Snow Peak Mini Hozuki

Snow Peak is a great brand, with products whose sleekness and aesthetic is on the level with a company like Apple Computers. This could have been a game-changer for lanterns:, there'd be no need to buy any other lantern than this one. However, poorly-manufactured components have a difficult time staying assembled, and this wound-up being an REI store return for me.

While I really appreciate a yellow, warm LED light (which I will admittedly miss), I ultimately couldn't rely on this lantern to stay in one piece.

SNOW PEAK MINI HOZUKI LANTERN

This year, I've promised myself that if I'm not 100% satisfied with a product, it's returned to the store and replaced with something that works better.

Snow Peak's Mini Hozuki lantern - sadly - is one of those items.

CONDITIONS

This lantern was used over the past year on all of my car camping trips and all but the most recent of my backpacking trips: hung inside a tent, hung off tree branches, stuck to metal poles, and stored both inside and on the gear loops of my pack.

SIZE

This product had me honestly excited. Backpacker Magazine RAVED about it, and even made it an Editor's Choice item. It instantly made it onto my 2012 Christmas list, and eventually beneath the Christmas tree. I still remember how shocked I was opening the box, and seeing how small it was (3.1 oz and 2.2" X 2")!

BRIGHTNESS

A lantern that small couldn't possibly put out a usable amount of light, could it?

Well, it can.

60 lumens on high, powered by three "AAA" batteries.

MODES

There are three brightness settings (high/medium/low), a strobe mode, and a "candle-light" mode that flickers like the flame of a candle would.

Cool, right?

Turns out I only got use out of the lantern when set to "high," and didn't have much use for the other lighting modes. Each mode is activated by how many times and for how long you push directly on the plastic-domed bulb.

BATTERY LIFE

That said, it will eat-up batteries more quickly when kept on high.

SP quotes the battery life at 40 hours on high, and 70 hours on low. I've found it can get you by on a weekend or 3-day trip on one set of batteries, and that's when you keep it turned on from sunset until bedtime each night.

LOW BATTERY INDICATOR

Once the battery gets low enough, the snowflake-shaped logo debossed into the white top half will engage a red warning light to suggest changing batteries.

LAMPSHADE AND DIFFUSION

The lampshade is made from silicone rubber (making it shatterproof and something you can pack thoughtlessly), and diffuses the light nicely, leaving the bottom diameter open for more direct light. It lights up a 2-3 person tent well, but careful not to stare directly up at the light - the white LED is harsh on the eyes. Better to place it toward the corner and let it diffuse more evenly.

LED

LOVE the warm-hued, yellow LED light. 

I really wish more lantern manufacturers would make theirs with the same kind of LED.

It makes a tent so much more livable, comfortable, and cozy.

HANGING LOOP

The biggest concept this lantern introduces is the magnetic hanging loop.

The ball-shaped magnetic end of the rubber loop detaches from the top of the lantern, and is secured back in place via a magnet built into the top lid.

You can:

A.) Thread it through a gear loop

B.) Keep the loop closed and hang it from a hook

C.) Hang it from a line or tree branch, because why not?

D.) Stick the magnetic end directly onto a metal surface and the magnet will hold it into place.

Again, all cool, but I wound-up threading it through my tent and pack's gear loops most the time.

And this is where I began having problems.

PROBLEMS

Because the silicone rubber lampshade is readily flexible (you can remove it and turn it inside-out for cleaning, too) this also means it loosens over time, and doesn't stay on the lantern as strongly as it did fresh out of the box. My lampshade kept falling off the lantern assembly, and I could no longer trust it would stay in one piece if hung on the outside of my pack.

Much the same, the two halves of the lantern twist together, and - in conjunction with a loosened lampshade - become increasingly difficult to keep tightly sealed. I wouldn't dare test the water-resistance of this lantern, that said.

MY $0.02

If SP's construction and quality could match their concepts, I'd buy this again in a heart beat. Sadly I couldn't rely on this lantern and was forced to take it back.

Poor design, outrageous price.

This is how I really feel.

Snow Peak normally makes some awesome, although normally over the top, gadgets

This functions as a light, as long as the batteries are charged and you can figure out how to turn it on.

The light is diffused nicely due to the frosted lens over the LED (also the on button) and the frosted silicone shade. It is especially nice when sitting flat on a table or rock, or ground. When you try to hang it, it does not hang straight. The little magnet hanging device leaves very few options for hanging unless you add in a piece of string to the equation. 

The light as a very wide range of brightness including a "candle mode" which flickers and moves. I find this completely pointless and annoying. It also has a steady flash mode, not useful for anything really, it's even too slow for dance parties.

That puts us now at 1 on, 2 off, 3 dim, 4 bright, 5 candle, 6 flash. 6 functions that all must be controlled from one hard to use button that doubles as the milky, plastic, protective "pop-o-matic" Trouble type button. 

Needless to say it annoys me to the point of wanting to throw it every time I use it.

I can't comment on the battery life as it seems every time we get to camp the batteries are dead.

In order to remove the now dead batteries you have to give the body of the light a slight maybe 1/8 turn careful not to break the crappy plastic body. Don't let the silicone shade thats attached to it bounce away off a cliff either, that pops off in the process. 

When you finally remove the batteries from their chambers, it's extremely difficult to see which way they are supposed to go in due to the clear embossed diagram on a clear background. I have the eyes of an eagle and it's hard for me to see it. 

The durability is crap. I think they were made at the same factory as the plastic bubbles from 25 cent machines. 

In closing, this thing is SUPER expensive, not ACTUALLY made in Japan like a majority of Snow Peak products, difficult to operate, and will most likely fall apart.

I have used this in "overlanding" (glorified car camping, where the car has 4wd and knobby tires).

BUT, if you're looking for a cute little light that has the coveted SNOW PEAK asterisk? on it, get it. 

I will never buy one of these again, nor would I ever recommend one.

It has two modes, standard and candle. The candle mode allows the LED to flicker like a candle, which adds nice ambiance if you are looking for it. You can choose between three brightness settings: low, medium, and high while in either the standard or candle mode.

This lantern would be great on backpacking trips or while traveling. I would recommend this lantern for the lightweight backpacker and traveler.

This is an awesome little lantern. It's lightweight (3.1 ounces) making it easy to take it with you anywhere you go and it has a magnetic clip making it easy to hang.

While it's not good to help you see far, it does a great job illuminating your tent or vehicle.

The lantern has three brightness settings: low, medium, and high. The high setting is 60 lumens. The run time is about 40 hours on high and 70 on low and it runs on 3 AAA batteries. The light is not as harsh as some other LED lanterns; it's softer but is still bright!

I take this little lantern with me everywhere and would recommend it to anyone looking for a lightweight lantern!

Bright, Light, and TIGHT!

Range: Lit up my tent like a battlefield. Not being a focused beam, it doesn't throw light far. But you can probably see it from a long ways away due to its brightness.

Beam & Brightness: Unlike most tent lanterns, this throws all of its light straight down. No annoying dark spots in the tent, which is a big bonus. I had to turn it down a bit because it was turning my retinas into beef jerky.

Burn Time: Long enough for a weekend trip plus use around the house so far. Rated for 70 hours, and I believe it.

Power Source: 2 Minutes to swap AAA's batteries.

Ease of Use: Hang, Push the globe, "Let there be light". Magnetic hang loop makes it easy to hang almost anywhere.  The red low batter indicator tells you when to change batteries.

Weather: It was cold out and still worked.  Doesn't claim to be watertight, and it isn't.

Features: Candle mode is good for making your buddies jealous of your high tech Japanese lantern.  Magnetic hang loop is the best I have used so far.

Modes: Infinite brightness on both normal and candle mode.

Construction & Durability: Seems to be good, like I said above, the globe comes off easily, but also reattaches easily.

Best For: Backpackers, people that live in darkness, and those that can not see during the night without a light source.

Small, lightweight tent lantern.

Picked up a few years ago after a "Gear of the Year" nod from an outdoor publication. Pretty happy with its size and light. The magnetic clip is great for attaching in a tent, giving a decent glow without being overly bright.  Perfect for folks who like to read, journal, or play games in the later hours.  

Think I paid $40 for it new, which is kinda pricey, all things considered. Continue to use. Only replaced batteries once after 15 or so nights of use.