Going camping gets you outside and away from the lights and sounds of city life. That is amazingly relaxing but it can also become a huge problem. If you don’t have any camping lights your whole trip will have to be done from sunup to sundown.
While many people make campfires to keep warm others also use them for light. A campfire is not the best camping light you can have. It’s not movable, and the amount of light you get is solely dependant on how big you can make your fire. This can become a problem if you need a lot of light.
The Best Lanterns for Camping Lights
When it comes to camping lights, lanterns are the best way to light up a fairly large area. They will light most of a standard campsite. Making lanterns one of the best camping lights. There are a few options when looking at lanterns. You must figure out which option works best for you.
Gas Lanterns
Coleman makes the best gas lanterns. Not to mention the easiest to find replacement parts for. With the added bonus that they are some of the longest-lasting lanterns around.
You really have two options when buying a gas lantern from Coleman. White Gas or propane. That’s a personal choice and really comes down to your preferences.
It’s really easy to screw on another propane bottle when you run out of gas. However, you have to carry around multiple bottles if you camp for any length of time.
Whereas pouring gas into a lantern can be messing and smelly. But 1 gallon of gas lasts a very long time, which means less fuel to carry with you.
When choosing the best gas lantern for your needs. Make sure it has two mantles. Like this Coleman QuickPack Deluxe propane lantern. If you choose to go with a white gas lantern. You will want to spend a few extra dollars and get a dual fuel one like this Coleman Dual Fuel Lantern. The dual-fuel option allows you to run standard unleaded gas in your lantern. This saves you money and makes it easy to find gas anywhere.
LED Lanterns
LED lanterns have one big advantage over gas lanterns when it comes to camping. They are safe to use inside any tent. The cost is also cheaper than the gas lanterns. However, you’ll have to keep plenty of spare batteries around.
When it comes to finding the right LED Lantern. You need to consider how many Lumens it produces. As individual LEDs can produce various amounts of light you can’t just assume more LEDs equal more light. As a simple comparison, 250 Lumens is equal to a 25-watt incandescent bulb. 800 Lumens has about the same light as a 60-watt bulb. Just something to keep in mind when buying an LED lantern.
Since it’s hard to find LED Lanterns that are as bright as a gas lantern, to find the best-LED camping light you need to look at cost versus light. Which makes getting 4 MalloMe LED Camping lanterns for under $25 the perfect LED Lantern. It gives you the option of putting light, exactly where you want it. This means you can see what you need to see without having blinding light in your campsite. These are the best-LED lights for camping.
Flashlights
Flashlights are perfect for lighting your way when walking, or if you just need more light in a specific place. However, they do a terrible job lighting up huge areas.
There are millions of options for flashlights. The best camping flashlights have LED bulbs and a simple on-off button on the back. That way you can easily use it one-handed. Small and lite flashlights are really nice to have when camping because you can save weight and space when packing.
Having a few extra flashlights with you when going camping is good for being prepared. If you want plenty of flashlights and having the brightest ones isn’t important to you. Buy an 18 pack of mini lights. At just over a dollar a piece you can afford to lose or break a few and not worry.
Headlamps
If you are out after dark trying to get work done using your hand to hold a flashlight isn’t an efficient option. So having a good headlamp is one of the best camping lights. The great thing about a headlamp is that you always have light exactly where you looking.
String lights
It may sound crazy but having string lights in your campsite it the perfect way to light up the night. It’s one of those little known camping hacks. You can string them around your tent, or from one tree to another. Doesn’t matter if you are tent or RV camper these Solar lights from Litom will give you enough light to walk around the campsite after dark.
With no worries about tripping or falling over things, you can’t see. The best part is that they are solar-charged and battery-powered. Which means you can leave the panel in the sun all day and have 8 hours of light at night. No need to remember extra batteries or worries about forgetting to turn them off.
They also come in cool white or warm white. This means you can choose what fits your needs best. Hang them from your tent, put them on your table, us them to light pathways, even hang them in a shelter. The uses are endless.
Conclusion
Aside from the idea that the best lights for camping are the ones you got. You can never go wrong with a Coleman two mantel lantern. They make some of the best lanterns. Whether you like gas or propane get one. If you don’t want to mess with fuel, an LED lantern is the next best thing. They are cheap easy to use and can use them inside your tent. When you want to have light all around your campsite consider string lights. They are simple versatile and give you a nice glow that lights up the campsite.