More equipment reviews from Webelo-fest...

So I owe you some reviews on some other gear I put through its paces at Webelo-fest.   First, let me set the stage.  Out in the woods its dark.  No, I mean really REALLY dark.  OK, so if you camp already, you already know, but if you are a "city kid" you become so use to light pollution that you may not have ever seen a moonless night with no reflective light coming from clouds.

Of course everyone had flashlights, and a few had lanterns and head lamps.  Well, we had two pieces of gear we wanted to try.  First was our Goal Zero Lighthouse lantern, second was a Rayovac indestructible flashlight.

As to the Goal Zero lighthouse, at first it appears to be standard lantern, but its considerably better built then several others i've owned. Its truly top quality from the handle on down its solid.  Even better its charge or crank powered. (we fully charged it before going, but in a grid down situation a tough crank powered light would be invaluable.) AND it has a USB outlet to charge a cell phone or tablet. (I tried it for grins, worked like a charm)  Best part is its got the latest LED tech so it was a bunch brighter and gave off much whiter light compared to the other lanterns that people had.  Bright enough where I kept getting asked what brand and where i got it.  After dark I could spot our Webelo pac from the other boys clear as day at 100 yards just because my son was holding the GZ lighthouse.

The Second was the Rayovac indestructible LED flashlight.  We had both the 100 lumen 2 AA model and the 140 lumen 3C model.  both were the brightest lights on the campout by far, and talk about range.  WOW, the big one lit up the trail ahead of us so bright you couldn't see anyone else's beam. Now you can spend a lot more for a high end CREE tactical light, but I caught these on sale at under 20 dollars from Home Depot.  And after surviving watching my son drop his 5 or 6 times without so much as scratch, I'm getting one for the whole family, They are now my new standard.