MPOWERD Luci Color: Solar Inflatable Lantern
(This is a picture of it compressed/deflated. It inflates into a cylinder and has a nice frosted lining that the light sort of sparkles through.)
My best friend gave me my first rainbow one, and I've mostly used it for fun + ambience, but I do know people who are more utilitarian about them — and they come in different versions accordingly: i.e. bright white + long battery life + charging banks in addition to the fun rainbow ones.
I keep one in the Advice: Car bin for longer trips, and I like hanging it in my tent on the golden setting as I’m getting ready for bed or as a very chill flashlight.
(Update: the Luci “candle” is smaller and the perfect golden tone for this.)
I’ve also started bringing it with me to hotels and airbnbs and even my parents’ house as an alternative to Advice: drape a shirt over your lamp in the evening. And as a bonus, you can easily carry it with you if you need to go get a snack in their dark house, without looking like a burglar. “Lantern” is a really good name for what it is. Backpackers clip them to their pack to charge during the day and then use them at night. When car camping, I just set it on the dash, but a charge lasts a long time with the way I use it.
It's also kind of a cool beacon: One time I was pulling into a canyon after dark, intending to meet my friend and her husband at whatever first-come, first-served campsite they'd been able to snag; without cell-reception, we weren't optimistic about finding them, but as we pulled in on the gravel road, I almost immediately spotted her purple Luci and knew we were home. 🏕
It worked for us again when we went to burning man 2021: that year was an unofficial gathering with no infrastructure and thus no city streets. Our trusty Luci light hanging from the rear-view mirror helped us back to our car half a dozen times as we searched for it in the dark.
And I’ve also found it as a convenient alternative to a candlelit bath. It’s the perfect amount and tone of light for a relaxing soak. 🛀 I just set it on a nearby surface, but in theory I guess it would float?
(🎁 note for gifting: they almost always have great Black Friday sales at sites like Amazon or REI and directly from their own site, and they make great secret santa or stocking stuffer gifts.)
I did a quick comparison test during my last camping trip: the Luci Candle is the little one in the middle with the least amount of light, the Luci Color is on the left (set to the warmest golden which my camera is showing as a redder/pink than my eye could see), and the Luci Base is on the right, putting out significantly more light than the other two in a harsher tone; it has dimmer settings as well, but they’re all that cooler white.
