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The Dorcy LED Hanging Lantern is the next generation
of a common Dorcy lantern you may have seen at big retail
stores quite a bit. In fact, I have one that I never
posted a review for, but used quite a bit during power
outages. The original came with an incandescent bulb
and I switched it out for, you guessed it, an LED bulb.
Well now Dorcy is has improved upon the design of that
older lantern and it now includes an LED built right
in.
The Dorcy LED lantern runs on 4 AA cells inserted into
the base. The top is a large clear dome with a focusing
lens on the end. The base, which is the battery compartment
door, is rubberized and has for larger protrusions like
feet to give the unit more stability when standing on
it's base.
A U-shaped arm is on a ratcheting hinge on either side
of the light. This arm pivots around the lamp with 16
stops to hold it in place (each one 22.5 degrees from
the last stop.) The arm has 3 parts - the main plastic
arm, an attached metal arm, and a hanging hook. The
metal arm can be extended out 70 degrees from the plastic
arm and pivots with the plastic arm. This gives a very
stable base for the light to rest on. The hook pops
out from the plastic arm and can be used to hang the
lamp, which can then still be pivoted to any angle.
The bezel is really just a clear plastic diffusing
dome with a magnifying lens on the end. This lens takes
the light from a single 5mm LED and can focus it into
a tight spot. The entire dome lens unscrews to reveal
the LED inside which is built into a common PR base
and is removable from the PR socket inside the light.
There is also a silvered reflector inside that the bulb
slides up through when turned on.
The output is focus-adjustable using the switch. On
its tightest focus a 2 inch spot was formed on my target
at one meter. This is about a 6 degree beam - very tight.
Also, there is no spillbeam, just a spotlight dot. Now
you don't have to focus it like this. It can instead
have a central spot with a nice surround just like a
normal flashlight if you wish.
The switch is a slider switch that both turns the light
on and off and also moves the bulb up and down on a
moveable post to change the focus of the beam. Slide
up for a wide beam, more for a focused spot, and all
the way to the top for a lantern-like wide area light.
Unfortunately, since a standard 5mm white LED sends
most of its light out the front, even on the "lamp"
setting the lantern doesn't really send that much light
out to the sides.
The dome has a water resistant rubber seal that seats
against the body. The switch has rubber flaps to help
prevent the entry of the environment, but sliding switches
are very hard to waterproof and this one isn't waterproof
either.
4 AA alkaline batteries power the unit. To get to the
batteries, turn the unit upside down and unscrew the
plate in the center of the bottom of the light. When
the plate is unscrewed the entire bottom comes off the
light but the screw plate is retained by the bottom
cover. Place the batteries in as indicated and press
the bottom back in place. Tighten the cover plate and
you are all set. Battery life is advertised as 130 hours.
Output will diminish throughout the life of the batteries
Upside down with battery lid removed (resting on wire
leg at bottom of picture)
What I Liked: Stable, Arms allow many positions,
Hanging hook, Adjustable spot
What I Didn't Like: Not water resistant,
Doesn't work all that well as an area light due to design
of LED.
Other Things I Noticed:
Conclusions: Nice little general
purpose lantern with the ability to be used as a flashlight.
Much more effective as an area light if you can direct
the spot from the lens onto a light colored diffusing
surface like a white ceiling while in "lamp"
mode.
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