I have been on a quest to shrink several things in my life. Yes my waist line has increased. But this post is about shrinking environmental waste. Having a five year old son the concept of using rechargeable batteries is an easy sell. The next best step is moving away from all batteries.
Solar is the logical answer to shrinking both the waist line and environmental waste. With less weight in my kayak or in the backpack I can travel faster due to a lighter load. And now I am leaving only footprints; I’m not adding to the landfill and this is all achieved by Luci.
Luci is a portable solar LED lantern made by MPOWERD founded in 2012. MPOWERD Inc., a Benefit Corporation, “develops and manufactures transformative clean energy products to replace and eliminate the dangerous, costly and harmful ways people living and playing off-the-grid are forced to find energy”.
This 4 ounce solar powered waterproof camp light is an awesome task master. It has a low power, a full power 80 lumen lantern, and a flash setting.  Luci has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery integrated with two solar panels to supply power to ten LED lights that are attached at the top of a collapsible transparent plastic cylinder.
I will admit I would have over looked this diamond. My son and I were at Bill Jackson’s doing a little window shopping when he saw the light. It was at his eye level. And at first I thought it was a toy because of where the shop had placed it on their shelves. The employee told me a little about it and Tyler and I thought that we should give it a try. And I will admit this little Inflatable Solar Lantern will now accompany me on all of my off-grid backpacking, camping, and kayaking adventures, it is now also apart of my emergency preparedness hurricane bug-out bag.
So far we have found the Luci lantern easily lights up my Mountain Hardwear Skylight tent. I normally use a Black Diamond Orbit Lantern. The Orbit at it’s maxim setting emits 45 lumens. It is also is 3 ounces with 4 AAA batteries. Luci is an ounce heaver; she does not require batteries and nearly doubles the amount of light. My son and I found it very easy to share the light reading stories and playing his favorite card game Nuts. Hands down Luci beats the Orbit.
– Jeff
Liquid Rhythm Journal 