On a whim, while looking at some other GoalZero gear, I ordered a GoalZero CrushLight. I’ve quickly discovered on our first real test trip that It is definitely one of my favorite new pieces of gear this season. 

It packs flat. It expands to sit on a table or hang in either of two directions. It’s LEDs light up an area nicely with a warm light that is not too much. It recharges either with USB or solar. This is an infinitely usable little light. It works well on the picnic table and equally well hanging in the kitchen to give us light to cook by. 

So far the only thing I’ve noticed as downsides are that you aren’t likely to get days and days out of a re-charge, that it is darn tricky to turn off the demo mode that it ships with and that you can’t really tell how much charge is left until it just turns itself off. But those are all pretty minor considering that this light packs easily, isn’t expensive and doesn’t require you to carry any special batteries.