Let’s play a game of word association. Camping? Fun! Tents? Cozy! Camp lighting? Erh-… Let’s start with “Bright”? If your first thought wasn’t “ghost stories”, it was probably something along the lines of “necessary” or simply “lantern” or “LED”. With everyone’s phone having a flashlight, lighting can sometimes turn into an afterthought – but it shouldn’t! The world of camping lights is one of great variation with different light sources being good for different things. So whether you’re in search of the sturdiest lantern or brightest tape lights, we will hopefully be able to illuminate your path towards finding your perfect light source for your tent nights with this guide.
Lanterns
While not always ideal for tents, lanterns are a staple when it comes to camping lights and usually come in three types: electric, fuel and candle. Certainly nostalgic and probably more common of the options, but also require more handling and consideration.
Electric lanterns run the gamut from rechargeable to battery-powered and are by far the most popular due to their portability and safety. You can now even get LED lanterns.
While definitely the brightest, fuel lanterns are also the least safe for tent usage as they emit gas and a high amount of heat. This doesn’t stop you from having one outside of the tent however, as these types of lanterns usually can withstand quite the amount of cold.
Your most vintage option, candle lanterns, may seem like the weakest option, but what they lack in lumens they make up for in atmosphere. Same as with fuel lanterns, however, it’s probably wise to keep them outside the tent.
Tape Lights
Tape lights offer a lot of flexibility and opportunity to arrange them as you see fit for the best tent ambiance whether car camping or glamping. They’re also not solely confined to outdoor usage since they can be equally useful indoors as decorative light sources and come with an array of features. Use them on the go or leave them in place, they are certainly the most versatile of the options presented here. The NoBox Tape Light has a high and low light output setting, 3.5 hours of battery life on high and up to 36 hours of battery life on low. This with a 2 hour recharge time and an extendable LED light strip makes it ideal for time spent both inside and outside the tent.
String Lights
Akin to candle lanterns, string lights aren’t always the brightest light source, but they do give your tent a cozier vibe and are quite portable. String lights come in both chargeable battery variants and ones that require a power outlet, and considering this guide is mainly for tents we don’t think the latter would be ideal. Just like any electrical light, they’re also safer than gas or flame variants.
While our guide touches most bases and presents some of the more common alternatives, we’ve only really scratched the surface of the world of camping lights and suggest that you further research which light source best fits your needs. With that said, we hope we’ve been of some help and would love it if you’d check out the rest of our assortment of camp lighting.
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