GearLight Flashlights, Lanterns and Headlamps

What GearLight makes for hunters and campers

GearLight's About page lists the range plainly: tactical flashlights, headlamps, camping lanterns, and bike and safety lights, all LED. Its support library adds UV black lights and a ring light, which this site doesn't list.

For a deer camp, three of those types matter. A flashlight goes where your hand points it. A lantern lights the table, the tent or the cabin porch. A headlamp lights whatever you're looking at, which at 5 a.m. is usually a boot that won't go on.

On this site, GearLight covers all three:

• Flashlights: zoom-head S-series lights, small AA and AAA lights, a penlight and an AA spotlight
• Camping Lantern 2-Pack: collapsible, battery powered, with a hanging hook
• Headlamp 2-packs: one USB rechargeable, one on AAA cells

The grid changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about what separates the types, not about how many are up this week.

The GearLight collapsible lantern

What "collapsible" means here

A collapsible lantern folds down into a short, flat-ish cylinder for the pack and pulls up into a tall one for use. The Amazon listing for the GearLight 2-pack marks it collapsible, with a hanging hook, and its title adds a magnetic base and a foldable hook.

GearLight's own support pages hint at how its lanterns work. The troubleshooting step for one of them is to open and close the lantern firmly a few times. In other words, the fold is part of the switch, not just part of the packing. (Walt calls any lantern that folds "the accordion". He has never once played an accordion. He has also never once closed a lantern before packing it.)

Batteries, not a charging port

GearLight describes its camping lanterns as running on replaceable batteries, and the 2-pack's listing says batteries come in the box. That puts it on the battery-operated lantern page rather than with the built-in rechargeables.

One detail from the maker's support page is worth knowing before you load it: some rechargeable batteries have a positive end too short to reach the contacts. If a rechargeable cell won't light it, try a standard one before you decide the lantern is the problem.

Hook, magnet or table

The listing gives three ways to place it: on its base, hanging from the hook, or stuck to something steel by the magnet. At camp that means the tent's ceiling loop, a branch over the table, or the tailgate of the truck.

Here's the trade-off as fact: a lantern hanging overhead lights the floor of the tent evenly; one sitting on a table lights faces and throws shadows on everything below table height. That's where the dropped tag pen goes. Every time.

The GearLight headlamps

Both headlamps come as 2-packs. One is USB rechargeable, per its listing. Our data for it stops there. Lumens, runtime, beam type and red light aren't in it, so those cells in the grid show a dash. That's not a knock; it's a reason to read the listing before you buy.

The other runs on AAA cells. Its listing title says batteries aren't included and names a red light and seven modes. GearLight's support library covers AAA headlamps such as the S500. Battery headlamps from other brands are on the headlamps page.

GearLight flashlights

Flashlights are the biggest group here. Every listing that names a cell names AA or AAA, so those lights don't need a charging cable. That matters at a camp with no outlet.

S-series zoom lights: S1000, S1050 and S1200

All three list a zoom head. Slide the head and the beam goes from a wide circle to a tight spot. The S1000 and S1050 list aluminum bodies. The S1000 is the longest of the GearLight flashlights that list a length, runs on AAA cells and carries a tactical label. The S1050 and S1200 listings don't name the cell. GearLight's support pages for the S1000, S1050 and S1200 describe a battery holder that goes in positive end first, and the S1200 page says the light powers on only when the tail cap is fully tightened.

That last part saves a lot of head-scratching. A light that "died" in the truck is often a tail cap that backed off a quarter turn.

Small lights: M3 Mini, TAC and S100 Pen Light

The M3 Mini runs on AA cells and the TAC on AAA, per their listings, both with aluminum bodies and a tactical label. The S100 Pen Light is the slim one, also aluminum and on AAA. These are coat-pocket and glove-box lights. Small aluminum lights are also the ones that leave a cabin in someone else's jacket, so buy one more than you think.

The AA spotlight

The LED Spotlight is a handheld spotlight on AA cells, not rechargeable, and the brightest and longest-reaching GearLight light in the grid by its listing. GearLight's support library lists an AA spotlight, the Watchman, with a trigger and a trigger lock. If the listing names the Watchman, lock the trigger before it rides in the truck.

The handheld spotlight page covers that type across brands. The best camping flashlight list and the best tactical flashlight list sort flashlights by their own rules, and what is a tactical flashlight explains the label.

Who the GearLight 2-packs suit, and who should skip them

The lantern pack suits a camp that wants two area lights on cells it already stocks: one for the tent, one for the table or the outhouse path. If you'd rather never buy batteries again and you have power at camp to charge from, skip it and look at the built-in rechargeables instead.

The rechargeable headlamp pack suits anyone who needs two lamps that charge over USB, say a parent and a kid. The AAA pack suits a camp that already stocks AAA cells. If your plan hinges on a specific number, such as a listed runtime for a long sit, the GearLight headlamp data here doesn't give it. Pick a lamp where the grid shows that field filled in.

And if you hunt from a cabin with a porch light and never sleep in a tent, a lantern may be the last thing on your list. A good headlamp covers most of a cabin weekend.

How to choose a camping lantern

Pick the power source first

Lanterns split into two camps (sorry). Battery lanterns take AA, AAA or D cells you can buy at any gas station. Rechargeable lanterns have a built-in battery and a charging port. GearLight's 2-pack is the first kind.

Replaceable cells are simple to swap in the dark and easy to stock. A built-in battery saves buying cells, but it needs a charger and power at camp. The rechargeable lantern page covers that side.

Then the output and the spread

Lantern output is listed in lumens, which ANSI/PLATO FL 1 (the flashlight industry's test standard, explained on Streamlight's site) defines as the total light a lamp puts out. That standard is voluntary, and each maker runs its own tests. So a lumen number is a guide, not a promise, and it's most useful when comparing lamps that list it the same way.

A lantern doesn't need to throw light far. It needs to spread it around. That's why lanterns rarely list beam distance and headlamps almost always do.

Then the shape and how it hangs

Collapsible lanterns pack small. Puck-style tent lights hang flat from a ceiling loop. Taller fixed lanterns stand steady on a table. Hook, magnet and base all show up in the grid as fields. More shapes are on the camping lantern page.

How to choose a headlamp

Output and beam

Headlamp output also runs in lumens. Beam distance, under FL 1, is how far out the light falls to 0.25 lux, a very dim level. A spot beam reaches far; a flood beam spreads wide for camp chores. Lamps listing "spot + flood" do both.

You don't need the brightest lamp to tie a boot. You need one you can turn down, so you're not blinding the guy across the fire. (Sorry, Walt. It was on high.)

Red light for the walk in

The National Park Service explains that your eyes need roughly 20 to 40 minutes in the dark to adapt, and that a few seconds of bright white light undo it. Dim red light doesn't. That's why red mode matters on a dark walk to the stand. The red light headlamp page lists lamps that have it.

Tilt, fit and charging

A tilting head lets you aim down at the trail without bending your neck like a heron. Rechargeable lamps skip the battery drawer; AAA lamps take spares from the glove box. Both sides are on the rechargeable headlamp page, and a ranked list is on best headlamp.

Battery care, from GearLight's own pages

GearLight's support pages give the same short routine for its lanterns and headlamps:

• Inspect monthly: look for damaged batteries and corrosion
• Remove the batteries if you use the light less than once a month
• Replace the batteries first when the light dims or flickers
• Check the contacts: clean, springs not bent, cap twisted on tight
• Grease the O-rings: the flashlight pages say petroleum jelly on the threads and rubber O-rings twice a year

The maker's corrosion guide is plain. Take out the damaged batteries, wipe off what you can with a cloth, then scrub the contacts with a cotton swab dipped in white vinegar until the white residue is gone. Wipe it clean and let the compartment dry before new batteries go in.

That second bullet is the one that matters for a deer camp light. It sits in a bin from December to October. Pull the batteries in December. Your October self will find a working lantern instead of a science project.

For the rechargeable headlamp, the EPA says not to put rechargeable batteries in the trash or curbside recycling. If the battery doesn't come out, the whole lamp goes to an electronics recycler or a household hazardous waste program. If it's lithium-ion, charge it indoors: the U.S. Fire Administration says to charge between 32°F and 105°F and to stop using a battery that swells, smells or overheats. Alkaline cells from the lantern go to a battery recycler or follow your local rules.

A battery lantern is the one for the tent

My one opinion on this page: inside a tent, use a battery or rechargeable lantern, never a fuel-burning one. The CPSC's guidance is to never use fuel-burning portable heaters or lanterns while sleeping in enclosed areas such as tents, campers and vehicles, and it notes the carbon monoxide risk is higher at high altitudes.

An LED lantern has no flame and makes no fumes. That's the whole reason it hangs in our tent. Fuel lanterns stay outside.

GearLight facts

GearLight's warranty page covers its products for one year from the date of purchase against defects in material or workmanship. It excludes normal wear and tear and damage from misuse or neglect. Claims start on the support form; the maker may ask for a photo of the defect or for the item to be sent back at your cost, and it may repair, replace or refund.

Its FAQ says GearLight sells on Amazon.com and GearLight.com, has no authorized resellers, and ships its own orders from Irvine, California. A product registration page sits next to the warranty page on its site.

Write the battery size on a strip of tape on the lantern's base. In October, in the dark, that strip is worth more than the manual.