Well, O.K., I don't sneer at hurricanes. But after Hurricane Ike and a week without power, we decided to upgrade our emergency lighting to more than flashlights, candles and chemical light sticks.

I bought three of these family-sized Coleman lanterns and three MicroPacker lanterns (also reviewed). The first time I turned on this family-sized lantern I went "WOW!" This is a serious light! I measured the light output of this lantern (I'm a photojournalist) and discovered it puts out half the light of a 40 watt bulb, but much, much more light than a 25 watt bulb. There is plenty of light for reading and walking around like a human being instead of stumbling around with flashlights.

The "low" setting is almost as bright as the "high" setting (only one-half stop dimmer), but extends the battery life from 17 hours to a fantastic 28 hours! I figure one set (8) of fresh "D" cells should last though a week of dark nights.

The family-sized lantern is tough and well-made. It's not waterproof, but I wouldn't worry about taking it out into the rain. It doesn't have rubber seals, but the nice, tight fittings should keep it dry.

One minor point: the large clear housing is a Coleman tradition, but a simple clear cylinder would be more streamlined and compact. The lantern is about the size of a full-sized gas mantle unit. I wouldn't backpack with it, but it is a great unit for emergencies and base camps. Now if Coleman only made a battery-powered air conditioner . . .

I have tried several similar lamps. This is bright enough to read by comfortably. It's sturdy and uses easy to install D batteries which are available everywhere. Two light levels saves battery power.

This gives off a lot of light. When I put it on a table with a mirror behind it, it's even better. During a power outage, I can easily read with the amount of light this lantern produces.

This is pretty good! The light is not all that bright but it works well for those times when we need to see what's going on in the barn at night. And it's been great in our recent power outages. I do recommend it.

I bought the wrong one...I bought the one that was battery operated but I wanted the one that was recharable. So, I returned it, which, by the way, was so easy to do.