Overview & First Impressions
Not every light needs to be tactical, and the CL8 is the proof. Klarus has shaped this compact lantern around a miniature pumpkin silhouette, then used a 2,000mAh internal battery to deliver gentle, glare-free 360-degree illumination across warm ambient, soft white and breathing light modes. Rated at 300 lumens, it is designed for tents, bedside tables and campsite tables rather than night navigation. Two colourways are available, green and orange, and the choice is entirely aesthetic because the hardware is identical. In a category where camping lanterns all look like compressed tubes, the most interesting thing about the CL8 is that it does not.
Build Quality & Materials
The diffuser is a large frosted dome that spreads output evenly through 360 degrees, eliminating the harsh hotspot that makes a torch unpleasant to sit beside. A flat base lets the lantern stand on a table, and an integrated hanging loop allows it to be suspended from a tent ridge or a branch. Type-C fast charging keeps the 2,000mAh cell topped up from a power bank or a car adapter, and the body is built to handle weather without pretending to be submersible. Nitecore flashlights pursue similar multi-mode versatility in a more conventional shape, while the CL8 leans into being a pleasant object to have around.
Design & Craftsmanship
Three lighting modes cover the practical range: warm ambient for atmosphere, soft white for reading or cooking, and a breathing mode that pulses gently for a nightlight effect. The single control cycles them without a manual, and the shape itself acts as a diffuser rather than a housing, which is why the output looks brighter in a tent than the 300-lumen rating suggests. Choosing between green and orange is genuinely a question of taste: green reads calmer and blends with foliage, orange is warmer and easier to find by torchlight. Both finish identically, and both share the same hanging loop and flat base.
Performance & Real-World Use
Inside a two-person tent the CL8 lights the whole interior evenly, which is exactly what a lantern should do and exactly what a handheld beam cannot. On a picnic table it provides enough light to eat by without destroying everyone's dark adaptation the way a 1,000-lumen torch would. The breathing mode is the sleeper feature, working as a low-level nightlight in a hotel room or a child's bedroom. Battery life on the lower modes stretches across several nights of camping, and the flat base means it will not roll off a table in the wind. Fenix flashlights cover the high-output end of the market, and the CL8 covers the other end of it.
Carry & Ownership Notes
Charging over Type-C is the detail that makes the CL8 practical rather than a novelty, because a lantern that needs a proprietary cable gets left at home. The hanging loop is sturdy enough for a ridge line, and the body survives being knocked off a table onto grass or gravel. Two colours mean it works as a gift as easily as it works as equipment. EdcMall lists both the green and orange versions, and either one turns a tent into somewhere you actually want to sit once the sun goes down. As an ambience light it sits apart from the rest of the Klarus flashlights catalogue, which is built largely around beam performance rather than atmosphere. It is not an EDC flashlight and never tries to be one, because a 360-degree diffuser is the wrong tool for aimed light.
Who Is This For?
Buy it if you want warm, even, hands-free light for camping, travel or a bedside table, and if you care about how a light looks as well as what it does. Skip it if you need output, throw or a beam you can aim, because the CL8 is a lantern and behaves like one by design.
Final Verdict
The CL8 is a lantern that understands its job. It spreads light rather than projecting it, it recharges from a modern cable, and it looks good enough that you will pack it even when it is not strictly necessary.
