ThorFire CL01 Camping Light, Mini Lantern Rechargeable

My son likes to camp in a tent so I picked this up for him since it runs not only on a USB charge but also from a hand crank. It is super compact also.

This is a very nice unit. I bought it to use with a restored VW camper to provide extra light. The camper does have lighting, but it is tied to the vehicle battery, and you -could- run the battery down. I'd rather use an outboard lantern, and this will do the job for me. I especially appreciate the two ways to recharge the lantern's internal battery: USB or the hand-crank generator. And since you can also use it to recharge a smartphone that accepts a USB cable, that is just icing on the cake. And, it just happens the orange color matches the camper. :)

My only suggestion would be to make it function as a power bank. I thought it was supposed to, but it doesn't at all. The battery keeps the light going for a respectable amount of time though, and it's truly versatile as a light/lamp. So handy that you can hand crank it when it dies too.

This cool little flashlight/lantern is very neat. You pop up the lantern part and it really puts out light. In a pitch-dark 10x10 room, it lights it up bright enough to see every corner. The brightness is very impressive. It has two levels, low and high. Honestly, the low level is pretty bright so I would save battery most times and use low. If you do not extend the lantern this is also a flashlight. It is bright but does not direct light pointedly, so would not make a great flashlight for distance. However, even without the lantern extended, the light is pretty bright. I put the light higher up on something so it reflects back off the ceiling. It can be charged with a USB plug or crank. I have only used the USB at this point and it charged pretty quickly. So far I have used that charge for about 3 hours and it is still nice and bright. I will update the review after using it for a few months.

My personal philosophy on ratings is simple. The ThorFire camping lantern is not bad for how little it costs. I have a few complaints that can be addressed in the next iteration. The Thorfire is remarkably bright and is able to illuminate a room to a more than adequate level, or a tent to a very adequate level. The cranking handle is a little tiny and maybe a bit cumbersome to use for those of us with bigger hands. 4 minutes of vigorous cranking was enough to fully charge the battery. It's very lightweight and can fit in a pocket easily. Now let's hit the bad. The construction is all plastic, which means you get some bleed with the light and the flashlight probably won't hold up after a year or two. I dropped mine while unboxing it and it left a noticeable scratch. The handle and on button are flush and are very hard to find in the dark. The flashlight portion doesn't work too well. The battery is tiny, and the light could be brighter. But all in all, I am quite satisfied with my purchase.