Camping Lantern Review | Fenix CL20 Camping Lantern

A lantern perfect for the tent or RV | Fenix CL20

 

Hello, my name is Logan, and I am a member of the Fenix store team. I'm here today to talk a little bit about one of our awesome, amazing, Fenix camping lanterns, the CL20. I like to start going over some of the specs of this Fenix CL20 camping lantern and some of its cool features. I'll also share a little bit of my personal experiences that I've had with this awesome, incredible CL20 Fenix camping lantern. So, let's go ahead and take a look at this awesome lantern.

First, we'll start with the specs of this camping lantern. It does have a couple different modes. We'll start off on the highest mode, which is the Turbo mode, which has an output of 165 lumens. You may be thinking, that's not a lot of lumens. Unlike a flashlight, though, that has kind of a throw and a spot on it, this is kind of a radial light. It's gonna shine in a radius, rather than just in a point, so think a really, really big flood light. The runtime for the Turbo output of 165 lumens is an absolutely amazing thing. Its runtime is two hours and 23 minutes on Turbo, which, for me, I hardly ever use my Fenix CL20 on Turbo. It's just too bright.

Other than the Turbo mode, you do have the next mode, which is the High mode. That is at a lumen count of 100 lumens. This, for me, is more where I use my CL20, just to brighten up my garage if my light goes out, or if I'm camping, this is what I'd use if I had to set up my tent at night. This, for me, is what I use most of all. The runtime for the High mode is an outstanding five hours and 15 minutes for the Fenix CL20.

The next mode we have is the Mid mode, and that is a lumen count of 50 lumens, with a runtime of 11 hours and 28 minutes, which is just incredible. You think that you could have this lantern last almost half of an entire day. That in itself is pretty, pretty cool.

The next mode that you have is the Low mode, which is at eight lumens with a runtime of 71 hours and 40 minutes. Primarily, that, I mean, it's not gonna brighten up a large area. I mean, it will, any immediate area that it is in, you will be able to see it will brighten up that. But outside that, it's not really gonna brighten up too much to where you're gonna see anywhere with it.

It does also have another, two other modes. On the CL20 itself, the on/off switch on the side of the Fenix CL20 camping lantern, your on/off button, you'll simply just hold, and it will cause it to come on. Now, once it has turned on, you can actually double click, and whenever you double click, it will actually go into the Red mode.

There are two modes for the red light, the red LEDs in the Fenix CL20 camping lantern. The first mode we have is just a solid red glow, just a light hue, which is at eight lumens as well as the Low mode. You'll notice if you hit the on/off button once again, it'll actually start to flash, so you'll have your flashing mode. That's almost just for emergencies, if your car is broken down on the side of the road, it's late at night, it's already passed daylight and you're just trying to wave down someone. This will also be a good resource and just honestly a nice feature to have in the Fenix CL20 camping lantern. Simply by pressing that on/off button once again twice, pretty consistently just one-two will actually turn it right back to your normal white LED light.

Another incredible thing about the Fenix CL20 camping lantern is honestly just the size of it. For as much lumens as it produces, as much of an area that's lit by such a tiny, tiny lantern, I mean is truly incredible in itself. The length of it is about 2.83 inches, and it does have a diameter of 0.58 inches. So, it's very small, very compact, and the weight of it is less than two ounces. It only weighs in about 1.6 ounces, so, I mean, this is perfect if you're camping, you have cargo shorts, you can slip this in your pocket and barely notice a difference, just for the sheer how lightweight it is. It's pretty incredible.

Overall, the design of the CL20, you do have that dome-like feature over the top that was where it illuminates from. But, also on the bottom, if you notice, there's actually a small magnet on the bottom, and a very powerful magnet for the size of it, to be honest. I've found many uses for just the magnet itself with light. I know I've had to work on many cars in my time, and there's nothing more convenient than having the ability to put the Fenix CL20 camping lantern right underneath the hood and for it to just light up the entire engine block. That, to me, was worth the price of this light. It is so convenient not having to mess with the flashlight, trying to hold that while also working on the engine, doing an oil change or what have you. It is just perfect for that, for me, for what I use it for, and I absolutely love the Fenix CL20 camping lantern for that reason by itself.

Now, the CL20 camping lantern does have a couple different ways that you can run it. It can run off of two AA batteries, or it can also run off of one CR123 battery. Obviously, with the 123 you're gonna get a little bit more run time, depending on what AA batteries you choose to use, also, you'll see an increase or a decrease in the runtime itself. The overall lumen output will not change, depending on which you use, whether it be a 123 battery or a AA battery. However, you will only see that affect the runtime of it. Honestly, we just went over the specs, I mean, on High mode, almost six hours of runtime for 100 lumens, and even on High mode it is very bright. You don't want to look directly into it. You just want it to light up the surrounding area. It is absolutely incredible.

The Fenix CL20 does come in two different colors. You can get it in olive, or you can also get it in sky blue. So, if you're buying this for someone for a gift, for a birthday, maybe an anniversary, it is perfect for that because you can kind of pick between the two colors, and just a nice little touch to have that option.

Not to mention, the price for the Fenix CL20 camping lantern. I mean, for around $30, you can have the Fenix CL20 camping lantern. It's just, for that price, you cannot beat it. The lumen output, the versatility, the magnet feature on it, it is just a no-brainer in my book. I've bought these camping lanterns many a times for many different people, and I've heard nothing but good things and I also enjoy 100% hearing the stories of how they used them.

I know I do have a personal story of a friend of mine who I actually purchased one of these for in sky blue, that he actually hung it, it does have two kind of metallic hooks on the bottom, and was actually able to string it through some rope, and was able to hang it over their camping site. With the runtime on Medium being almost twelve hours, I mean, he said it lit all night, it was just a nice little glow that it was giving off the entire time they were camping that evening. If it does go out because the batteries are low, you just switch out the batteries and you're good to go, right off the bat.

Overall, for the price of the Fenix CL20 camping lantern, you can't really beat it. It's an awesome gift, it'd be an awesome present to give. But not only is it awesome, there is one thing that you gotta realize with Fenix flashlights. They do have a reputation of being durable, of being versatile. There are a lot of different ways, and I've heard many stories of how this Fenix CL20 has been used.

It does come with a five year warranty, so if anything does go wrong with it, it will be covered under warranty.

Also, here at the Fenix store, we do have our award-winning customer service team to answer any questions you may have or any advice that you need about the Fenix CL20 camping lantern, any other of our amazing Fenix flashlights. On top of all that, we also here at the Fenix store do have our in-house repair center, so you're not necessarily having to wait to send it off to a different country to have it repaired. We can do most repairs in-house.

All in all, the Fenix CL20 camping lantern by Fenix is an amazing product. It's not very expensive, you're getting your bang for your buck, and it is just an amazing, incredible Fenix flashlight.