Different Lights For Different Types - Choose The Right One For You

Camping lights are an essential accessory that may seem trivial at first until you don't have any. You need to consider two major factors when deciding on your camp lighting. They need to be reliable and they need an easily obtainable source of fuel.

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. I've compiled a list of the various types of camping lamps available in the marketplace today and listed their various benefits and disadvantages.

Gas Lanterns

Gas lanterns have the advantage of providing the brightest light out of all the camping lights currently on the market. 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. One small disadvantage of gas lanterns is that because they burn hot you shouldn't leave them unattended in case they get tipped over or you have small children.

Kerosene Lanterns

You can get kerosene lamps as the pressure variety or the wick variety. Due to the way they work and through the use of a mantle the pressure lamp is able to produce the brightest light out of the two types. 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. Kerosene lamps also need to be watched carefully to avoid a fire breaking out.

Butane Lanterns

Butane lamps are an excellent source of light for the weight conscious backpacker. In the weigth versus light output ratio they come out a clear winner. When you see one working you can be quite surprised at the amount of light they produce. There are models available that can produce the equivalent light of an 80W bulb.

Battery Powered Lamps

A battery powered lantern is perhaps the safest form of camping light. You have little chance of starting a fire as there is little heat and no flame. You also avoid having to deal with dangerous flammable liquids. Buying a 12 volt battery powered lamp will also give you some other advantages. You can then charge your lantern up via the car 12 volt socket or with a solar panel. The major disadvantage in the past has been the fact that battery powered lanterns have been unable to produce the same amount of light as the gas powered versions. With the emergence of L.E.D's however this is changing.

Solar Camping Lantern

Most 12 volt battery lanterns can be charged via the cigarette lighter socket but what if you are worried about getting caught with a flat battery. Solar camping lanterns might be the solution to your problem. You could even charge your mobile phone depending on the model you choose.