I'm going to write some more in depth gear reviews of some thing I used this past year. I already wrote one on my pack. More items to follow soon. Here's a piece of gear that a true backcountry enthusiast may or may not like. Personally I think it's fantastic. I get tired of using only a headlamp or flashlight for light back at camp. I did some research and these turned up. I ordered mine from backcountry.com on sale for 32.99 they average about 59 bucks from various online retailers. I couldn't find one locally. A true ounce counter going solo will probably wish to ditch this. It runs off the isobutane canisters similar to a jetboil or msr stove or any other isobutane stove. Thread pitch is the same. Here's a link to primus with the factory details. http://primuscamping.com/products/micron-lantern-with-piezo-ignition
I received it in July so I could test it before my elk backpack hunt. Initial thoughts upon opening where a well built small lantern. It weighed 4.3 oz on my scale once I installed the mantel (which was super simple) I installed it on a partially full 100gm jetboil canister and lit it. With the piezoelectric ignition lighting was painless.
That's it lit up hanging off by grill on my porch I'm about 12-15ft away when I took this photo. It has an included cable and "s" hook for hanging. Burn time was about four hours on that partial canister. I tested fit on a 230gm and 450gm canister.
My hunting partners and I discussed me carrying the lantern and a 450gm fuel canister and one of them bringing a stove and 230gm fuel canister. (They both wound up packing a stove with 100gm canisters for our five day trip) in an attempt to save weight. They are both organized guys but I packed mine in my possibles box to be left at the cabin in the event either forgot a stove. Eating cold mountain house and having it swell in your stomach afterwards isn't a pleasant experience. (I forgot the fuel canister on a solo trip once).
October came and we head for our unit. Pack and check our gear and hike in. Upon making our camping spot we pitched our tent and set up my egret tarp (silnylon 8x10 15oz) as a lounging/cooking area. The lantern was a welcome comfort the first night in camp.
It saw use everyday in the early morning while cooking breakfast and at night when cooking dinner. We used it five days while backpacked in fuel use was awesome. We also hung it inside the tent and would light it to knock the chill off before getting out of our bags and getting dressed. (We used extreme caution to not burn it too long as it gets hot ! And carbon monoxide emissions in a sealed floor tent make this a danger as well)
When we packed back out to our cabin I still had roughly half a canister of fuel left. The cabin has propane lanterns but I wanted to see how much longer it would burn on the large canister. It lasted the remainder of our trip and still had enough fuel for a couple of hour burns left.
If I was going solo into some hard country (sheep/goat hunt) I would probably opt to leave it at home. Otherwise this little lantern has earned a spot in my go too gear. Especially with another hunter or two. I went through less headlamp batteries than normal this trip. When a guy can divide the weight of a normal trip in and have this it seems a great decision to me. Only downside I can find with it is you are tied to canister fuel. If you're flying into an area and would be using a white gas stove this would be a paper weight in your pack. It does get fairly hot so one has to be careful where they set it while burning and where you set it until it cools. You could damage a sleeping pad/bag or even your shelter very easy. Overall though this gets a 9.5/10 for me combination of fuel efficiency light and heat produced as well as compactness and mantel life. Also be a great addition to an inch bag. As well even car camping. I've since purchased another and placed in my cars emergency kit with a full 230gm canister.
last picture shows it burning inside the cabin where we stayed.
Sent from NSA wire tapped device.
I received it in July so I could test it before my elk backpack hunt. Initial thoughts upon opening where a well built small lantern. It weighed 4.3 oz on my scale once I installed the mantel (which was super simple) I installed it on a partially full 100gm jetboil canister and lit it. With the piezoelectric ignition lighting was painless.
That's it lit up hanging off by grill on my porch I'm about 12-15ft away when I took this photo. It has an included cable and "s" hook for hanging. Burn time was about four hours on that partial canister. I tested fit on a 230gm and 450gm canister.
My hunting partners and I discussed me carrying the lantern and a 450gm fuel canister and one of them bringing a stove and 230gm fuel canister. (They both wound up packing a stove with 100gm canisters for our five day trip) in an attempt to save weight. They are both organized guys but I packed mine in my possibles box to be left at the cabin in the event either forgot a stove. Eating cold mountain house and having it swell in your stomach afterwards isn't a pleasant experience. (I forgot the fuel canister on a solo trip once).
October came and we head for our unit. Pack and check our gear and hike in. Upon making our camping spot we pitched our tent and set up my egret tarp (silnylon 8x10 15oz) as a lounging/cooking area. The lantern was a welcome comfort the first night in camp.
It saw use everyday in the early morning while cooking breakfast and at night when cooking dinner. We used it five days while backpacked in fuel use was awesome. We also hung it inside the tent and would light it to knock the chill off before getting out of our bags and getting dressed. (We used extreme caution to not burn it too long as it gets hot ! And carbon monoxide emissions in a sealed floor tent make this a danger as well)
When we packed back out to our cabin I still had roughly half a canister of fuel left. The cabin has propane lanterns but I wanted to see how much longer it would burn on the large canister. It lasted the remainder of our trip and still had enough fuel for a couple of hour burns left.
If I was going solo into some hard country (sheep/goat hunt) I would probably opt to leave it at home. Otherwise this little lantern has earned a spot in my go too gear. Especially with another hunter or two. I went through less headlamp batteries than normal this trip. When a guy can divide the weight of a normal trip in and have this it seems a great decision to me. Only downside I can find with it is you are tied to canister fuel. If you're flying into an area and would be using a white gas stove this would be a paper weight in your pack. It does get fairly hot so one has to be careful where they set it while burning and where you set it until it cools. You could damage a sleeping pad/bag or even your shelter very easy. Overall though this gets a 9.5/10 for me combination of fuel efficiency light and heat produced as well as compactness and mantel life. Also be a great addition to an inch bag. As well even car camping. I've since purchased another and placed in my cars emergency kit with a full 230gm canister.
last picture shows it burning inside the cabin where we stayed. Sent from NSA wire tapped device.
