Tips, Tricks and How-to's for fun, comfy and easy trips!

Best Lights for Camping and Road Trips

Back in the day, 25 years ago, when you camped, you can a long tube flashlight with 2 heavy D-cell batteries, and a large, hot propane lantern with a burning delicate mantle in it.The propane lights are still handy in the winter or on the picnic table because they are SUPER bright.

Times have changed.  LED lights and rechargeable batteries have transformed camp lighting. You can recharge them in your car or with a portable battery!

What you need

You can get away with just one light, and some work in multiple modes, but one or more of each of these make camping much more pleasant, as each serves one or more purposes.

  1. A headlight - You wear it on your forehead. Laugh if you like, but when you're in the woods in the middle of the night trying to find your way to the bathroom, having your hands free is vital.
  2. A 360 degree table-top  lantern -  Set this one on the picnic table or on the ground by the tent and it will light up the whole area for everyone.
  3. A Hanging tent light - Hang this one from the inside top of your tent and it's like you have your own illuminated room. And many have a built-in fan that will go all night on a hot night.

Recommended camp lights

  • Alpswolf Camping Flashlight - If you only get one lamp, this is it. 
    It is rechargeable, has a 4000mAh Power Bank, can hang inside your tent, has 6 Modes, Waterproof, and has many uses.
    The USB Charging Cable is included

  • Headlamp: Rechargeable 1100 Lumen Super Bright Motion Sensor Head Lamp flashlight, Waterproof LED Headlight with White Red Light, 8 Modes.
    This one hardly ever need recharging.  We used them every night camping for 5 days before recharging.
    There's even a motion detect mode, so you could use it to light up in animals come near your tent.  And it is super bright.
  • Table-top lantern - Electric LEDs , this
     Camping Lantern, CT CAPETRONIX is rechargeable with 400 lumens and 5 Light Modes.
    You can even use it to recharge other devices, like your cell phone.
    It is Water-Resistant and comes in a2 Pack. Great for Camping, Power Outages, Emergencies, etc.
  • Propane table top lantern -(SUPER bright) - I have one of these, well, it's predecessor that I bough in 1990. 
    Not only does it still work, I'm using the same mantle I put in it in 1997.
    It puts out huge amounts of light - and some heat - which doesn't matter outside the tent, and is good on cold nights inside.
    • Propane lights put out MUCH more light than LEDs and use the same propan canister as your camp stove.
  • Hanging tent lantern with fan - I got this in 2021 and used it on a 2 week camping
    road trip. It hangs from the ceiling in the tent, has a fan you can aim,  an LED Lantern, it is Rechargeable with a 5000mAh Battery, with Hanging Hook and great for the tent, picnic table, and Emergency Outages