Coleman Kids LED Flashlight/Nightlight uses the latest flashlight technology. LED lights put out more light and use less power than traditional incandescent bulbs. This not only gives you better battery life but also extends the LED bulb life way beyond that of a traditional bulb.
More than a flashlight, this device also projects dazzling light patterns onto a tent or bedroom wall. |
But more than just a handy flashlight, it also includes five colored LED lights on the shaft, which can project eight dazzling light patterns onto your tent wall or bedroom wall. Or you can choose to turn on just an amber-colored LED for a portable nightlight. The strong ABS plastic housing protects against rugged play, and it includes finger grips along the side that are sized to fit kids' hands. It also includes an adjustable lanyard for hanging in your tent or around your neck.
The flashlight operates over 3 hours on 2 AA batteries (included), while the nightlight can provide comforting illumination for several nights. Don't lose your Starlight with the included adjustable lanyard. Recommended for ages 6 and up.
About Coleman
The Coleman Company has been creating and innovating products for recreational outdoor use since W.C. Coleman started selling gasoline-powered lanterns in 1900. Inventor of the hugely popular fold-up camp stove, Coleman developed a plastic liner for his galvanized steel coolers in 1957--the birth of the modern cooler--and the company has been improving their utility and design ever since. The array of products that bear the Coleman name now includes just about everything you might need to work or play outdoors, from tents and sleeping bags to boats, backpacks, and furniture.
Customer Review: an inexpensive, sturdy flashlight
We've had this flashlight for two summers now and taken it on multiple camping trips. It's held up GREAT with two very young kids. We've had other brands that break easily, but this one hasn't.
Customer Review: Great, but on the 3rd one!
It seems like a good flashlight, but it keeps breaking. The company did replace the broken ones, but I'm tired of asking and waiting for the new ones to arrive. We'll be getting a different one.
As it turned out, the rumor about washing dishes all week as punishment for being late was not true, and soon we found ourselves in Ugwam Mess Hall, which was certainly an appropriate name. The camaraderie of a dining room full of enthusiastic Scouts, the coziness of the Lodge with its huge rock fireplace crackling cheerily, and the comfort that came from eating our first (and best) meal of the week quickly erased our memories of the bus trip and our apprehension about the rest of the week.
Boy, were we ever wrong.
The insistent bleating of a bugle burst rudely into our little 4-Scout tent at 6:30 sharp, abruptly ending our first cozy nights slumber. Little did we know that this was to be the only uneventful night of the week. Rock, our ex-con tent leader, snorted and mumbled that he was going to sleep in. We let him be and headed for breakfast. We knew, from stern announcements the evening before, that during breakfast each tent would be checked for neatness, cleanliness, and of course, beds made up in the prescribed Scout manner. We giggled about how Rock was about to get it.
We underestimated Rock.
After breakfast we all lined up for personal inspection of our uniforms, hair, teeth, and other Scout parts. Much to our surprise, Rock was there, looking spiffy in his brand-new Scout outfit. The Scoutmaster team in charge of inspecting tents announced that all tents were approved, except Teepee #34, and would Scout Shinn please come forward.
Scout Shinn, why wasnt your bed made? the stern-looking Scoutmaster inquired.
It was hones it was! I made it before breakfast honest! I pleaded in wide-eyed innocence.
Then why does it look like you just got out of it? No effort at all was made to straighten it out.
But I did! Maybe it was. I suddenly remembered Rock sleeping in, and started to explain. But Rock was in the line of Scouts right behind me, and then too, I remembered him switching beds with me the night before. My stomach sank.
Scout Shinn, are you a Boy Scout? questioned the gruff Scoutmaster. Sounded like a stupid question to be asking a Scout, but I thought I had better answer it.
Yes, sir.
Well, Scout Shinn, have you ever heard that Scouts are neat, orderly, and follow directions?
Yes sir, sir!
And did you follow our directions to make up your bed and keep your tent orderly?
Well, I..
One demerit. Report to Scoutmaster Seaverson in the kitchen immediately. And see that it doesnt happen again. Who else is in Teepee #34?
Rock raised his hand righteously.
Scout Riggotoni, would you be responsible for Test #34, and make sure that Scout Shinn does his duty?
Yes sir! beamed Rock.
My stomach dropped a notch further. Now he was not only the ad hoc boss, he was the authorized boss.
The thing I remember most about washing dishes that first morning was the hot water. It was HOT, and I was miserable. I was missing the first morning of activities, and I knew that tomorrow morning I would be a day behind everyone else.
At lunchtime Scout Riggotoni put his arm around me and said Its OK, Shinn. Its your first year at camp. We all have to learn. That was sweet of him, I thought, and the head Scoutmaster apparently thought so too, as later I saw him pat Rock on the back in an apparent gesture of praise for helping a young, wayward Scout such as I.
The bathroom at Camp Ugwam at least the only one we were allowed to use was a long outhouse with perhaps 20 holes in a long bench, with no dividers between each station. I took one long stare in the doorway, saw some older boys gathered in a group at the other end looking at something and laughing loudly, and I decided I could wait until I got home.
It was a long week.
After lunch we had marching drills, and we marched left and we marched right and we marched through the trees and most everywhere. This was probably the easiest part of camp for me, since I had joined the schools beginner band the year before as a trombone player, and already knew my left foot from my right, and what about face meant. Some of the other Scouts apparently didnt however, as there were several head-on collisions before the drill was over.
After drill we were excused for the afternoon to pursue whatever recreation we desired. I desired to go home, and wondered how far it was over the hill and back down to Soda Springs. I figured I could use the phone there, and had visions of my Dad & Mom and big brother picking me up and calling me Duane instead of Scout Shinn. But the first evenings warnings about the bears in the mountains outside the camp sufficiently dissuaded me from my vision.
Willie wanted to go swimming, and I thought that sounded good too. We pulled on our trunks, headed for the lake that was situated directly behind the lodge, and took a headlong leap of faith into the chilling waters of Lake Ugwam. As I hit the water I recalled that I sometimes got leg cramps at night in bed, and sure enough, in the rarified atmosphere of 6000 feet and the ice water of Lake Ugwam, my hamstrings in both legs cramped up like the Scout-approved knot I always wished I could tie. If youve ever had the glorious experience of having both hamstrings cramp at once, you will appreciate the fact that I was very fortunate indeed to make it to shore at all, even thought it was just a few feet away. That ended my swimming for the week, and the next five afternoons were spent trying to get some sleep, since the cramps, having been started by the 33 degree water, persisted each night thereafter, probably because of the elevation working on the freshly cramped muscles.
In any case, I knew I was not cut out to be a Scout, and daydreamed a great deal about low-elevation baseball fields, beds with firm mattresses, and bathrooms with doors on them. Willie, meanwhile, kept busy exchanging baseball data with every fan he could unearth, which included the head cook, a widow whose husband had once played 3rd base for the Portland Beavers of the old Pacific Coast League. That got Willie not only some fascinating baseball stores of the old days, but also a tasty preview of the desserts being prepared for the evening meals, since the widow lady was thrilled that someone was interested enough to listen to her baseball stories about her husbands career. Willies curiosity was only exceeded by his energy level, and many a night when I was painfully trying to get my legs straightened out, I would hear this whack crack swoosh whack sound outside Teepee #34. It was a moonlighted week on nights, and Willie got in some extra batting practice by throwing rocks up and hitting them with his bat. Why some Scoutmaster didnt put an end to it, Ill never understand, but no one ever said anything about it. Maybe the other campers and counselors thought it was a bear breaking tree limbs, or the ghost of some Indian warrior haunting the battleground where he had died a hundred years ago. Perhaps it added to the mystery of camp. As my cramps gradually subsided, I fell asleep wondering.
The last night of camp was the climax of our Scout training, when all of us were required to go on the mysterious Midnight Manhood March through the forest. Just the sound of it gave me the shivers, and from the talk around camp, most everyone except the very oldest Scouts felt the same. The Scout leaders had done their very best all week to build up this event in our minds, and to make it as scary sounding as possible. Im sure their motives were excellent, but in the minds of imaginative 9 year olds the images of dark trails at midnight and departed spirits of Indian warriors and bears and mountain lions and getting lost forever in the high Sierras was enough to make us yearn for the security of home and civilization. But that dreaded night was fast approaching, and the only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that if I survived the night, the dawn would bring the bus and the return trip to the comfort and warmth and familiarity of home, with all it represented like Moms cooking, the absence of Scout Riggotoni, and a bathroom with a door.
After dinner Friday evening we were instructed to retire to our tents, lie motionless on our beds, and prepare mentally & spiritually for the great test of endurance and bravery and resourcefulness that lay immediately ahead. None of us had the slightest idea that that meant to prepare mentally & spiritually so we lay on our beds and scared ourselves silly with thoughts of the worst that might shortly come to pass. I remember praying Dear God, I know I havent been too good in the past, but if you will get me through this night, I promise to practice my piano lesson 30 minutes every day. Please, God?
The dreaded event started with a campfire at 10PM. It began innocently enough, with singing and skits and a marshmallow roast. Then came story time, when each Scoutmaster outdid the other at relating stories of Indian lore, Scouts lost forever in the woods, and ghosts of Indian warriors who even at this very moment stalk the hills above Camp Ugwam, searching for a Scout who doesnt follow orders and wanders off the appointed trail. Eyeballs grew noticeably larger, and the circle of Scouts moved imperceptibly closer in toward the campfire, and away from the darkness behind.
The last Scoutmaster was the best storyteller of all (they had apparently saved the best for the last), and he told an absolutely terrifying tale of the Indian warrior ghost who had ALREADY possessed the body of one of us Scouts around the fire. Without moving our heads in the slightest, we eyed each other suspiciously for any tell-tail sign that the fearsome Indian warrior might inhabit the body of the Scout next to us. As the story went on with tales of raids and scalping, I thought of my Dad, who was stone bald, and wondered briefly if what I had always been told was true that he had a high fever as a teenager and lost his hair then or whether possibly he had attended a Scout camp when he was nine in Missouri, and the 200 year old warrior Spirit had found him wandering slightly from the trail, and separated him from his hair.
I slowly raised my left hand to feel if my hair was still intact, and was please to find that it was still there standing on end in stark terror.
As the storyteller was working the story to a climax in a barely-audible whisper, and every Scout eye and every Scout ear was glued on him in terrified attention, the shrill voice of the head Scoutmaster broke into the silence with Quick, Scouts! Follow me! The final test of your courage has begun. We must begin our Midnight Survival Test and move along the Ugwam Trail quickly, as we have just received word that the dreaded Warrior Spirit is on the war path, and is close behind us!
Approximately 76 million Scout goose bumps instantly formed a tight line behind the Scoutmaster, with the end of the line battling for a spot further up in the line. The survival of the fittest was no doubt at work, and the smallest nine year olds soon found themselves at the end of the line, with the smallest of the small at the very end.
Me.
I repeated my prayer rapidly, desperately, this time raising the ante. Make that an hour, Lord. I really will practice my piano lesson a solid hour every day if you just get me through this. The darkness behind me was absolutely terrifying, and once I had gotten up the courage to look back, and saw the blackness behind that held every fear I had ever known, I vowed to never look back again, and kept my vow. I even raised my practice-time prayer-promise bargaining chip to an hour and a half, and threw in the offer to stop picking my nose as a sweetener.
The trail wound through the pines and firs, around huge boulders, under fallen logs, past the lake which we could barely make out in the light of the quarter-moon, and who knows where. The only lights were our little beams of Scout-issue flashlights each Scout carried. The outlines of the trees and branches and boulders and crags in the darkness conjured up images of all the stories we had just heard, and dug up a few more out of the recesses of our memories. My imagination added to the terror, as I visualized the movie I had seen the week before Frankenstein Meets Dracula. No headless horseman could have added to my fear. It was already total.
From out of the darkness behind me came a silent hand which wrapped itself around my mouth, keeping my screams of terror private, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground with my mouth covered and three dark figures holding me down. Surprisingly, my fear subsided a bit, as I suppose it does when one moves from danger on to death. I supposed the figures huddled over me to be the Spirits of Indian Warriors about to take my scalp, but instead they took my pants. The largest of the three threatened me not to tell the Scoutmaster, or I was a dead Scout. Since I thought I was a dead Scout anyway, that really was a welcome announcement of a second chance at life. Perhaps I would survive after all. Perhaps my prayers ad been heard. Practicing the piano sounded utterly fantastic by contrast to my present state.
The three nightriders disappeared back into the darkness from whence they had come, and I sprinted back to the end of the line, which fortunately I could still see in the distance because of the flashlights each Scoot carried. I was so glad to be back that even though I was still at the end of the line and pantless, I actually kind of enjoyed the rest of the trek like a person back from the dead might enjoy seeing the top half of the cemetery which was relatively eventless compared to my recent descent into Hell and back.
As we marched back into camp, we lined up in front of the lodge for inspection under the glow of the outdoor lamps, which stood on either side of the lodge door. We stood at attention 299 Scouts in full dress, and one standing in his underwear.
Scout Shinn, step forward.
Yes sir.
Scout Shinn, where in the world are your pants?
I dont know, sir.
You dont know where your pants are?
No sir.
Snickers roll through the line of Scouts at attention.
Why dont you know where your pants are?
Well, sir, I had them on when I started the Midnight Manhood March.
More giggles from behind me.
You had them on when you started the Midnight Manhood March, but you dont have them on now. Did you donate them to a cold bear, perhaps?
Gales of laughter from behind me.
No sir.
Then perhaps they were taken by the Spirit of the dead Indian warrior?
Yes sir, I suppose so.
Scouts now on the ground, holding their sides. Full grown Scoutmasters doubled over in hysterics.
Apparently the Head Scoutmaster thought that might be a good place to leave the issue, perhaps to instill fear into next years campers by a rumor that the Spirit of the dead Indian warrior not only scalps selected Scouts, but now also is into de-panting Scouts who wander from the trail. In any case, when he had regained his own composure and the volume of laughter had died down a bit, he dismissed the group, instructing them to go straight to their Teepees. I was extremely grateful for that, and I was the very first to go.
I was frozen by then, of course, having been without pants for the past half-hour or so, so when I got into our tent I immediately opened the suitcase Mom had so thoughtfully packed for me, put on two pair of pants, three shirts, a sweater, and a coat. Over what was left of my Scout uniform.
I crept into bed that way, and fell asleep praying Lord, if you will somehow get me on the bus tomorrow morning without anyone seeing me, I promise to practice an hour and forty-five minutes a day. I really mean it, God, and if you could somehow make me invisible on the bus so the kids wont laugh at me, I will practice two hours a day, and even on weekends. And if
Update: You will be relieved to know that Scout Shinn indeed did survive, and lived to keep his promise, more or less. He now teaches piano at PlayPiano.com in Medford, Oregon. Willie McTavish works for the San Francisco Giants in the PR department. Scout Riggotoni is a respected trustee and block leader at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, California.
Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His book-CD-DVD course titled "How To Play Chord Piano In Ten Days!" has sold over 100,000 copies around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 70,000 current subscribers.
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