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.)  On crisp mornings, the lantern supplies a much appreciated infrared heat source on my face.  On a cold day, it is always surprising how much it helps in an over-all warmth strategy to keep my face warm.  When I read by the warm light of the Coleman lantern, it seems to keep my toes warm.  This is probably because more warmth is available for my toes without the loss of heat that would otherwise occur from my face.

In my 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.

In the last two months of the test, the mantle has remained intact despite several trips and a lot of transporting.  The mantle on the F1 is not as large as a typical Coleman lantern mantle and it is supported at both ends instead of only at one end.  Perhaps this support at each end helps the mantle in staying intact with moderate jolts.

During power outages, the lantern provides ready light and warmth.  It does not produce any soot or smells of partly combusted gas.  

It seems like it would be handy to use the chain hanger which comes with the lantern.  However, it turns out to be a little less than practical to find a convenient branch from which the lantern can be hung for easy reading in a hammock.  By far the most useful method for reading by the light of the lantern seems to be setting the lantern on the same surface as the book I am reading.  This works when the surface is a picnic table or the ground on which I am sitting.  

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. The lantern may not be the first choice for ultralight backpackers.  It certainly weighs more than a single LED light and most LED head lamps.  However, for the hiker who hikes to camp and enjoys a bit more luxury, this is a very usable and carry-able lantern.  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:
- Very lightweight for a gas lantern
- Easy to carry size with protection from crush damage

FIELD CONDITIONS FOR THE TEST PERIOD
For the 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 used the lantern for many evenings of outdoor reading while sleeping under the stars on my farm.   Altitudes ranged from river valleys to mountain tops.