Vont Lighting Review
Light and warmth are two of the big comforts of home that are missing in the wilds. In order to safely perform any tasks at night, whether cooking, hiking, or simply using the toilet, a light source is necessary.
I tried out a lighting set from Vont called the Ultimate Survival Kit which includes a lantern, flashlight, and headlamp. Actually, the bundle includes TWO of each item for a total of 6 lights.
What's Needed in Camping Lights?
If you have no light, then most activity is restricted to daylight. Any tasks after dark become much more difficult and dangerous. So, good reliable portable lights are an outdoor safety item that everyone should have on their person.
Good lighting should include:
- Adjustable Brightness - sometimes I need just a little light, other times I want an area lit up.
- Light weight - since I have to carry it, less weight is better.
- Long Life - efficient use of electricity so I don't need to carry replacement batteries.
- Easy to Use - simple controls that I can find and use in the dark.
What I Think of the Vont Ultimate Survival Kit of Lights
Short Story:All three items - headlamp, flashlight, and lantern - do their job just great. They use LED lamps that draw little power and throw out lots of light. They are inexpensive and easy to use - a good choice for someone getting started in camping.
Full Story:Things I like about the lights:
- They are bright! I'm used to much smaller lights with quite a bit less output so these really seem to light up the darkness.
- The use of LEDs reduces power consumption. This means smaller, lighter batteries can be used and more hours of light are generated.
- The controls are very simple, with only one button on both the headlamp and flashlight, while the lantern is turned on and off just by opening and closing it.
- The price. Inexpensive, especially when you buy the Ultimate Survival Kit.
- Included batteries for lantern and headlamp.
Things I don't like:
- They weigh more than what I'm used to, especially the solid metal flashlight.
- The lantern has no real dimmable feature.
The days of old gas lanterns are long gone. These new LED lanterns keep the same "lanterny" feel but with much safer and less expensive battery power. This Vont Lantern is super easy to use - just pull the top up and it turns on.
The light output is adjusted by how far the 30 LEDs are lifted. It's easy, but it means the battery drain is constantly lighting all 30 LEDs which is wasting energy. It would be nice if the LEDs lighted as they emerged from the housing to save battery.
The attached hangers make it easy to suspend from a tent pole or tree limb for overhead lighting to keep the direct light out of your eyes.
Each LED is about 4.5 lumens for a total of 140 lumen output. Company literature claims up to 90 hours of battery life.
The housing is all plastic, making it lighter but more prone to breakage than metal. It weighs 10.8 ounces, including 3 AA batteries.
Lanterns in general are intended for camping rather than hiking. This relatively lightweight lantern does a great job lighting up a campsite, or a creepy path to a spooky outhouse. It's also a good emergency light at home if the power is lost.
This is the flashlight you want if you're afraid of bears. If the way too bright light doesn't blind it, you can pound on it with the heavy-duty aluminum casing.
At about 400 lumens, driven by 3 AAA batteries, this flashlight illuminates plenty of dark forest.
The zoom feature allows you to focus or spread the light on a far-away spot or a broad swath of ground.
The one-button control is efficient. After pushing it to turn the light on, pressing it halfway in cycles through high, medium, low, strobe, and S.O.S. flashing modes. Strobe and S.O.S. aren't especially useful, but it's nice to have a low power mode to conserve battery power.
The aluminum housing is solid, and the attached wriststrap prevents losing the flashlight if dropped.
Camping would be a perfect setting for this flashlight. I would not take it on a backpacking trip because it weighs over 7 ounces in its handy holster and delivers around 9 hours of light on a set of batteries. It's also a great light backup to keep in your vehicle or at home for power outages.
The headlamp is by far the most versatile light source in the wild. Having light on your head directs it right where you are looking, keeps your hands free, and takes up very little pack space.
This Spark headlamp points 200 lumens of light wherever you need it, using 3 AAA batteries. The company says a set of batteries can last 90 hours. At 4 or 5 hours a night, that's three weeks of light on the trail before replacing batteries.
The main white LED can be set to Low, Medium, High, or Strobe settings by pressing a single button to cycle through the settings.
By holding down the single button, power switches to the dual red LEDs which can be set to Solid, Strobe, or S.O.S. settings.
The light, batteries, and wide adjustable headband weigh 3.0 oz. total, so it's a comfortable fit around a hat or directly on the head.
You can purchase the bundle or individual Vont items on Amazon at these links:
Vont sent me an Ultimate Survival Kit to try out and review. I received no other payment for this review.
Each LED bank weighs 2.5 grams and each battery weighs 23 grams.
I found that one LED bank needs at least two AA batteries to light up since they put out ~1.5V and an LED needs ~3V. So, the minimum light I could make from this was 45 lumens weighing 49 grams (1.75 ounces).
The tiny ultralight light I typically take on my long hikes is just 1 LED putting out 4.5 lumens and weighing about 10 grams with a coin battery. So, this MacGyvered light would be 10x as bright.
I also found that the zoom lens unscrews from the end of the Vont Flashlight. This very powerful magnifier could certainly be used as a fire starter in an emergency if the sun is out.
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