Tent Light
CMG Equipment Bonfire
Backpacker Magazine – April 2001
The ultimate tent-bound reading light, the Bonfire is cleaner, lighter, and longer lasting than a
candle lantern, and less of a hassle.
The last time I used a candle lantern, I nearly incinerated the tent. Luckily, the only lasting
damage was a small puddle of melted wax on my wife’s sleeping bag. Chances are you aren’t
as big a klutz as I am and know your way around a candle lantern. But maybe a lighter, cleaner,
longer lasting, more durable, flameless lantern appeals to you. It certainly did to me, so I got
ahold of CMG’s new Bonfire to use on a series of trips in winter and spring 2000.
My assessment after the first trip was a big thumbs-up. I plunked two AA batteries into the
Bonfire, set out for a long weekend of snow camping in New York’s Catskills, and let it burn for
about 10 hours without seeing any drop-off in brightness. Designed to hang from the ceiling of a tent, the Bonfire uses a cluster of LED diodes (rather than incandescent bulbs or flame) to produce a soft, wide glow that illuminates the interior of a three-person tent. My wife and I lay back-to-back and had plenty of light for reading-a more efficient use of battery juice than running two headlamps. At 4½ inches tall and less than 5 ounces (including the AAs), the Bonfire is too small and light to leave home.
My reaction after six trips was an even bigger thumbs-up. While the cold-weather burn time at high power is somewhat less than the advertised 18 hours with alkaline batteries, it’s longer with lithium AAs. Better yet, the diodes are said to last more than 100,000 hours (I’m still in the hundreds, so I can’t verify that) and take a pounding without breaking. Why or how you’d pound the Bonfire’s diodes I don’t know, since they’re protected by a hard plastic lens you’re unlikely to remove, but I pounded them anyway, to no avail. And the Bonfire’s durability extends beyond the diodes—the hard plastic body and rubber cap bounc
The Bonfire is a small area light (as opposed to a flashlight) that uses a cluster of bright amber LEDs to light up your camping experience.
Designed to illuminate a tent interior, this light does more than just light up your tent. It can be used as a walking light, and if you need a little extra "oomph" you can take the diffuser off and project its light even farther if need be. More on this farther down the page.
SIZE REFERENCE 
The Bonfire is almost ready to use right out of the package - if it did not come with batteries, install them (see below). Now it’s ready.
A three-position rocker switch on the bottom selects between high, low, and off. Press either edge of the switch firmly to turn it on (one side is high, the other side is low), and press it towards the center until it clicks to turn it off.
The switch is set up in such a way that it would be nearly impossible for it to "go off" inside your camping equipment.
A nice feature the Bonfire has is that you can adjust the position of the LEDs themselves to widen or narrow the light’s illumination field.
Instructions for doing that are printed in the instructions, but pretty much entails popping the diffuser off and gently pivoting the LEDs themselves to the desired position.
The Bonfire comes with a short lanyard that has loops on both ends. Press the loops into the lanyard hooks provided on the Bonfire’s body, and it’s ready to hang.
Hang it from any convenient place: the apex of your tent ceiling, a tree branch or stub, a nail, or a hook. The loop is large enough to hang the Bonfire from a doorknob, wall sconce, or any other larger or unusual projection. You can even hang it off the rear view mirror or your car’s dry cleaner bag hangers if you’re camping in your car or RV.
The Bonfire also sits nicely on its rear end, allowing you to use it on a table or other furniture as you would a candle, but without the fire, soot, and dripping wax that candles give you.
The Bonfire operates from two "AA" cells, which despite having a long life, will occasionally need changing.
Pull off the Bonfire’s grey rubber base. This will expose the switch and the metal battery contact. The battery contact has two "ears" that fit into slots on the sides, and a larger "ear" on the narrow part of the light. Press down slightly on this larger ear while sliding the metal piece away from the switch. When it comes free, dump out the dead batteries, and insert two new ones. The polarity is marked just inside the battery chamber right near the switch. If you have the light so the metal contact is closer to you than the switch is, put the left battery in button-side up, and put the right battery in button-side down. Press & slide the metal contact back into place, and push the grey rubber end piece back on.
The only thing that might be difficult to do in total darkness is fiddling with the metal battery contact. Keeping a second flashlight (always a good idea anyway) or even a cigarette lighter handy will be plenty enough to help you through this part of the battery change. Everything else can be done totally by feel.
The Bonfire is said to run for about 18 hours continuously on the "high" setting - much longer (30 hours or more) continuously on "low" or in intermittent usage on "high". Because its light comes from long-life LEDs, you never have to worry about fragile glass bulbs becoming broken or burning out.
The Bonfire is useful for much more than just lighting up your tent.
It makes a great power outage light, and is bright enough to walk around even the most cramped & cluttered space without stubbing your toes. You can also use it to read in bed at night (either home or camping), yet not wake up somebody else sleeping in the same area. Since it doesn’t use fire, it can be used around paper & fabrics, unlike candles or Coleman lanterns.
If you need additional light or light with more directivity, the transluscent end cap pops off and exposes three brilliant yellow LEDs. The light will lose weather resistance without its end cap though, so you shouldn’t use it like this in a rainstorm unless you’re making that emergency run to the camp latrine or outhouse. :)
Additionally, the Bonfire can be set on a picnic table or other relatively flat surface to provide soft light for your campground dining experience..
Hanging a Bonfire in your tent entrance will make it easy for family members to locate the tent after dark.
The kids will also love the Bonfire for camping, games, and as a post-bedtime light. The lack of flames and the relative complexity of getting the batteries out should make this an ideal companion for children 4 and above, as long as they aren’t butterfingers and are always dropping things.
A small part, difficult as it might be to break off, might make the Bonfire unsuitable for children 3 and under.
Initial testing showed that the Bonfire is excellent for use as a power outage light. I had no trouble at all seeing in a darkened room with it, even without being adapted to darkness beforehand. So when you aren’t camping, don’t just put the Bonfire away and forget about it. Keep it somewhere out in the open and use it for any indoor or outdoor situation requring a small area light.
Blown fuse in the basement? No problem at all with a Bonfire in your hand.
Vacuum hose fall off your engine at night? Let the Bonfire come to the rescue.
Kids camping on the lawn? Be sure they have a Bonfire hanging in their tent.
The Bonfire is not waterproof, but it is weather resistant. The diffuser cap has a gasket it fits on, and the rubber bottom should keep out all but the hardest rainfall and protect it from the leakiest tent.
You need not be afraid to use it in foul weather, and it will in fact confinue to work even if it does go over the side of a boat and become flooded (which it will after that type of accident) or if extremely heavy rainfall finds its way inside through either seal. The Bonfire initially floats, so you have time to fish it out of the water before it eventually fills up & sinks.
If your Bonfire does get flooded, just take out the batteries & pop off the diffuser cap, empty the water out, and let it air dry before reassembling it. Done with that.
NOTE: If salt water (seawater) gets inside your Bonfire, you should open it up as explained in the last sentence and douche it out with fresh water before setting it aside to dry.
The Bonfire might not get used like an ordinary flashlight for many purposes, but it does things that most ordinary flashlights just don’t do. The oval shape fits the hand and fits in your suitcase or backpack, taking up no more space than an electric shaver or a deodorant stick.
The poop on Bonfire...
- Battery life is as stated. Light burned brightly for around 20 hours and dimmed slowly over the next day or so. It continued to glow bright enough to read large print or illuminate a night table for more than a week after that.
