A siege of Sieges

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Hmmm. Was bopping around Amazon looking for holiday gifts and encountered that age-old problem that occurs when shopping for other people: the gift you’re looking at is so cool you decide you want it for yourself.

It happens, right?

So, the people I was going to send a buncha Siege lanterns to will have to get something else. In the meantime, I have several of them showing up Monday.

Actually, if youre stuck with what to get that survivalist-type person on your wish list, I strongly recommend these things. They’re handy, pretty affordable, and they do exactly what you need them to do. Three levels of brightness, a blinky strobe function, and a red’save your night vision’ mode. I really can’t say enough good things about them. Of course, when you come up with a cool product, there are imitators. Everready and Rayovac make some similar produccts but for a lousy $27 I see no reason to go with an imitator. I mean, if Rayovac made a weaponlight that was a knockoff of the Streamlight you’d have some doubts about that, right? Same thing.

I’d been meaning to pick up a few extra of these for a while now, but I just never got around to it. Now that winter is here, and we had, what, an earthquake two years ago and a couple power outages in the last year, it seemed a good time to move some money out of one budget category and into another.

I’ll head up to CostCo this weekend and stock up on D-batts to load these things up when they get here Monday.

Pick up three or four for the LMI on your gift-giving holiday list.

7 thoughts on “A siege of Sieges”

  2. I’ve been using the Rayovac version for years. Didn’t know Streamlight made them originally. I typically buy the Rayovac versions when they get to $18 or so. Three for the house, one in each car, and one in the garage.

    These are my go-to outside lighting. We can have people over, light the patio, and if I forget to shut them off before bed, so what? The next morning they are running along fine. Batteries typically last all summer long at that rate, with me switching them out each fall as Winter begins to roll in.

    How bright? I’ve had neighbors stopping by when we have outages. They ask how I have power when everyone else is blacked out. No hard feelings, just curious. Quite a lesson right there.

  3. Costco here had some knockoffs really cheap a few months ago. They are good little lanterns in terms of light, but very cheaply made. They are the “let the kids play fort/ send them with the Girl Scout sleepover camp” type of quality. The plastic is just a little bit more brittle and hard, and the wiring is weak. I’ve re-soldered 2 of the three…

    That said, 3 pack for $15 including batteries, and you can afford to put them everywhere.

    I’ve got the streamlight too, it’s next to my bed, and several ‘big’ battery powered lanterns that averaged about $18 each. One has a remote control which makes it very convenient for bedroom light when the power is out.

    Summarizing, streamlight as budget allows, and where it counts, but the costco 3 pack will let you put a light in every room very cheaply.

    nick

  4. I have the big and little seige but have been using Fenix cl20 lights when the power goes out…they run on 2 AA or 1 cr123 battery…I asked ol’ Saint Nick for a Fenix cl23 camp light…impact resistant and waterproof…runs on 3 AAs optimally but it will run on 2 or even 1 battery in a pinch…sometime ago I lost a flashlight to battery acid leak…so I switched all batteries to lithium…but the large seige was a challenge logistically until I got some D sized battery converters…my larger seige is currently running on 9 lithium AA batteries…not cheap but bright…

  5. I have one and like it. So I ordered 2 more.

    Also the red Energizer ones are legit. They have been standard in my family for awhile and are solid. Still with the Streamlight at basically the same price….

  6. I would not store Duracell or Kirkland batteries in any flashlite. Put them in a baggie next to the light. I’m pretty sure Kirkland is made by Druacell, as they both have an identical failure mode.
    BTW, I have been able to get these batteries out of flashlights by soaking them in a bowl or bucket of water for a day or so. Seems to break down the crystal guts they puke enough to get tehm to slide out by tapping it on a block of wood or similar. Otherwise, toss it, as nothing else seems to work. These batteries are junk. Don’t use them in anything you value.

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