Hot take: I bought a $30 'solar-powered' lantern that needs 8 hours of sun for 20 minutes of dim light

Spent a whole afternoon charging it on a rock, only for it to die before I finished making dinner. Has anyone found a decent light that actually works off-grid?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessicajohnson2mo ago

Ugh, that is the worst feeling. I've been burned by so many of those cheap solar gadgets that promise the world. What a total waste of a sunny afternoon. Have you looked into the small lanterns that use a hand crank? I gave up on solar for small stuff after my third dud. The crank ones are annoying but at least you get light when you need it, not just when the sun feels like cooperating.

emma_hart4d ago

Honestly I used to roll my eyes at the hand crank stuff, thought it was just gimmicky nonsense. But after my third solar powered light died on me in like two weeks I finally broke down and got one of those little crank lanterns. Yeah it takes a minute of winding but now I actually get light when I need it instead of staring at a dead panel and cursing at the clouds. You're totally right, I'd rather have a little arm workout than another useless brick of plastic.

-1

drew7912mo ago

Yeah, those things are a total scam. I grabbed a cheap USB-rechargeable one from a hardware store and just top it up from a power bank. Works every time and the battery lasts forever.