As a general rule, I prefer to negotiate by starlight, moonlight, and the occasional headlamp. Let your night vision develop and all that. But then I went and had kids and don’t you know it, when we go camping the little buggers actually want to see what’s around them.

A couple of small Hello Kitty lanterns eased me away from the dark side and now, with the arrival of this sweet new Coleman light, I’ve come to appreciate assisted illumination, at least when I’m chopping garlic with a machete.

The Quad LED lantern is an out-of-the-park home run, the most innovative design yet in a camping lantern. It runs on eight D-cells, which charge its four removable panels. Nature calling? Sending the kids on a snipe hunt? Snap off one, two, or all four panels and take them along, leaving the base station behind. Each panel has its own on-off switch, which is nice. On our last camping excursion, we used the base to make dinner while the monkeys each took a panel and played tag. At bedtime, they had their own reading lights and there was none of that “I can’t find my headlamp” nonsense. The Quad is clever, smart, and a bit of a child silencer.

Of course, it’s heavy and it’s bulky. You won’t be taking it backpacking. But with a run time of 75 hours and the most versatile camp lighting solution yet, it’s well worth the $70.

Tagged as: camping