AltusLumen PAD-L Review

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Need a durable LED Light that has multiple uses?  Need a light that is good for the environment?  Then the AltusLumen‘s PAD-L may be the light for you.

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This light has 4 white LED, and it is very bright.  There are four different levels of brightness.  At the highest level, it’s as bright as day.  This light can easily illuminate a work area at the campsite or your tent when you bed down for the night.  At the highest level it’s so bright that you probably won’t want to look at it, or you’ll be seeing streaks for a while.

LEDs are 40 percent more efficient and 10 times more durable than fluorescent lights.  That means battery life should be very good on this light; AltusLumen says it should be able to run for a continuous 36 hours, which should very easily last through a weekend camping trip, and would probably be fine for short periods of light every night during a week long trip.

The case has many different mounting options.  You can turn the cover completely around to use as a stand.  It also has a built in wire stand or hanger that you can use to hang the light in your tent or from a tree.  It even comes with a headphone cable manager, which is actually used for holding a piece of twine or wire that you provide for hanging the light.  You can, of course, use this for managing headphone cables, too.  The cable manager is made from rubber and metal, and is heavy enough to act as a weight for throwing the twine higher up in the tree or over a branch.

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Diagram from the AltusLumen website.

The light can also flash in any of the 4 levels by just holding the power button in for 3 seconds.

Lastly, the PAD-L is over 75 percent recyclable.and contains no mercury or heavy metals.  While you shouldn’t have to dispose of this for quite some time, when you do you can feel somewhat safe about putting it in the trash. You could also  talk to your local trash company to see what could be done to recycle the product.  Also, their “Take and Share” program will donate 20 percent of their sales to the Lighting the Place Foundation which is dedicated to providing solar powered lighting to places that lack electricity.  AltusLumen is a socially conscious company, not just another company from China that churns out environmentally unfriendly products.

After the week we’ve had, I really appreciate the functionality of the PAD-L.  Wednesday night we had some rare February severe storms roll through, and we lost power early Thursday morning.  I had to use the PAD-L to take a shower Thursday morning and to find my clothes since it was still dark in the house.  This is a handy light to keep in your gear bag on a trip, whether you’re in a posh hotel room or a tent in the middle of the wilderness.

The PAD-L is available from AltusLumen’s store for $39.90 plus shipping.

What I liked: Compact.  Runs off of readily available batteries.  Environmentally friendly.  Multiple uses.

What needs improvement: Would have been nice for it to be rechargeable, but you can add rechargeable AAA batteries.

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About the Author

Joel McLaughlin
Joel is a consultant in the IT field and is located in Columbus, OH. While he loves Linux and tends to use it more than anything else, he will stoop to running closed source if it is the best tool for the job. His techno passions are Linux, Android, netbooks, GPS, podcasting and Amateur Radio.