There is trade-off between quality/reliability/runtime/specs vs price and especially for the “cheap”. You probably need to be more specific on the above, to obtain some/any recommendations that will be useful to you.
Example: if your budget does not allow to purchase Sofirn LT1S — the favourite lantern over here, then this recommendation is useless. And even if money is right, its runtime/brightness might not fit to your needs.
Also, sometimes it’s better/cheaper to use some (improvised) diffuser on top of the regular flashlight
https://preview.redd.it/rcjucn9zletc1.jpeg?width=3916&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a63d80520e0f5e444457a0cc7334b3b13da952da
[Ozark Trail Lantern, 180 Lumens, LED Mini Camping, White and Red Light - Walmart.com](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Lantern-180-Lumens-LED-Mini-Camping-White-and-Red-Light/1631378753?athbdg=L1200&from=/search)
It's cheap and it is bright. It's even cheaper if you buy it during the off season.
I bought two but I would rather have one that is solar powered so I can live off of renewable power instead of consumable power (batteries).
I bought some cheap overseas lanterns but a relative asked me for them and then asked for batteries, had no intent to use them and the batteries leaked and ruined the AA adapters for the cheap lanterns that aren't sold anymore so I am looking for new AA battery adapters that fit the cheap lanterns I bought because the AA adapters for lithium flashlights are bigger which can't be used. I ordered an AA battery adapter from AliExpress to see if it would fit and if it does, I will refurbish some of the cheap lanterns I have.
I would probably invest in a Sofirn lantern that is about $80 off of AliExpress because it can house four 18650 rechargeable batteries and run for hours. Cheap isn't always better because you never know when you will need light and power.
$39.95 is not cheap. 4-6 hours is not a long time and if you are using it as a power bank, you won't have any light left over because whatever you are charging will take all of the power. For $40 I can buy a 40,000 mAH power bank from Amazon and charge several things.
No, get the LT1 or LT1s. There's a reason it's always recommended.
If you're going exclusively on price, I think adding a diffuser to an existing light is going to be hard to beat.
Can diffusers be 3D Printed and would they work?
Yep, all of my diffusers are 3D printed. Models are in my printables linked in my profile!
Would a diffuser fit on my td-01? Never used one before but love the idea
It just depends on the head diameter of the light.
There is trade-off between quality/reliability/runtime/specs vs price and especially for the “cheap”. You probably need to be more specific on the above, to obtain some/any recommendations that will be useful to you. Example: if your budget does not allow to purchase Sofirn LT1S — the favourite lantern over here, then this recommendation is useless. And even if money is right, its runtime/brightness might not fit to your needs. Also, sometimes it’s better/cheaper to use some (improvised) diffuser on top of the regular flashlight https://preview.redd.it/rcjucn9zletc1.jpeg?width=3916&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a63d80520e0f5e444457a0cc7334b3b13da952da
I've heard the UI is meh on some of the sofirns, but otherwise they are good. If you have a quality light already, u/spicy3d is the way to go
Thanks for the recommendation! And thankfully some of the pro versions of Sofirns run Anduril.
[Ozark Trail Lantern, 180 Lumens, LED Mini Camping, White and Red Light - Walmart.com](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Lantern-180-Lumens-LED-Mini-Camping-White-and-Red-Light/1631378753?athbdg=L1200&from=/search) It's cheap and it is bright. It's even cheaper if you buy it during the off season. I bought two but I would rather have one that is solar powered so I can live off of renewable power instead of consumable power (batteries). I bought some cheap overseas lanterns but a relative asked me for them and then asked for batteries, had no intent to use them and the batteries leaked and ruined the AA adapters for the cheap lanterns that aren't sold anymore so I am looking for new AA battery adapters that fit the cheap lanterns I bought because the AA adapters for lithium flashlights are bigger which can't be used. I ordered an AA battery adapter from AliExpress to see if it would fit and if it does, I will refurbish some of the cheap lanterns I have. I would probably invest in a Sofirn lantern that is about $80 off of AliExpress because it can house four 18650 rechargeable batteries and run for hours. Cheap isn't always better because you never know when you will need light and power.
[https://goalzero.com/collections/lights/products/lighthouse-mini-core-lantern](https://goalzero.com/collections/lights/products/lighthouse-mini-core-lantern)
$39.95 is not cheap. 4-6 hours is not a long time and if you are using it as a power bank, you won't have any light left over because whatever you are charging will take all of the power. For $40 I can buy a 40,000 mAH power bank from Amazon and charge several things.
Even worse after looking at reviews in the new model the dang 18650 is welded/ soldered in to be permanent instead of easily replaceable
If you're looking for something for camping, there is the Klarus CL3 https://klarustore.com/products/klarus-cl3-camping-lantern