About this product
This is a ZTARX S86, and the idea behind it is genuinely clever. Deflated it is a rolled-up TPU tube that fits in a jacket pocket. A few breaths through the one-way valve and it becomes an 86 cm glowing column that lights a whole table evenly, with no hot spot and no harsh shadow – the inflated tube acts as its own diffuser.
Four modes: low, medium, bright and SOS, up to 250 lumens. A 4000 mAh battery charges from the built-in solar panel in strong sun, or over USB in 3 to 4 hours when you would rather not wait. The same battery outputs 5V, so it will put roughly one full charge back into a phone.
Mounting is by two closed loops, so it hangs from a ridgeline, an awning rail or a branch, and by neodymium magnets that stick it to a vehicle, a roof rack or a steel pole.
It is TPU, so it is genuinely waterproof, it floats, and it does not shatter. And it still works rolled up in the bag as a compact lantern if you cannot be bothered to inflate it.
ZTARX hold a granted US patent on the inflatable lamp design (US 12,117,153 B2), so this is the original rather than a copy.
ZTARX S86 Inflatable Solar Camping Light - 86 cm Tube