PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Rick Allnutt
52 Year old male
6' 0'' (183 cm) in height
163 lbs (74 kg) in weight
Email address: rick (at) BackpackGearTest (dot) org
Personal Hiking Page: http://www.imrisk.com
Trail name: Risk
I live in Dayton, Ohio

BACKPACKING BACKGROUND
Over the last several years, I have become an ultralight camper with a three-season base pack weight of about 17 lb (8 kg) and skin out weight of 25 lb (11 kg). I have completed many section hikes on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in all four seasons, with a total mileage of about 1100 miles (1770 km). I am a gearhead, a hammock camper, and I make much of my own equipment.

PRODUCT INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Coleman
Year Manufactured: 2004
Manufacturer's Link: http://www.coleman.com
MSRP: US$34.99
Listed Weight: 3.2 oz (90 g)
Measured Weight: 3.1 oz (88 g) without carry cable
Measured Weight in stuff sack with crush protector: 4.5 oz (128 g)
Measured length as carried: 2-3/4 in (7 cm)
Measured diameter as carried: 4 in (10 cm)
Listed burn time on 220 ml fuel cartridge: 9 hours
Listed light output: 38 watts
REVIEW
The F1 Lite Lantern is part of the "Exponent" group of lightweight camping gear produced by the Coleman company in the last year. This small and light lantern is as far removed from the heavy Coleman lanterns I used as a youth as is possible, while keeping the essence of a Coleman:  the incandescent mantle.  For a detailed description of the lantern, please consider reading my Initial Report.

This lightweight lantern provides a very bright light and a warm focus to any personal outdoor activity. I have found much pleasure using the light to read by, enjoying at the same time, the heat given off as a byproduct of fuel combustion.  Several evenings, I read late into the darkness of a chilly evening, sitting at a picnic table as the chill of a late fall evening crept across the landscape.  Without fail, the warmth on my face radiated from the lantern cheered my spirits as well as my body.  This kind of primitive pleasure is not to be found indoors (except possibly near a fireplace.)

In the pack, the F1 takes up very little room and weighs very little.  While testing the F1, I have converted to a cannister stove, as I already need to carry a small cannister.  I was able to purchase 6 Snowpeak GigaPower GP-110 cannisters from an Internet vendor and have had no difficulty with this fuel for the lantern.  This 3.88 oz (200 ml) fuel cannister is a considerable weight and bulk savings over the larger Coleman cannisters I could buy in local stores.  

The lantern mantles have proved to be reasonably strong when backpacking.  The mantle has not broken while packed in any of the backpacking I have done.  I did break one mantle when removing the mesh screen for a comparison of the brightness of the lantern with and without the screen.  I also broke one mantle when I had my pack tied to the back of a motorcycle and drove 110 miles to Zaleski State Forest.  When I arrived at the park and opened the lantern for use that evening, I found that the mantle had turned to a light coating of dust inside the carry sack.  I assume this was due to all the motorcycle vibration and some nasty bumpy roads I took on my way to the park.  However, when returning to Dayton on the motorcycle, the newly burned-in mantle was not harmed by the same bumps and vibration.

During one test, as just mentioned, I decided to see if there was any advantage to using the lantern without its metal screen "globe". Though there was more light available, there seemed to be very little practical advantage of the increased light.  There was plenty of light for reading in each of the two configurations, and I am sure that the only difference is the amount of constriction my pupils automatically applied to deal with the brighter light when the screen globe was not attached.

I have not yet used the chain hanger which comes with the lantern, though I do anticipate it could be very handy when reading in a hammock, or sitting down to read with my back to a tree.  Getting the light up in the air to a little above book level is something I want to test in the Long Term Reporting period.

Fuel consumption is about on par with the 9-hour claims of the manufacturer, or even a bit better.  Burning the lantern at about 95%  brightness, in a test at 65 F (18 C) and a fresh fuel cannister, I used 0.78 oz (22 g) of fuel in 71 minutes of reading.  This is a rate of about .01 oz (.31 g) per minute.  Since there are about 7.76 oz (220 g) of fuel in a large cannister, this would give about 660 minutes or 11 hours of lantern time with the larger cannister.  With the small 3.88 oz (110 g) cannister I now carry this would be 330 minutes (5-1/2 hours) of light.  

Light produced with such heat and brightness is a luxury which is not always worth its weight.  For short hikes and long winter nights, the relative advantage of the light is much greater than for summer hikes when having a lantern is not as attractive to me.  

I did some measuring of the radiated temperature of the lantern with a Fluke infrared thermometer.  The temperature of the globe read 783 F (417 C).  The temperature of the top of the metal "globe" was 291 F (144 C.)  I found myself wishing that the top was flat so that I could put a metal coffee cup on the top of the lantern, just like railroad conductors used to do with the flat tops of their kerosene lanterns.  However, the top of the lantern is domed and therefore not useful for heating coffee as presently designed. 

All in all, this is a very lightweight answer to part of my desire to hear and be near a hissing gas lantern on a camping trip, even when ultralight backpacking is in the cards.  The lantern is well built, and uses fuel at a slow and predictable rate.  It is especially useful in the cold long nights of winter.  

In my initial report I noted several questions that I would be interested in answering.  This is how they are going so far:
- How long does a cartridge last? A small 110 gram cannister lasts more than 5 hours of burn time.
- How easy is it to read with the lamp? Reading at a picnic table, where a book and the lantern are at the same level is comfortable.
- With normal backpacking use, how long does a mantle last? No broken mantles with hiking, one broken mantle during transportation on a motorcycle.
- Is the warmth coming off the lamp useful for keeping warm? Yes.
- Are the stuff sack and the crush protector sufficient for keeping the lantern safe in my pack? Yes, and this is a very good place to keep extra mantles.
- How much real use will the lantern occasion? Nice for winter nights, when the distance walked is lower than summer hiking.

What I like so far:
- Very lightweight for a gas lantern
- Easy to carry size with protection from crush damage

FIELD CONDITIONS FOR THE TEST PERIOD
For the Field reporting period, I have used the lantern for an overnight hike along the Mad River and for an overnight trip to Zaleski State Forest, both in Ohio.  In addition, I have used the lantern for several evenings of outdoor reading while sleeping under the stars on my farm.  As the winter progresses, I will use the lantern outdoors in several extremes of cold and wet including the coldest temperatures that Ohio will offer this winter.  Altitudes will range from river valleys to mountain tops.