Initial Report

Initial Test Report:

Coleman® Exponent
F1 Lite Lantern

By James E. Triplett

Personal Biographical Information:
Name: James E. Triplett
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 2" (188 cm)
Weight: 191 lb (86.6 kg)
Email address: james_triplett@hotmail.com
City, State: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Date: October 4, 2005

Backpacking Background:
I'm a veteran camper with most childhood trips taken in the Midwest and throughout Canada. My backpacking experience is that of a well informed hiker, and I am generally out for weekends, or a week at a time these days. This is significantly less than the 44 days I spent on the Appalachian Trail back in the early 80s. Currently, I would classify myself as a three-season backpacker, although I am gaining more experience in winter camping. I am a four-season hiker though, and am out daily - rain, sleet, or snow. As for my style, I use the lightest gear I can find and afford, but I take along everything I might need. This translates to mostly lightweight gear... and lots of it. I prefer a tent over a tarp, but have not yet tried a hammock.

Manufacturer Information:
Manufacturer: The Coleman Company, Inc.
Coleman is based in Wichita, Kansas, and is a subsidiary of American Household, Inc.
URL: www.coleman.com

Product information:
Year of Manufacture: 2005
Date Item Received: September 27, 2005

Product Name: Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern
Model #: 9742-750
MSRP: $34.99 US

Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern Specs and Features:
Unless otherwise indicated, the following is taken from the information on the Coleman website, with some of the information from a press release found on the site. According to the press release the Exponent F1 Lite Lantern was introduced in the fall of 2003. For more information please visit the Coleman website.

Specifications:
• Lantern weight - 3.2 oz (91 g) - The website converts 3.2 oz to 88 g, the packaging to 90 g
• Weight including handle and pouch - 4.3 oz (122 g)
• Full weight 16.4 oz (465 g) - as listed on the box
• Listed dimensions are: "a little over 2 inches across and 4 inches tall" - The packaging has a diagram showing 52 mm x 104 mm (which is indeed "a little over 2 inches across and 4 inches tall")
• Operates from C100, C250 or C500 fuel cartridges
• Burn time - will run up to nine hours on high or 16 hours on low on a standard 7.75-ounce butane/propane fuel canister
• Uses one #51-104 mantle
• Luminance - equivalent to 24 candlepower or a 38-watt light bulb

Features:
• Light cable handle for easy transportation
• Durable, detachable mesh globe for easy access to mantle
• Access hole in mesh globe for match lighting
• Comes with a textile pouch, reinforced on the inside with a plastic cylinder

Initial Report:

Upon Arrival:
The Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern arrived in a small, cardboard, display type box. As indicated on the box, and on the website, the F1 is part of the exponent line of products. The information on the four side panels of the box convey basically the same information I found on the website, including the lantern features, specifications, and Coleman's warranty information. The warranty states that "for the period that you own this product, it will be free from defects in material and workmanship". Inside the box were the lantern components shown in the picture above, as well as brief owner's manual describing a host of warnings, as well as how to assemble the lantern and the lighting instructions for the first time the lantern is used. The included "textile pouch" is a lined, mesh bag, which holds a ridged plastic tube to prevent damage to the lantern during transit. Although not specified on the website, or on the packaging, the lantern comes with one 51-104 mantle. For this test series, Coleman also provided three 2-packs of mantles which do not ordinarily come with the lantern.

Weights and Measurements:

All weights are as measured on a US postal scale	Total in ounces	Total in grams
Complete Lantern (including mantle and hang chain)	3.3	93.5
Hang Chain	0.2	6.0
Mantle (new - unused)	0.05	1.5
Carrying Case (pouch)	1.3	37.0
Complete Lantern and Case	4.6	130.5
Full fuel canister (purchased separately for this test)	12.5	354.5

The actual measurements corresponded with the listed measurements in the specifications section above. They are as follows:
• Cage (globe) diameter: 2.0 inches (5 cm)
• Cage (globe) height: 2.4 inches (6 cm)
• Lantern height: 4.0 inches (10 cm)
• Cable handle length: 8.9 inches (22.5 cm), usable length when the lantern is suspended

Initial Inspection:
The Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern is indeed small. Weighing in at under a 1/4 pound (110 g) it is also rather light as the name implies. The business part of the lantern, the burner assembly, is a shaft which is threaded on one end for screwing onto the butane/propane fuel canister. The shaft has a manually operated valve for shut-off and brightness adjustment, has fuel output ports along the upper portion of the shaft, grooves for the mantle, and a quick-lock circular ledge to which the protective mesh cage can be attached. The hang-cable consists of two stiff, twisted wires, connected to a key-chain type ring for hanging, and attaches to the top of the cage with mini clips. The F1 appears to be well made, and there were no imperfections in materials or workmanship.

F1 Light burner assembly

Assembling the Exponent F1 Lite is pretty intuitive. I looked to purchase a Coleman fuel canister for this test, but the two retailers I visited did not carry the Coleman brand butane/propane canisters. I purchased an MSR canister (I wanted to weigh a full canister) and I also have some other partially used canisters available for use with the F1. I screwed the burner assembly onto the MSR fuel canister and it tightened easily and securely. Looking at the mantle cage, it was easy to see the two locking grooves in the cage, which corresponded to the mating parts on the circular ledge on the lantern shaft. The small opening in the cage, for inserting a match to light the lantern, can be oriented in different directions depending on how the cage is positioned before mounting it to the lantern. This allows for some flexibility in making the lighting process user-friendly with one hand holding a match, and the other hand controlling the fuel flow valve.

2-pack of #51-104 mantles

First Light:
Following Coleman's instructions, I slid the provided mantle over the shaft of the lantern. The mantle is soft and cloth-like, and has a small hole at the top and bottom. Sliding the larger hole over the shaft and down to the groove just below the area where the gas exits the shaft was easy, although I slid it back up and double checked that it was in the proper location a few times to insure I had done it correctly. The top hole in the mantle is smaller, and it was a bit of a challenge to get it over the tip of the lantern. Once done, the mantle looked rather large sitting on the lantern, and in fact, stuck out far enough that it would have interfered with installing the cage. This was not a problem, however, as the instructions are to pre-burn the mantle prior to installing the cage.

Lighting the mantle with a match, while turning on the fuel supply, started with some bright flames and concluded with a great white light coming off of the mantle. This initial lighting burns the cloth fibers away, leaving a natural source chemical ash that, when heated, produces a bright incandescent light. During this process the mantle shrunk to less than half its original size, and looked to be appropriate for the rest of the lantern. After this burn-in activity, I turned off the fuel supply and let the lantern cool for a bit. I then installed the cage and ignited the mantle again. The shinny stainless top of the cage quickly became a shinny bronze color. There was noticeable heat coming off of the lantern, as well as a slight odor from the fuel. I hung the lantern from the hang cable and everything seemed to be working quite nicely. It was only later that I re-read the instructions and realized that the proper mantle burn-in activity should be done without the fuel supply being turned on. I have six more mantles to play with, so I will try and follow the instructions more closely the next time. That being said, I have fired up the F1 lantern several more times since this initial lighting and it produces excellent light and seems to be performing correctly.

Warnings:
Coleman goes to great lengths to discuss various warnings about this product via hang-tags on the lantern and alerts in the owner's manual. These alerts are categorized under headings such as "For Your Safety", "Danger", "Warning", and "Caution", with multiple warnings within each category. To highlight a few, there are instructions for what to do if you smell gas and how to store fuel. There are specific instructions NOT to use the lantern inside a house, camper, tent, vehicle or other unventilated or enclosed areas. Coleman reccomends that you keep flammable material at least 6 feet (1.8 m) from the top of the lantern, and 2 feet (0.6 m) from the sides and back. Additionally, there are profound statements such as this one, which I just love; "Only persons who can understand and follow the instructions should use or service this lantern." It is interesting to note that there are no such warnings on the packaging, nor on the product information page on the Coleman website.

Test Plan:
My current test plans are to use the Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern on all my backpacking excursions in various areas of the Midwest, which will be predominantly in Iowa. The normal temperature range and precipitation data is shown in the table below. The lantern appears to work well in the initial lighting, but I am curious as to how long the mantles last and what the durability of a used mantle (in the "chemical ash" state) will be while being transported in a backpack. I plan to evaluate the usability of the lantern as a camp light (setting up camp, cooking, etc.) and a reading light. I am also curious as to how much heat comes off the lantern, how easily the lantern dims, and how safe it is to operate. Fuel consumption will also be monitored, and cleaning per Coleman's instructions will be evaluated.

Month	Temp Range degrees F	Temp Range degrees C	Precipitation (inches)	Precipitation (cm)
October	42 to 64	6 to 18	2.4	6.1
November	29 to 47	-2 to 8	2.2	5.6
December	16 to 32	-9 to 0	1.6	4.1
January	10 to 28	-12 to -2	1.1	2.8
February	15 to 33	-9 to .5	1.0	2.5

Summary:
My past impression of Coleman camping products has been that they are quality gear of the heavyweight, car-camping variety. I grew up with a Coleman cooler, and friends had a Coleman camper, and my family (being kerosene lantern users) regularly trash-talked Coleman lanterns as they were bright and regularly illuminated our campsite from other campsites great distances away. The Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern is anything but a heavyweight, car-camping item, and the dimming ability may make it less offensive than the Coleman lanterns of old.

The F1 is small and light, and as depicted in this report, the fuel canister is larger and heavier than the lantern itself. Consequently, adding this lantern to a pack which already has a fuel canister, means adding very little volume and a mere 4.6 oz (130.5 g) of mass. In my next report I will provide information on using the lantern, and cover the all important aspects of its lighting capabilities. I am genuinely excited about taking this product through the next test phase.

Hanging Lantern image

Concluding Observations:

• The Coleman Exponent F1 Lite Lantern is small and light
• There is no glass globe to break, but instead is a metal mesh cage
• The cage has an opening for a match - so there are no moving parts to light the lantern
• The wire hanger is incredibly light, although stuff. Packablility will be monitored
• The carrying pouch is reinforced with a plastic tube, and appears to be well designed

Respectfully submitted,

-James T.

Read more reviews of Coleman gear
Read more gear reviews by James E. Triplett

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