A pretty cool fan - 10000mAh Camping Fan
Summer at the lake can be heaven. There’s nothing quite like that cool breeze off the water in 90 degree weather to make you really consider quitting your day job.
There’s also no worse feeling than stagnant, humid lake air clinging to you in 98 degree heat to make you wonder if selling a kidney is enough to pay for one of those fancy mini-split air conditioners.
Thankfully, there are some middle grounds for keeping cool when the weather doesn’t cooperate. And I think I’ve found one of the more useful items that now inhabits my lake house which keeps you cool morning, noon, and night.
I like that the LEDs are protected by the grill.
It also comes in green and black!
When I first came across the generic sounding “Camping Fan with LED Lantern, 10000mAh Rechargeable Battery Operated Outdoor Tent Fan with Light & Hook, 270° Pivot, 3 Speeds, Personal USB Desk Fan for Camping, Power Outage, Hurricane, Jobsite” it seemed like a pretty “made in china” way to tell me that it was junk.
But it also had every feature I wanted, so I bought one anyway.
Probably one of the best things to arrive at my door in recent years.
From an amazon supplier called “KITWLEMEN”, the camping fan has been a staple on the porch table for two years now. Even after surviving a winter, the little guy just keeps on going.
Let’s talk about why this fan has a permanent space on my table.
1. It’s got a battery!
10,000 mah to be more precise. That’s like 3 iPhone 15’s. There is plenty of juice to run the camping fan next to the bed or above it for at least 8 hours without an issue. On several occasions the fan was accidentally left on during day trips and still had enough to keep going through the night (on low setting). The size of the battery really makes the camping fan excellent for both at home and away.
There are a number of competitors with larger batteries available, but the fan’s weight starts to become a problem. If the fan were to fall on you while sleeping, it sure wouldn’t feel great, but it’s not heavy enough to cause any real damage. The heavier models may also stress your tent poles should you decide to use the fan when camping.
2. It’s quiet.
Many cheap fans you’ll find are poorly balanced or have poorly built bearing or and constructed to make sure that they rattle against the surface they are placed on. The camping fan has no such achilles heel. The plastic is all stable and the fan turns at all speeds without any complaints or bearing noise. This makes the fan excellent for use in sleeping areas or late night conversations. On low setting, the wind noise is great stand in for your at home white noise generator.
3. It can charge your phone!
The camping fan makes use of that battery with a USB-A charging outlet. There’s nothing fun about getting your phone back almost dead after a day on the water without an outlet to charge it. But if you’ve already got the camping fan bedside to keep you cool, you don’t need anything more than a USB cable to top you off long enough to browse instagram before falling asleep. The charger does support any fancy charging modes, so you’ll be stuck at 5 watts. I’ve never had a problem charging anything to full. It’s also super handy just having it around. I keep it on the porch table where the outlets have trouble reaching just to keep my phone topped off during the day. Then at night, I can plug the rechargeable camping fan into a USB cable and have a nice breeze all night with a freshly charged battery in the morning.
4. It’s got a timer!
Even with that big battery, the camping fan is still limited by how long you can reasonably run it. The designers have helpfully added a timer to the camping fan where you can set the fan to run for up to 8 hours in two hour increments. This has proven especially helpful on those cooler nights where things don’t quite cool down enough to fall asleep, but end up freezing you out at 2am. I just set the timer for 2 or 4 hours and let the electronics do the work for me. The design removes the extra by giving you only the pre-set time limits, which I find helpful as someone who only uses the +30 seconds button on the 40 button microwave.
5. It’s got lights!
If you like to read before bed, this is a no-brainer. With 3 brightness settings on the camping fan, you won’t have to deal with book lights or flashlights. I’ve used the hanging hook when camping to hold the fan up for some light while getting ready for bed and for reading. The LEDs are internal to the chassis and well protected by the fan shroud. The LEDs don’t have any additional plastic around them, so they stay cool even when the fan is off. Some of the camping fan competitors have the LEDs around the fan shroud, adding additional plastic to keep them protected but also making them warmer.
6. It’s got a hook.
On the bottom side of the camping fan, you’ll find the hanging hook. It’s perfect for tent camping as the name suggests, but I’ve found it equally perfect for providing some relief to bunk beds. Much like the courtesy lights and fans found on yachts, we use the camping fan to give kids (or adults) sleeping in the bunks some amenities in their smaller space. The air movement really does help keep things feeling cooler, plus the light can be dimmed enough for reading without being too intrusive to others in the room.
7. It’s the right size.
There are a million other camping fans out there. I checked. But this one camping fan stands out for being smaller and lighter and doesn’t worry me when I hang it directly above my head with wiggly children constantly climbing about. The battery is just right for charging a phone while using the fan and lights while not taking a whole day to recharge on the back end.
The camping fan started as a try it purchase and turned into a buy-it-again. The airflow is welcome on those days where nature has stubbornly refused. And the dimmable lighting is a welcome feature to those choosing to sleep (or not) in the bunk beds. For my father, who can’t seem to keep his phone above 20% when he arrives at the lake, it turned into his trusty companion as well.
