How To Choose The Best Type Of Lighting For Your Camping Trip
How To Choose The Best Type Of Lighting For Your Camping Trip
Camping lights are an essential accessory that may seem trivial at first until you don't have any. Your camping light needs to be reliable and have a readily available fuel source or power supply.
There are heaps of styles, designs and types of fuel source to make your selection from so choosing one that's right for your situation shouldn't be a problem. Below is a compilation of the different styles of camping lanterns available along with thier various strengths and weaknesses.
Gas Lanterns
A gas lantern is currently your best option for getting the brightest light out of all the camping lanterns. The flame burns clean and will even provide a bit of warmth making for a great camping light when the weather is starting to get cooler. A slight disadvantage to gas lanterns is that the flame does burn hot so you can't leave them unattended, especially with little ones around.
Kerosene Lanterns
Kerosene lamps come in two varieties, namely pressure or wick. A pressure type kerosene lamp will give you the brightest light. Advantages of kerosene lamps as camping lights are it's easy to get fuel for them and they are cheap. Wicks are cheap and readily available. The major disadvantage of kerosene lamps is that there is a chance of a fire if they get tipped over. As with gas lamps you must never leave a burning kerosene lamp unattended.
Butane Lanterns
A butane lantern would be an excellent choice for the camper who likes to go on long hikes. They provide quite a bit more light than a torch for an equivalent size and weight. You might be surprised when you see a working model at just how much light is being produced. It is possible to purchase a butane lamp that produces the equivalent amount of light to a 60W globe.
Battery Powered Lamps
Battery operated lamps are perhaps the safest form of camping lights available. Without a flame there is little to no chance of a fire. You also avoid having to deal with dangerous flammable liquids. Another advantage is that many battery powered lanterns can be charged up from a 12 volt source. With a good solar powered system set up to recharge the batteries you will never be without light again. Battery powered lamps in the past have been unable to produce light in any great quantities. With the emergence of L.E.D's however this is changing.
Solar Camping Lantern
Rechargeable batteries are great when you have the means to recharge them but what if you are in the middle of nowhere and you don't have a 12 volt charger for your car. Getting a solar camping lantern could solve your problem. There are models that will even give you a bit of extra juice on your cell phone which is always a plus.