Reviewing the Dollarama lantern in comparison to the Costco camping lantern three pack
I bought a lantern at Dollarama. It was a simple camping lantern, meant for using while out in the woods. Battery powered, of course.
I also bought a pack of lanterns at Costco. The lantern at Dollarama was two dollars; the three pack was twenty. There is a definite cost difference here. The question is, what is the quality difference?
Controls
The Dollarama lantern has a switch. You turn it. It goes from off to on, or you can go from on to off. That’s it. Two modes, on and off. The Costco lanterns have a button. You press it once they come on, you press it again they get a little less bright. A third time they turn red. A fourth time and they start flashing red. A fifth time and they turn off. Many modes. It’s a great thing.
Light Level
The Costco lanterns light up the night. As I was walking back to my campsite in the rain (check out my Canada Day post), I could see the bright white light (and that was the dimmer setting) from far down the road. They are very, very bright. Even the red light is visible from a long distance, although not as disruptive to sleep. The Dollarama lantern produces dim, yellowish light. It’s not exactly going to allow you to land plains or something. I guess it’s okay if you don’t want to do anything too fancy.
Battery Life
The Costco lanterns take three AA batteries. The Dollarama lantern takes two. The Costco lanterns come with batteries. The Dollarama one doesn’t. We used the Costco lanterns a lot more than the Dollarama one. They were great. Having three was also good, but any of the three gave us much more light than the Dollarama one. The Dollarama one ran out of battery life before we left. The Costco lanterns are still going strong right now. I’m not certain how long I used the Dollarama lantern for. It wasn’t long. Four hours maybe, throughout the weekend. It killed both of those batteries.
Bulbs
The Costco lanterns use LED’s. They should last something like thirteen years if used for ten hours a day. The Dollarama lantern uses an incandescent bulb. The lifespan of an incandescent bulb like that is hard to determine. I’m not sure I could afford the batteries to kill it, but it will still be in the range weeks at ten hours a day. Months at most. A year is entirely out of the question. I’m sure you could replace it, but I have no idea where you would get a bulb to fit. I certainly haven’t seen them anywhere, ever… even back in the days when incandescent bulbs were what people bought.
Appearance
The Dollarama lantern is cute. I really like the way it looks. It’s quaint and old fashioned. Something about it really appeals to me. The Costco lanterns look like they might be set decoration from Star Trek (actually the colour scheme is more Star Wars, but the styling is slicker, which makes me think Trek).
I prefer the Dollarama lantern looks wise. Well, I guess it had to win one category.
Conclusion
The Dollarama lantern was a waste of money. I don’t regret buying it, but only because I was writing this review. The Costco lanterns were a great deal — they were on sale, they usually are twenty-four dollars though, and would still be a good deal at that price. If you need a battery-powered camping lantern go for the Costco ones or really anything except the Dollarama option.