[leadin]A 5-foot strand of USB-powered lights are touted as a “next-generation camp lantern.”[/leadin]
Made by Utah-based Power Practical — and cheekily called the Luminoodle — these silicone-encased LEDs glow bright enough to light up a tent or a picnic table for camp cooking after dark.
The product is seeking funding on Kickstarter this month. It costs $19 for the light strand, or $39 with a battery pack included (which also has a light on its side).
Strand Light
It looks simple — and it is. The Luminoodle is a flexible and waterproof string of 26 LED lights, each with a quoted 7 lumens of brightness. You can hang, hook, or wrap them around objects.
Drop the lights in a bag (see photo below) and you have a glowing pouch that serves as an orb-lantern.
We tested it out this week. The lights gave off a surprisingly bright glow, and they were more than adequate to illuminate a portion of a campsite. It can indeed stand in as an alternative to a lantern.
But because it is flexible and light weight, the Luminoodle is easier to hang inside a tent or get into hard-to-reach places in vehicles, trailers, or darkened car trunks.
It requires a USB battery pack or USB port on a device to turn on; there is no battery inside the light strand. From the company’s battery pack, which costs $20, you can run the lights for about six hours between recharges.
Power Practical is a solid brand. We have tested other products from the company, including the PowerPot, which is a stove that uses heat from a fire to make electricity.
Take a look at the Luminoodle if you’re in need of a new kind of lighting solution for the campsite and beyond. They cost $19 on Kickstarter now.
