Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Basically in agreement with the positive reviews, with a few quibbles. (1) Changing the batteries is a clumsy operation. The base twists off to load the batteries. Putting back the base however requires a tricky alignment of the contacts. The base has two sections. The section with the contacts rotate freely about the section that you grip. Maybe I'm just clumsy, took me six tries. [[Update 5/18/2012. See notes below for hints on battery installation.]] (2) Overall rugged materials and construction, with the exception of the tent hook. Cheap plastic, probably would break if dropped. Folds flat into the base. But held in place only by friction fit. If you use it enough, it will probably wear and no longer stay folded in place. If you don't fold and unfold the hook often, not a problem. (3) Even when the power is off, one LED flashes every couple of seconds (like a smoke detector). This is a "finder beacon" to allow you to locate the lantern in a dark tent or room. I keep it around for emergencies. I don't know whether this causes any significant drain on the battery. When I have time, I'll check with the manufacturer. [[Update 4/30/2012. Battery drainage by the finder LED is negligible. See notes below. New reviewers continue to believe that battery drainage is a problem. It is definitely not.]] (4) Still, it's one of the few units that run on a few (3) D-Cells. Many run on AA cells or then jump to 8-D-Cells. AA cells don't last as long, of course, but 8 D-Cells by themselves weigh a ton. Good unit for the price. Another example of Amazon's quirky pricing,though. Seems to vary from $26 - $30 on a daily basis. Still, Amazon's shipping and customer service is amazing. Note added 9/13/09: There are differing opinions about ease of battery installation. As I originally reported, the problem is that the bottom cap consists of two pieces that are joined by a pivot. The inside piece, with the notches that lines up with the tabs in the battery compartment, is free to swivel about the outer piece that you actually grip. So you first line up the notches with the tabs, but when you try to seat the cap, the inside piece can swing out of alignment. I bought two units. One is easy to assemble because the pivot is tight, and the inside piece doesn't swing too freely. The other is a pain because the pivot is loose, and the inside piece swings easily. I think that's why some people say it's frustrating and others have no problem...depends on how tight the pivot in their unit is. This is difficult to explain without a diagram. Still, I think the configuration is poorly engineered. However, this is an operation you don't need to do often, unless you use it constantly. Note added 4/27/10: I've had a unit with the same set of batteries for a year now (infrequent use), so current drain by the beacon LED is minimal. No need to disable it or remove the batteries. But I do agree with others that the beacon LED is useless because its emission field is so narrow that you can't see it unless you're staring at it straight on. Note added 11/6/2011: Here's a comment I posted in response to another review concerning the battery installation issue. I thought others might find it helpful, so I'm reposting it here. Look at the first two photos posted by SirMontego. The first shot shows a close-up of aligning the groove on the top contact plate (which is mounted on the cover and is free to pivot) with the tongue on the bottom contact plate (which is fixed to the body of the lantern). The second shot shows a wider angle view of the contact assembly. The problem comes about at the next step (not shown). You now need to swing the cover over the body of the lantern in order to seat it. In so doing, the tongue can slip out of the groove since the top contact plate is free to pivot about the cover. If the pivot is snug, then the tongue tends to stay in the groove, and seating the cover is easy. If the pivot is loose, then the tongue can easily slip out of the groove. I have three of these units. One pivot is snug, one is slightly loose, and one is very loose. Customers who get units with loose pivots cuss about the idiotic contact assembly; customers who get units with snug pivots can't understand why others are such klutzes. I have seen many designs of battery installations in flashlights. Streamlight gets it right consistently. The most idiotic is on the Eveready Hardcase Pro 4-D lantern. The one on this lantern is on the clumsy side, but would be fine if the pivots were consistently snug. Note added 11/6/2011: I notice that recent reviews are still concerned about current drain from the beacon light. Here's another data point. I've had one lantern now for ~2-1/2 yrs, still with its original set of batteries. Until this past week it was used only intermittently. I was caught up in the pre-Halloween snowstorm and had no power for 4 days. I ran this lantern on low for ~20 hrs total (not continuous). I still have not had to change out the batteries.