Lantern/ Cooler Questions...

[Hilldweller]

I always carried a lantern in the old days. A big Coleman white-gasser at first, bright as an aircraft landing light ----- became the hurricane kit back when we lived in Florida; left it for the new home-owner.

Then smallish LED lanterns. Not sure why I lit them up while camping; maybe snake/bear paranoia.

I stopped turning on the LED lanterns on our trip to Overland Expo '10. We camped by ourselves on a private ranch in Tubac, next to a couple of orange trees near their stables. Peaceful. Quiet. Serene. The horses kept the javalinas away, a roadrunner visited every evening at sunset.

Couple-a beers and I went to turn off the lantern before bed and was greeted by the warm/fuzzy embrace of a softball-sized tarantula when I reached for the button.
There's nothing on God's green Earth like the squarshy feeling of a gigantic fuzzy spider in the dark.

 

[Kerensky97]

Don't overthink this one... Use what you got, upgrade as opportunity and need require

I agree. I actually have built up a collection of coolers and grab the size appropriate to what I'm camping for, but hoping to upgrade to an ARB fridge soon.

My most used cooler is this little Coleman 9qt: http://amzn.to/2qpShA9
It fits 20oz bottles, only holds ice for about 36-48 hours so you need to "recharge" it from the main cooler. But I throw drinks in the there in the morning (and lunch fixings if need be), put it behind the passenger seat, and that way I don't have to dig into the big cooler in back until I'm cooking dinner that night. I can't overstate how great it is to just reach back with one hand and grab an ice cold drink while driving down the road.
Whatever cooler you get make sure you have a small one in the cab for drinks and to keeping your chocolate bars from melting.

As for lantern's I don't think they're a must have but if you get to camp after sundown and need to setup or cook in the dark, a bright coleman lantern beats a fire or headlamp for illuminating your camp. Just turn it back down to idle after you're done because it really does ruin the ambiance.

As for gas vs. electric, I prefer gas but it's not as feasable for expedition use. The bumpy trails tend to break off the mantels every 2 days or so, make sure you have lots of spares in case.

 

[screwball48]

Like others have said a lot will depend on where and when you will be camping. You may want to look at the Ozark Trail coolers. Possibly a smaller cooler for drinks and a medium cooler for food. As for a lantern start with the AA Siege lantern. You may find it is all you need. Also a nice feature is that you can remove the globe and use the bottom hook to hand the lantern over a work area for a more directed light.


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[maxmonster]

Man thanks for all the replies guys! So for now... I decided against buying the sun for a lantern and decided to just use the my EDC Fenix light and bought a Petzl Tikka. As for cooler my buddy said to get some generic cooler... but after seeing how well my RTIC 64oz performs I can't get myself away from buying RTIC again... looks like a 45QT for now...

 

[Christophe Noel]

I'd vote for a Luminoodle over a lantern. Cheap. Easy. And really good. Coolers, get something cheap and easy to see how it goes. Coleman is tough to beat for value.

 

[maxmonster]

One more question since I decided on an RTIC. Essentially this is an airtight cooler... if my research serves me right... can this double as a bear/animal bag to keep the animals at bay?

 

[Hilldweller]

... Coolers, get something cheap and easy to see how it goes. Coleman is tough to beat for value.

A Coleman is a Cessna compared to the Ozark Trails F-18....

 

[Martinjmpr]

One more question since I decided on an RTIC. Essentially this is an airtight cooler... if my research serves me right... can this double as a bear/animal bag to keep the animals at bay?

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If what you're asking is whether your RTIC can double as a bear box I'd say not only no, but HELL no. Keep it inside your vehicle or if there is a bear box, put the RTIC inside the bear box. That cooler is still going to smell like food no matter how "airtight" it is.

 

[Hilldweller]

.
If what you're asking is whether your RTIC can double as a bear box I'd say not only no, but HELL no. Keep it inside your vehicle or if there is a bear box, put the RTIC inside the bear box. That cooler is still going to smell like food no matter how "airtight" it is.

It would work for a while against raccoons...

 

[thefishhawk]

It's probably like the Yeti, bear rated if locked on both corners with padlocks. The latches obviously aren't going to do anything by themselves. I think it even says that on their website. Wait for the next flash sale for RTIC, should be able to score 20-30% off if they do like the past. Or maybe those last year were due to the impending end to the lawsuit. I also got something about Engel revising their pricing model and thinking they were more reasonable now. If paying a bit more is worth a 10 year warranty to you.

I think a lot of the guys here are probably like myself. Being or approaching middle age when we were coming up anything with batteries was pretty much a non-starter. Huge batteries, short life. Or, if you were a hunter propane or other gases froze and wouldn't work on cold trips. So everything ended up being coleman gas, stove, lantern, etc. because that was all that worked all the time without fail.

Now, we have super efficient LED lights, tiny batteries with huge capacities, and isobutane blends that will run a lantern or stove in cold weather. It's hard to give up the old ways though I still have a hard time taking anything electronic camping unless it runs on AA or AAA's. I just can't get used to having to rely on a charger or solar or anything while in the woods and taking the chance something dies. It's a slow transition lol I'm more of a fair weather outdoorsman these days though, so the convenience of a propane appliance or two isn't the end of the world

 

[pyrate]

Fuel lanterns are also loud and kill the atmosphere. Also, you cannot focus light from lanterns (fuel or battery) unless you get creative. Headlamps however allow you to concentrate light exactly where you want it vs lighting up a lot of things that don't need it.

I do have a battery powered light though and have a little white stuff sack that it goes in. When you cinch the sack around the head of the light, it diffuses like a light at home, much softer than an exposed lantern.

As to coolers, I have a RTIC 65 and love it. It's a bit heavy at times but when I use it, there are two of us to carry it. Dead air space can rob a bit of it's cooling power but if you put extra water bottles in it, it will help.

One thing to try too is looking for used gear. Craigslist, Offerup.com and such sites have many items you may wish to take a look at for a lower cost than new. Many people get into camping and find out it's not for them, find they have no place to store things or have upgraded to something different.

 

[outdoornate65]

RTIC cooler.....half the cost of the "others".

LED lighting like Goal Zero or similar. Something that recharges by solar or USB.

The old propane/white has lanterns are outdated and wat too loud for my taste.

Heck, get a styrofoam cooler and a candle....so long as you're out camping.

 

[aggiejon]

I won't get into the RTIC v. YETI debate. My experience is that RTIC is comparable in design and quality as well as ice keeping as a YETI. I bought my yeti's through a buddy who was a dealer. Got a buddy price on them. 35, 45, and 125. 35 is good to keep some water or beer in the truck for daily use. 45 usually gets used for longer trips. The 125 is the coffin I use when we will be gone for a week with a bunch of guys. This one is always the food box.

Any cooler, regardless of brand or price, will hold ice longer if you do 3 things....get the cooler cold to start with, whatever you put in it is already cold, and keep the lid closed and in the shade. Ice will melt if the lid is left open in the blazing sun. I love my yeti's for their durability. pick up that 125 loaded with ice and ribeyes, and its going to make 2 grown men grunt. However, the handles won't fall off either. And I can toss a padlock on it and don't have to worry about anyone stealing my meat! I have been considering a 65 qt. just because for a trip that is longer than 2 days, you will need the space. I have some old coleman and igloo coolers still hanging around. use them for fish boxes, etc. Or split them up. Put your drinks in one, and your food in the other. that way you aren't having to open and dig every time you need a cold one. food cooler gets opened at mealtime. and when you pack it, pack it in sections as to how you are going to use it. first stuff cooked on top, last stuff used on bottom, used at every meal off to one side up high. Organized and efficient.

We will make a 4 day river trip every year. Last year we coordinated it so that everyone brought two coolers. One guy had day 1 food, another day 2, so on. Then everyone had a second cooler with their own drinks. Worked well. As one cooler emptied, dump ice into other coolers. I can say the one guy who had an igloo got the food for day 1 and there wasn't much ice left, even though he still followed the rules, cold before, cold in, keep it closed and shaded. Day 4 food was just as cold and solid as when it was packed.

For a lantern, I love my cheepie LED lanterns that run on AA batteries. Light, cheap, surprisingly bright (enough to cook and clean fish). I carry a banded headlamp for when I need more bright and focused light, as in to make a repair. I honestly don't even carry a flashlight anymore. just a headlamp w/ fresh batteries. find one that has an option for white or red/green light. the red light is fantastic to save your night vision, not interrupt the darkness, and still get around. A headlamp wrapped around a gallon water bottle also makes a great lantern!

 

[ducktapeguy]

A good multi level LED headlamp should be the first thing on your list. Everything else is a luxury.

Some people like lanterns, some don't, it's just preference. Personally, I like them if you're in an isolated group with no one else around. Maybe it's just nostalgia but sometimes I like the huge bubble of light and hissing sound, I find it comforting, especially if you're camping in an area where fires are banned. I also tend to do most of my setup and cooking after the sun goes down. Other times I don't even unpack it from the car and just use headlamps, it really depends on what mood I'm in. Small battery operated lanterns are good for inside the tent, but nothing will compete with a propane lantern outside.

For coolers I've tried a few different ones and never saw much of a difference between them. Even the so called "7 day" coolers didn't perform much better than a cheap one unless it was filled with nothing but ice. So a 45 qt cooler is really a 15qt usable capacity with 30 qts of ice. I didn't really do any of the pre-chilling or anything special, like most people I dump some ice in it and put food in it, so that probably had lot to do with the lackluster performance.

I finally upgraded to a 12V fridge last year, and it's amazing. I don't recommend that you go out and buy one on your first camping trip though, but if this is something to keep in mind if you start looking into better equipment. A small fridge is about the same cost as a large high end cooler and will have the same usable capacity because you don't need to carry ice. Mine gets more use for weekend errands and Costco trips than for camping, so the cost is easier to justify.

 

[kdeleon]

LED flourescent style i got home depot used for cooking but generally i avoid using it if possible. I then use a propane lantern for eating and hanging out. I just find the light output is more pleasing compared to bright white led's


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