LuminAID PackLite Nova: Solar & USB Waterproof Lantern

So, this is a bit of a complicated and mixed review. I've bought eight of these over a period of almost as many years (guesstimating as to the date of the first one: it's been a while). Now, the first two I bought I still have and they are nothing short of a marvel of rugged design and manufacturing. To this day, they still operate, despite being so weathered that they have moss and mold growing inside them and the fixing straps have disintegrated. These two have been outside on my property hanging from trees for nearly the entirety of that time, and thus have gone through literally thousands of freezes, rain storms, heavy snows and ice storms in winter, and untold hours of direct sunlight and wildfire smoke conditions in summer. That they have even physically held together is amazing, but amazingly, the solar panels and LEDs still operate, and at the peak of summer, I can still get a couple of hours of nighttime lighting out of them. Seriously one of the best values I've ever gotten out of any utilitarian purchase. On the other hand, clearly at some point over the years, the company began to compromise on their manufacturing and quality control, because the newer variations I have bought over more recent years have plummeted in quality, and these newer lamps quickly declined under even just a small fraction of the weathering their forerunners survived. In fact, the last two have been absolute complete duds: the power button of the penultimate lamp (bought about a year ago), broke within weeks and I have yet to be able to repair it to an operable state. Meanwhile, another one which I bought about a month ago simply never worked: it takes no charge and has never emitted so much as a single photon, that I have observed. Needless to say, this is extremely disappointing, and with the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had bought thirty of the original versions: as I recall, they used to go for $15, and were easily worth several times that, given their compactness, durability, safety, green energy value, and reliability. Now they are getting towards twice that cost and you can't even rely on their working when brand new. A real sharp down turn for this product, all and all. Maybe I've just been unlucky with my recent purchases though. You might still want to give one a try: they really can be quite handy, when they work.