Rayovac SE3DLN Sportsman Extreme 300-Lumen 3D-Battery LED Lantern Review. Rayovac's SE3DLN has an energy efficient LED that never needs to be replaced. With an EZ find light, a tent hook, and water resistant finish, there is no reason to go on your next camping trip with out it. Features 3 light modes: high, low, and strobe. 150 hour battery life. Carrying high power LEDs, machined from aircraft grade aluminum, and sporting a high end attitude, this light is Xtreme....
"Great Compact Camping or Emergency Lantern" 2009-01-05
By SkinDiver
Just received this product so I will defer commenting on battery life until later. Overall I have been very pleased and surprised with this product. First off, this lantern is fairly compact...I was under the impression that this would be larger from the pictures but once I opened it up, I was pleasingly surprised. The unit is very compact and feels very sturdy. There is rubber on the base and around the lower portion of the lantern, the switch is very easy to operate and has 3-modes (High, Low, and Strobe). The entire top/globe can be unscrewed and hung upside down (clip in the base) to use as a room or tent light in "bare bulb" mode. Overall I have been very impressed with the output of this lantern as well. This is a very bright lantern for it's compact size; outshining normal 4D fluorescent U-tubed lanterns and a coleman pack-away LED lantern. The diffuser is also very pleasing with no rings, lines, or shadows to speak of. In bare bulb mode, the light is almost too bright for your eyes but works well if it's hung high overhead (so you're not looking directly at the unit). Low mode is also very useful and brighter than your typical "nightlight" levels in other LED lanterns "low" modes. Overall I am very impressed with this product and plan to purchase more of these units for use while night fishing, camping, and to use during power failures.
Update (10/31/09): Just an update, I recently used this light in a power outage and it performed great. Bright and the batteries are still going strong. I also purchased 2 additional units and with just 3-D batteries each, who can complain! This is a great compact lantern.
"GREAT LIGHT FOR THE PRICE!!" 2009-06-14
By E. Moreno Jr. (Millbrae, CA United States)
OK folks,
let me start off by saying that I am a flashlight afficionado. If you ask me about pistols, rifles, knives, or lights...you are now in my world, and I will talk your ears off.
Let me say that this is a great little lantern. I was walking around my local "Big Boys Covet Store" (Lowes) and saw this lantern on sale. I went over to check it out and inspect it, and then kept it on the back of my mind. When I got home, I went to one of my internet hang-outs (CandlePowerForum.com) and plugged in the lantern for some feedback, or reviews. Evidently it was very highly talked about. So I went back the next day (or was it IMMEDIATELY?) to purchase the little lantern. I gotta admit, I was not disappointed.
Since I have gotten the lantern, it is my new ruck sack companion. I will not leave to a mountain trek without it. And when I am not out in the bush, it stays on top of my reloading bench in case of an emergency blackout...or an earthquake. (I live in the San Freakcisco Bay Area).
The light is small (3.5" x 3.5" x 7.5"), but is plenty tough. It has a great rubber base, a rubber top section, and rubber side grips. Like the earlier folks stated, it has a HIGH, a LOW, and a STROBE function. As for the installation of the batteries...yea...I was scratching my head for a few seconds the first time. (No, not minutes - seconds). But after I looked at it for a second or two, it was pretty easy to see how it was supposed to go on, and I have not had a problem since then.
The little plastic hook on top is a total waste to me. Why? Because everthing else on this little beast is built so well, and then the did this?! (Added a flimsy little "Alfalfa Hair Piece" to the top of this exceptional little lantern). It has not broken on me yet - but then again, I will not take the chance of hanging the lantern from this flimsy little hook and provoking Mr Murphy to curse the lantern to fall and possibly break.
It is small and compact, but beefy and with heft.
Like I said, it's a great little lantern for the money.
You will not regret it.
In Christ: Raymond
"Lantern" 2008-11-23
By Gary R. Thornell
This has to be the best LED Lantern I have seen. The 3D batteries last a long time and the Lantern outputs allot of light. Well worth the price.
"All That I Wanted" 2009-10-09
By Gary D. Howell (Southern California)
I bought this lantern; because when compared to all the others that I looked at - it was smaller, lighter, more durable, and used less batteries but provided more light. After using it on a 2 week camping trip - it didn't let me down.
When we lost "house" power in our RV, I placed it on the kitchen table to play cards. The couple that we traveled with complained that it was too bright. Rather than turn it down to the lower level, I unscrewed the top and used the bottom hook to hang it upside down from the ceiling. This application provided more than enough light to play cards and see everything else within the entire RV. It was no longer "too bright"; because it was above eye level.
I also hooked it to a tree branch above our picnic table. It provided enough light to cook on the camping stove and eat dinner for four. At the end of the camping trip, I couldn't detect any depreciation in battery power. The couple that we traveled with has been camping for years, with all kinds of equipment. Yet, they too are going to buy this lantern from Amazon.
I'm going to buy the Coleman Multi-Purpose Lantern Stand in case the next time we go out, there isn't a tree branch above our picnic table. I'm also going to buy another one of these lanterns to put in our emergency kit in case there's ever a prolonged power outage at home. With two of them, we'll have "his" and "her" lanterns.
"Impressive little lantern" 2010-07-09
By M. Cuizon (Honolulu, HI)
I bought this Rayovac latern off of Amazon after reading tons of reviews and visiting some other sites about the quality of this product. I did happen to give this lantern it's full fledged test at a camp out this past 4th of July weekend and put it head to head with other lanterns. One of the other lanterns were Energizer's 3D cell 12 led Weather Ready from Walmart, the other was a Coleman 8D cell CFL type lantern, and the third was your basic Coleman propane lantern. The Rayovac was the most compact of the bunch, next was the Energizer, then the CFL Coleman, and lastly the propane lantern.
Now when it came to my shopping there were 2 things that were high on my list. 1st was the brightness level. 2nd was the energy (batteries,fuel, etc.) needed to run the product and the longevity of the energy (how long could I run it before having to change the batteries etc.
Let me run through the energy and consumption level. Obviously since the propane lantern runs on "fire" it did consume it's fuel the fastest, because we had to change the propane canisters at least twice for the 3 night camp. As for the other 3 I still have no idea. I would think that the CFL lantern would go out before the Rayovac and Energizer, that and the fact that it takes 8D cells make running it a little more costly. The Energizer claims 3 weeks running time at 5 hours a day use and the Rayovac claims around 75-150 hours running time, so I would call it a fairly even match between the two.
Now let's get to what your really interested in and discuss brightness level. This is purely based on what I saw and has nothing to do with comparing LED's with CFL's etc. On an overall brightness scale reguardless of type, the overall winner was your standard propane lantern. On max output it clearly outperformed the lot. To my surprise, the Coleman CFL was the second brightest. It was equivilent to your standard CFL light in a household setting and we were all impressed at how bright it was coming pretty close to the propane output. As for the LED lanterns... the Rayovac outshown the Energizer. With the top portion of the Ravovac removed and flipped upside down as a tent light, the Rayovac quickly impressed me with lighting up a fairly reasonable amount of area with light. The only edge that I thought the Energizer had was it's adjustablity to brighten and dim at the turn of a switch while the Rayovac had either bright or semi-bright. Though this is about light output and 2 of the Rayovacs hung upside down with the top removed can easily light a 10X20 camping area (the size of our canopy tent).
My conclusion on overall performance. One of the three propane lanterns caught on fire due to some kind malfunction and the fact that you have to light them with a match, change canisters on a regular basis, and change those bag things every other trip puts propane at the bottom. 3rd place would have to be the Energizer. Although it uses only 3D cells and had light adjustment equivilent to the propane lantern, it was still the dimmest (although still very bright) of the lot. 2nd would have to be the Coleman CFL. It uses batteries, although a wopping 8D cells, but is much safer than a propane lantern catching on fire. It is extremely bright, 2nd only to the propane. It's only downfalls would be the price and I'm assuming battery life as compared to LEDs. The winner in my book, is obvioulsy the Rayovac. It was the brighter of the two LED models, it's very compact, uses only 3D cells, has long battery life, can change from a free standing lantern to a hanging light(very good bonus feature), and is very well priced on Amazon. I am the owner of three of the products tested and am giving my unbiased opinion. I would highly recomend the Rayovac and plan on buying one or two more for some serious light.
By SkinDiver
Just received this product so I will defer commenting on battery life until later. Overall I have been very pleased and surprised with this product. First off, this lantern is fairly compact...I was under the impression that this would be larger from the pictures but once I opened it up, I was pleasingly surprised. The unit is very compact and feels very sturdy. There is rubber on the base and around the lower portion of the lantern, the switch is very easy to operate and has 3-modes (High, Low, and Strobe). The entire top/globe can be unscrewed and hung upside down (clip in the base) to use as a room or tent light in "bare bulb" mode. Overall I have been very impressed with the output of this lantern as well. This is a very bright lantern for it's compact size; outshining normal 4D fluorescent U-tubed lanterns and a coleman pack-away LED lantern. The diffuser is also very pleasing with no rings, lines, or shadows to speak of. In bare bulb mode, the light is almost too bright for your eyes but works well if it's hung high overhead (so you're not looking directly at the unit). Low mode is also very useful and brighter than your typical "nightlight" levels in other LED lanterns "low" modes. Overall I am very impressed with this product and plan to purchase more of these units for use while night fishing, camping, and to use during power failures.
Update (10/31/09): Just an update, I recently used this light in a power outage and it performed great. Bright and the batteries are still going strong. I also purchased 2 additional units and with just 3-D batteries each, who can complain! This is a great compact lantern.
By E. Moreno Jr. (Millbrae, CA United States)
OK folks,
let me start off by saying that I am a flashlight afficionado. If you ask me about pistols, rifles, knives, or lights...you are now in my world, and I will talk your ears off.
Let me say that this is a great little lantern. I was walking around my local "Big Boys Covet Store" (Lowes) and saw this lantern on sale. I went over to check it out and inspect it, and then kept it on the back of my mind. When I got home, I went to one of my internet hang-outs (CandlePowerForum.com) and plugged in the lantern for some feedback, or reviews. Evidently it was very highly talked about. So I went back the next day (or was it IMMEDIATELY?) to purchase the little lantern. I gotta admit, I was not disappointed.
Since I have gotten the lantern, it is my new ruck sack companion. I will not leave to a mountain trek without it. And when I am not out in the bush, it stays on top of my reloading bench in case of an emergency blackout...or an earthquake. (I live in the San Freakcisco Bay Area).
The light is small (3.5" x 3.5" x 7.5"), but is plenty tough. It has a great rubber base, a rubber top section, and rubber side grips. Like the earlier folks stated, it has a HIGH, a LOW, and a STROBE function. As for the installation of the batteries...yea...I was scratching my head for a few seconds the first time. (No, not minutes - seconds). But after I looked at it for a second or two, it was pretty easy to see how it was supposed to go on, and I have not had a problem since then.
The little plastic hook on top is a total waste to me. Why? Because everthing else on this little beast is built so well, and then the did this?! (Added a flimsy little "Alfalfa Hair Piece" to the top of this exceptional little lantern). It has not broken on me yet - but then again, I will not take the chance of hanging the lantern from this flimsy little hook and provoking Mr Murphy to curse the lantern to fall and possibly break.
It is small and compact, but beefy and with heft.
Like I said, it's a great little lantern for the money.
You will not regret it.
In Christ: Raymond
By Gary R. Thornell
This has to be the best LED Lantern I have seen. The 3D batteries last a long time and the Lantern outputs allot of light. Well worth the price.
By Gary D. Howell (Southern California)
I bought this lantern; because when compared to all the others that I looked at - it was smaller, lighter, more durable, and used less batteries but provided more light. After using it on a 2 week camping trip - it didn't let me down.
When we lost "house" power in our RV, I placed it on the kitchen table to play cards. The couple that we traveled with complained that it was too bright. Rather than turn it down to the lower level, I unscrewed the top and used the bottom hook to hang it upside down from the ceiling. This application provided more than enough light to play cards and see everything else within the entire RV. It was no longer "too bright"; because it was above eye level.
I also hooked it to a tree branch above our picnic table. It provided enough light to cook on the camping stove and eat dinner for four. At the end of the camping trip, I couldn't detect any depreciation in battery power. The couple that we traveled with has been camping for years, with all kinds of equipment. Yet, they too are going to buy this lantern from Amazon.
I'm going to buy the Coleman Multi-Purpose Lantern Stand in case the next time we go out, there isn't a tree branch above our picnic table. I'm also going to buy another one of these lanterns to put in our emergency kit in case there's ever a prolonged power outage at home. With two of them, we'll have "his" and "her" lanterns.
By M. Cuizon (Honolulu, HI)
I bought this Rayovac latern off of Amazon after reading tons of reviews and visiting some other sites about the quality of this product. I did happen to give this lantern it's full fledged test at a camp out this past 4th of July weekend and put it head to head with other lanterns. One of the other lanterns were Energizer's 3D cell 12 led Weather Ready from Walmart, the other was a Coleman 8D cell CFL type lantern, and the third was your basic Coleman propane lantern. The Rayovac was the most compact of the bunch, next was the Energizer, then the CFL Coleman, and lastly the propane lantern.
Now when it came to my shopping there were 2 things that were high on my list. 1st was the brightness level. 2nd was the energy (batteries,fuel, etc.) needed to run the product and the longevity of the energy (how long could I run it before having to change the batteries etc.
Let me run through the energy and consumption level. Obviously since the propane lantern runs on "fire" it did consume it's fuel the fastest, because we had to change the propane canisters at least twice for the 3 night camp. As for the other 3 I still have no idea. I would think that the CFL lantern would go out before the Rayovac and Energizer, that and the fact that it takes 8D cells make running it a little more costly. The Energizer claims 3 weeks running time at 5 hours a day use and the Rayovac claims around 75-150 hours running time, so I would call it a fairly even match between the two.
Now let's get to what your really interested in and discuss brightness level. This is purely based on what I saw and has nothing to do with comparing LED's with CFL's etc. On an overall brightness scale reguardless of type, the overall winner was your standard propane lantern. On max output it clearly outperformed the lot. To my surprise, the Coleman CFL was the second brightest. It was equivilent to your standard CFL light in a household setting and we were all impressed at how bright it was coming pretty close to the propane output. As for the LED lanterns... the Rayovac outshown the Energizer. With the top portion of the Ravovac removed and flipped upside down as a tent light, the Rayovac quickly impressed me with lighting up a fairly reasonable amount of area with light. The only edge that I thought the Energizer had was it's adjustablity to brighten and dim at the turn of a switch while the Rayovac had either bright or semi-bright. Though this is about light output and 2 of the Rayovacs hung upside down with the top removed can easily light a 10X20 camping area (the size of our canopy tent).
My conclusion on overall performance. One of the three propane lanterns caught on fire due to some kind malfunction and the fact that you have to light them with a match, change canisters on a regular basis, and change those bag things every other trip puts propane at the bottom. 3rd place would have to be the Energizer. Although it uses only 3D cells and had light adjustment equivilent to the propane lantern, it was still the dimmest (although still very bright) of the lot. 2nd would have to be the Coleman CFL. It uses batteries, although a wopping 8D cells, but is much safer than a propane lantern catching on fire. It is extremely bright, 2nd only to the propane. It's only downfalls would be the price and I'm assuming battery life as compared to LEDs. The winner in my book, is obvioulsy the Rayovac. It was the brighter of the two LED models, it's very compact, uses only 3D cells, has long battery life, can change from a free standing lantern to a hanging light(very good bonus feature), and is very well priced on Amazon. I am the owner of three of the products tested and am giving my unbiased opinion. I would highly recomend the Rayovac and plan on buying one or two more for some serious light.
