Energizer is widely recognized for their batteries that keep on going, (and going, and going…) but they have become a driving force in designing new and innovative lighting devices in recent years. These lights range from ultra-compact keychain LED lights to hugely powerful spotlights, powered by anything from tiny watch batteries to solar energy. In keeping with their tradition of long lasting batteries, Energizer has designed their products to be both efficient and powerful.
One of these products is the brand new Carabiner LED Area Tent Light, which boasts a 5-hour battery life on the highest setting: a 360 degree area light with a 50 lumen rating. This little light has three different outputs: high area light, low area light, and flashlight. These are controlled via a single well-placed button -pushing it cycles through the various settings. There are no tricks or techniques to learn in order to operate this device. The 4 AAA batteries needed are even included in the packaging (what else would you expect from a battery company?). Talk about fool-proof.
There are several details Energizer certainly got right. For weighing a bit over 4-ounces (including the batteries), it feels surprisingly solid, smooth, and well-made. And it’s able to take a beating. After seeing a pretty good amount of abuse during testing, (we play rough) there is not a single mark or scratch on the casing, even the translucent plastic that covers the LED lights. And this long-lasting light is more than capable of performing the task it was created for: lighting your tent. Every corner of a 3 or 4 person tent should be pretty well lit with the LED Area Tent Light hanging from the middle of the tent (on the included carabiner), but much bigger than that and you might have some dark patches. Unclip it, switch on the flashlight, and it will guide you to the restroom or nearby bush. It can handle almost every task required in most campgrounds while taking up about the same amount of space as a standard flashlight and can easily be hooked to a belt-loop or backpack. It uses 4 AAA batteries, which are easy to come by, small enough to pack spares, and highly rechargeable (you do use rechargeable batteries, right?). So, what did they do wrong? Not much. The 360 degree light is probably more like a 350 degree light, as there is a dark stripe on either side when set to the area setting. That is about the only gripe most users are likely to come up with. Overall, this fantastic and extremely useful little light would probably see a lot of use if added to your pool of equipment.
If you want something a little more powerful (for that 15-man tent of yours), check out the Energizer website at www.energizer.com. They have a number of different lighting products to suit pretty much every taste and every need. While you‘re there, take a look at their range of solar powered and hand-crank emergency lights. These would be useful to have around in an extended power outage. They probably sold out pretty quick along the east coast just before Hurricane Irene hit.
– David