Nebo Eco Lantern: cranky light and review

So there I was with the power out, holding a super high speed, mega bright tactical flashlight, thinking I was the man, then the batteries died, yep after about 1.5 hours of use, they were done like Rob Blagojevich’s career.  And of course they are the 3v style, so no; I did not have 20 spares lying around the house.  

So this got me thinking (yes it does happen sometimes) and I looked at all my survival supplies and found a moderate deficiency, a light that does not require batteries, oil, propane, or any other consumable potentially irreplaceable commodity to run on.   I do have oil lanterns, propane lanterns, small AA flashlights, mega bright tac lights, and other items that are good for the short term, but nothing that would last for the long outages.

That’s when I started doing some research on a light for the house that does not run on the above mentioned items and was bright enough to light up a room unlike those little hand crank flashlights that barely have enough power to light up your hand 6 inches from the bulb.   That’s when I came across this little Gem, the Nebo Eco Lantern, and ordered it up to give it a try.   

 

It was $39.97 with free shipping and showed up in two days (extra points for the person that knows where I ordered it from…).  

So here is my review of said lantern, of course it’s only been a week, but enough time to put it through some testing.  

Let’s start by talking about the charging methods, this little bastard can be charged by cigarette lighter, wall plug, solar power, and it has a hand crank, not shitting you, that’s a pretty good selection.  

Pros:

•

   Lightweight

•           

   No 3v batteries that last for 2 hours max

•

   157 Lumens, enough to light up a room

•

    6 hour Run Time, then when it runs out you just crank the sucker….

•

    LED Bulbs for long life

•

    Charging indicator so you know when to stop cranking away

•

     Seems pretty sturdy, did not drop it on the ground yet,  maybe after some more whisky

 

Cons:

•

   If you stare at it when you turn it on, could give you a slight seizure, almost happened to me

•

   High price tag of $39.97, but that’s probably because I am cheap and think everything should be 10 bucks

•

   Takes 12 hours of sunlight to get a full charge, ok in summer, not so much in winter, but again, the thing has a damn hand crank.   When the shit hits the fan, I will have the kids cranking away on these during the night to earn their keep.  

Overall:  So far this thing is pretty good, thinking about buying another one so that when I drunk drop this one I will still have one.  

Recommendation: 4 Crusty old Stars - Would recommend; Now if you buy it or not, I don’t care, I gots mine already.    

Thanks for playing,

-SL