CAOS LED lanterns tested

There seem to be so many different lights and headlamps on the market these days it’s hard to figure out what will best suit your needs.

Apart from a headlamp or two, I’ve found the following LED lights to be a handy and flexible addition to my travelling gear.

CAOS LED lanterns come either singularly, in a twin pack, or a four-pack parcel. We bought the four-pack unit which comes packaged in a well-made zip-closed padded case that includes the four lights, four rechargeable lithium batteries, and four battery cases that take three AAA batteries (12 batteries supplied) as a back-up power source. There’s also a couple of USB charging cables.

4

Each light has a magnetic mount for easy attachment to bonnets and the like, while also having a bungee cord for attaching to non-magnetic items such as tree branches, plastic handles or tent poles up to about 25mm in diameter.

Each light weighs 85g and has an IP66 waterproof rating, which means they can withstand a bit of a blast from a high pressure water jet – don’t take them underwater though.

Each of the lamps has five lighting modes which includes white high, medium and low power, amber high and amber strobe flashing. Battery life from the 1200mAh lithium batteries reportedly varies from five hours on white high to 95 hours on white low. We’ve used the lights for quite some time before they needed recharging.

4

These lights throw a good beam of even light in the white modes and when used in the amber mode are great around the food preparation area or on the dinner table, as insects aren’t attracted by the amber light.

On the CAOS website we’ve noticed they only have the two-pack for sale at present although we bought the four-pack within the last 12 months for around a 100 bucks.

Looking on the web you’ll probably find similar lights for a similar price, but we’ll stick with the CAOS brand for its carrying case and warranty… and we know they work and have done for 12 months or so without a hassle. They are covered by a two-year warranty which is extended to three years for CAOS Crew members