We purchased the smaller crank lantern about a year ago and absolutely loved using it during the summer at our camp in Maine. My husband likes the idea of not being dependent on batteries, so I bought him this bigger lantern for Christmas, which also happens to be solar as well as a hand-crank. I love the idea that you can just put it out in the sun to charge or that you can crank it, too. We put it outside late one afternoon right after Christmas and it got charged very quickly. Now when we leave one of our lanterns in Maine for the summer, we will also have one in Connecticut!
My son loves his new lantern, however we have to return it for a replacement because the handle was broken. It will be a great addition to our camping experiences. Nice bright light, easy cranking. good color- won't misplace it like the camo one.
Not nearly as bright as I'd hoped it would be. More like moonlight than sunlight. Also, I tried twice to get a question answered by SolaDyne/Athena customer service; once by phone and once by email. I received no response.
I'm very pleased with this product. It seems to be well made, and I like the variety of ways it can be charged. It gives off plenty of light. I haven't used it much as of yet. If it meets my expectations, I might consider changing my rating to 5 stars.
