are very safe as they do not burn fuel and the internal battery is usually well sealed. This reduces the chance of it being a fire hazard.
- Cheap: Wind up lanterns are much cheaper than similar fuel or battery lanterns. The cost is even lower when you consider that you don't have to buy spare batteries or additional fuel.
- Adjustable: The intensity of light can be adjusted within a wide range, which is usually much more than a fuel based lantern.
Cons:
- Limited time before recharging: The wind up lantern needs to be recharged by winding the crank after a few hours as the internal battery has a limited capacity.
- Brightness: When compared to the fuel lantern, wind up lanterns usually use LEDs which are not as bright as some fuel lanterns.
- More complicated: Fuel based lanterns are usually more simple devices which simply burn fuel to provide light. The wind up lantern is a more sophisticated piece of electronics. If it breaks down when you are camping, it's probably impossible to fix.
Conclusion:
I would definitely recommend wind up lanterns over a fuel or battery lantern. The convenience of having a light lantern that that can be recharged anytime you wish without having to bring along batteries or fuel overshadows the weak points of the lantern. In addition, bright white LEDs that come with most of the lanterns are sufficiently bright for most purposes, so that shouldn't be much of a concern unless you have any special requirements.
P.S If you would like to know more about how to choose the best wind up lantern, visit WindUpLantern.Net
