Ultimate Survival Technologies 30-Day Duro Glow Review

30-Day Duro Glow

Even though the UST Duro Glow only puts out 30 lumens on the lowest setting, it can do so for 24 hours a day for just over 30 days. It actually lasted 33 days in our testing, using a set of generic batteries. It glows in the dark, has four settings, and a sturdy, rubberized, impact resistant base.

Performance Comparison

The Duro Glow is a sturdy, durable medium sized glow-in-the-dark lantern with four lighting modes of low, medium and high and SOS flashing. The low mode can be left on for more than 30 days with one set of batteries. That is not just at night. It can be run for 24 hours a day for over 30 days.

Brightness

The 30-Day Duro Glow has three settings; high, medium and low.

This light puts out a nice 700 lumens on high and can do so for just over 22 hours. The frosted dome makes the light soft — nice and easy to look at even directly. The medium setting puts out 140 lumens and the low and SOS modes both put out 30 lumens. You have the option of taking the dome light cover off and hanging it upside down by its plastic hook in order to further illuminate a larger area with slightly more light.

Ease of Use

The battery compartment lid/bottom of the lantern isn't the easiest to reattach. It's a bit tricky to get the hang of at first. There are two red arrows that need to be lined up. One is on the inside of the battery compartment and the other one is on the lid of the battery compartment/base. The two arrows point to a very small notch that needs to be lined up on both pieces. The problem is that when you try to line up the notches and screw the lid back on, the underside of the lid, where the battery connection points are, spins around due to gravity (one side is heavier), which makes it challenging to line up the notches.

Durability

The 30 Day Duro has a rubberized housing which makes it a very durable product. The inside of the bottom/battery compartment spins, which makes it challenging to reattach. It is water resistant but not waterproof. If you're looking for something waterproof check out the Streamlight The Siege, which is a very similar product in design but also has a red mode, is waterproof, and floats.

Features

The UST Duro Glow is supposed to glow in the dark. It does — a little bit. If you charge it up next to a very bright light source, it glows in the dark a little bit better. Even though it doesn't glow in the dark very well, it is still visible and this is a nice added feature when you can't find it because it's very dark and you don't have your lantern unpacked yet. This light has four lighting modes; high, medium, low, and SOS strobe via three LEDs. You can unscrew the dome lid and hang it upside down by its plastic hook to increase illumination area. The plastic hook is not super sturdy and bends a tiny bit when taking it out of its snapped closed position. The base is sturdy, but when you unscrew it to replace the batteries it is not a breeze to put back on. See the Ease of Use section above for details. The base is heavy and stable and it will not easily tip over. You can also hang it by its handle but it doesn't have a nice hook to keep it more securely in place as does the Streamlight The Siege.

Weight / Size

The Duro Glow weight just over a pound (1.13 lbs or 513g) with three D batteries installed. It measures 7.2" tall and has a diameter of 3.75". It is not as light and compact as either of the Black Diamond models we tested, but it is much more compact than the Coleman Northstar. It is about the same size and weight as the Siege.

Best Applications

This lantern is best for car camping, RVing, or if you live somewhere dark like Alaska where you need a product that can run on a low setting for a very long time. This lantern can run on low, 24 hours a day for over 30 days. It will slightly glow in the dark and very sturdy and durable. If you're looking for something that doesn't take any batteries at all, check out the MPOWERD Luci 2.0. It is solar powered but keep in mind that it takes eight hours to charge and a full charge only lasts 12 hours.

Value

The 30 Day Duro Glow has a MSRP of $50 and comes with a limited lifetime warranty. If you don't need something very bright but need the batteries to last a long, long time, this is your product. It will run for over 30 days on low, which has a 30-lumen output. This feature is great if you need to save battery life. The glow-in-the-dark feature doesn't work very well, so look elsewhere if you are buying it just for that feature. The Siege is a very similar product that doesn't last as long on low, but for the same price it does float and is waterproof.

Conclusion

We loved that this light has the capability of running on low, 24 hours a day for over 30 days. On high mode, it puts out a nice 700 lumens. This lantern is sturdy and durable and would make a good addition to any car camping box, RV outdoor lighting option, or emergency kit.