User Review: Coleman F1 Lite Lantern

Coleman F1 Lite Lantern
Above: The current F1 Lite Lantern, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed March 14, 2008 by Tictar

Rating:
Price Paid: $30

Bought this as a replacement for my Excursion Lantern. The Excursion still is a great compact lantern but it uses the PowerMax fuel, which is not always readily available and special push on mantles that are not only hard to find but expensive ($4 for a two pack).

The F1 Lantern is, as advertised, very light and takes up a minimal amount of space in your pack, also comes with a nice little stuff sack. The mantles are very easy to replace and the most durable I have ever used (only on my second one after five trips). The light is much brighter than the Excursion and very controllable. Once it is at it's brightest, simply back off on the control a bit and you won't be burning more fuel than is necessary.

The last trip was this past January on the AT in North Georgia. Temperature dropped to below 15 degrees after dark. I just kept my small SnowPeak can in my coat for about and hour, attached it to the lantern and it fired right up!

I have used the lantern with fuel cans from Coleman, MSR, SnowPeak and Jet Boil and it works great with all of them. If you like to have a lantern when you camp, and I do, this is the one. Light, efficient, and uses commonly available fuel.