The BaseLantern is made by innovative camping brand BioLite who first stormed the camping market with their Pinterest and Instagram hit, the Campstove. Using only small twigs you were able to not only cook your food, but also generate electricity to charge phones and other electronic devices while you were at it.
They've used similar 'blue sky' thinking in the making of the BaseLantern. You'd be forgiven for thinking that it's an overpriced man gadget, we certainly did at first, but once we experienced using one, both during family camping trips and on bushcraft and wild camping adventures our opinion quickly changed.
The moment you get the BaseLantern in your hand you know this is going to be a sleek product, it has a heavy weight stainless steel, rubber and perspex body so looks and feels nothing like a traditional camping lantern.
The BaseLantern stands on two fold out adjustable stainless steel legs so that you can adjust the throw of the light. The legs can also be used to hang the light off a branch or a trekking pole, but for family camping purposes the BaseLantern is sorely missing a basic hanging hook.
Down one side of the body you'll find 2x USB ports for charging phones and tablets from the 7800 mAh battery, as well as a micro usb slot for charging the lantern itself. The top surface of the lantern houses the rubber on/of button, which is easy to feel for in the dark.
On the other side of the light you'll find two further ports and a switch, all for additional lighting.
The various lighting modes can be controlled from the on/off button, but why wear yourself out getting up and down to adjust the light when you can use the low energy bluetooth app to control everything?
Again, you could be forgiven for taking this as a gimmick, but most will find it to be a genuinely useful and fun feature to have.
The range of adjustments you can make from the app would put a Russian Oligarch's cinema room to shame, from basic intensity adjustment of white light to a baffling selection of colour options.
Light intensity can be controlled in increments using a touchscreen rotary knob on the main screen, which surrounds the large on/off button. Colours can be adjusted using a slider bar, you can also make the white light more yellow, and therefore less harsh using the same method.
A recent app update adds a sound to light function to the already impressive array of party based effects like 'strobe', 'pulse' and 'chill' so you can party around the campfire like it's 1999.
BioLite have also included a proximity sensor which uses bluetooth to switch the light on and off as you arrive and leave, just don't wander off with your phone in your pocket or else you'll plummet everyone into darkness.
Battery life is impressive, especially if you make use of the range of lighting options available. As an example when using a low level blue light the battery level indicator on the app suggested that we'd be able to eek over 100 hours out of the BaseLantern. The full 500 lumens of white light throws a massive amount of light around camp, practically negating the need for a head torch for fiddly tasks. Although this is a seriously bright light you'll still see around 4 hours of life when using it.
In summary the BaseLantern is a truly awesome light in its own right, to up your camp lighting game even more pair it with the SiteLight spotlights or SiteLight XL central light for a truly luxurious camp lighting solution.
£110 is a lot of money but this isn't just a light, it's a gadget in the truest sense of the word and we love it.
