TrailBlaze Solar Lantern
A collapsible solar lantern that charges all day, glows for 20 hours, and squishes flat enough to disappear in a pack. Also charges your phone in a pinch.
- 20+ hours of light on one solar charge
- Collapses to 3cm thick
- IP67 waterproof — floats, even
- USB out doubles as emergency power bank
- Solar charging needs a genuinely sunny day
- Power bank output is slow (don't expect miracles)
The TrailBlaze is the lantern that lives clipped to the outside of a backpack, drinking sunlight all day so it’s ready at camp. Fully expanded it’s a frosted cylinder throwing soft 360° light; collapsed it’s a hockey puck that weighs less than your phone.
It’s properly waterproof — we dropped it in a lake and watched it bob around, still glowing. The USB-out port is legitimately useful for topping up a dying phone, though it trickles rather than charges.
At $39 it’s cheap insurance for camping, festivals, power cuts, and the glove box. The only ask: give it real sun. A grey November afternoon won’t fill it.