Dark Energy Sentinel Telescoping Light Review

As a child, I can still see it like it was yesterday. My mom lighting an old red oil lamp in hunting camp as we prepared to eat dinner. We eventually graduated to a somewhat giant battery-powered lamp that took batteries heavier than the lamp itself.

Man, how the times have changed. I feel like the flashlight on my Garmin watch gives off the same, if not more, light than both of those did. And now, I sit here with this new gadget called the Sentinel. No, it is not a Transformer with plans to take over the world. It is a new light for base camps made by Dark Energy, and I think you’re really going to like it.

In short: Hunters looking for a compact, highly effective, and versatile lantern for truck-based camps will love the Sentinel ($130). Just be prepared to have the capability to charge it, especially on longer-duration hunting trips.

Dark Energy Sentinel Review

Overview

The Sentinel is a rechargeable(USB-C) telescopic lighting solution for vehicle-based camps. It weighs in at just 1.3lb with dimensions of 18.6″ x 1.5″. Think of a lightweight baton. There is one button on the Sentinel that allows the user to cycle through lighting modes and brightness settings, and is a general on/off. Along with that, there is a detachable remote to operate your lantern from afar. This attaches via a magnet.

The top of the unit has a ring for hanging the light as you would a traditional lantern. Nothing to hang it from? No problem. The Sentinel has another button on the bottom that, when pressed, allows legs to flare out and act as a tripod, or in this case, a light stand.

This is also where you can take advantage of the 6ft of extension out of the Sentinel. And as far as brightness goes, the lantern is 800 lumens, and the flashlight is 600 lumens. More on that later.

At the end of the day, this is a complete camp lighting system.

Features

Remote

A unique feature of the Sentinel is the detachable magnetic remote. So, whether you’re lounging in camp with your buddies or in your tent before bed, there is no reason to have to get up to turn the light off. Just have the remote with you and take care of everything at a distance.

Heads up. This is a small remote, so be sure to not lose it, or else you lose the perks of the remote!

Detachable Flashlight

Another cool feature of the Sentinel is the detachable flashlight. Basically, the top section can unscrew from the telescopic portion and be used as an actual flashlight. The light mode can be switched from lantern mode to flashlight mode. This just really shines more on the versatility of this awesome lighting solution.

Choose Your Height

We did say that the Sentinel is a telescopic lighting solution. You can extend this up to 6ft and everywhere in between. Meaning that you can really tailor the height of this telescopic light to your given situation. Be that digging through a cooler or simply trying to provide a nice, even light to your camp. This also means you could just have the legs out and have the light short enough to fit in your tent or even under the shell of a truck bed.

My Experience

From the moment I received the Sentinel and played with it a bit in my house, I knew it was going to be extremely useful. I found it fairly intuitive and figured everything out relatively easily. I will say, the button on the bottom that extends the legs hid from me for a second, but we figured it out!

This fall, I had a few truck-based hunting camps planned that would be the perfect testing grounds for the Sentinel. All in all, I spent about 19 days in the field with the Sentinel lighting my camps along the way.

It became the preferred lighting source between my hunting partners and I with our headlamps getting less run time in camp because of it. This was a huge plus, if you ask me. It saved battery life on the headlamps while providing some exceptional, even lighting in our camp. I also never felt like it was overly bright if I accidentally looked right at the light. It wasn’t blinding by any stretch, due to the diffused shell on the lantern.

I found myself having to charge the Sentinel about every 3-4 days, depending on how much use it got at night and in the morning before light. For how powerful and compact it is, this was a pleasant surprise. What I want to point out here is that the light starts blinking when the battery is getting low. It doesn’t turn off completely, and I honestly didn’t even notice it dimming a whole lot either.

At this point, I’d just hook it up to the Dark Energy Recon 300 to charge, and we’d be good to go for another few days.

What’s Wrong

While I found the battery life on the Sentinel good for what it is, that’s not to say that I don’t think it could be better. Which is where my downside comes from. If this unit would last more like 7-8 days rather than just 3-4, that would be a huge plus. But because it doesn’t, you can plan on having to charge the Sentinel at least once during a week-long hunt. Now, if you’re just doing a few days in the hills, this might not apply to you.

For longer-duration hunts, though, you can expect needing to charge it. For folks hunting all day long, this could prove problematic, because you’ll need to charge the unit when you get back to camp or throughout the night. Food for thought.

Closing Thoughts on Dark Energy Sentinel Telescoping Light

While the Sentinel may not be able to last a full week without charging, it is far from being sidelined from my regular hunting kit. In fact, at this point, it’s in the starting lineup regardless of that. It packs away wonderfully, is easy to use, versatile, and serves as the perfect base camp light back at the vehicle.

Warm and cozy as the memories may be from my childhood, this light puts the old oil lamp to shame on all levels.

Check one out. I’m beyond happy that I did.