Campsite Lighting Ideas

Campground lighting is such an important area of camping. And if it’s not planned correctly, it can pretty much make a pleasant time into a crappy one. And to be honest, that doesn’t go over very well when you have a family of six out there stumbling around in the dark. Let’s explore the area of Campground Lighting Ideas together. What is your go to? Leave a comment below.

There are so many different ways to light up a campground from your traditional campfire to Coleman gas lanterns, battery operated lanterns and lights, and solar-powered lighting. We will dive into these realms of campsite light and try to figure out which will work best for your situation and maybe what we just might want to pass on.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON SOLAR POWER LIGHTING BELOW!

Campsite Lighting Ideas

If you go looking for campground lighting these days you have so many to choose from that they all can’t be tried and tested in a timely matter. So we are left buying stuff that we can’t count on 100%. Not because they are an inferior product but because we don’t know anything about them.

Gas Lanterns

These babies are my personal favorite when family camping. Maybe that’s because I grew up with them. I don’t know, I just like the bright almost orangish tint it gives off. It just makes the campsite feel right. Burning multiple types of fuel like propane, kerosene, or white gas is what gives gas style lanterns the heat source to light up the ever so fragile mantles.  

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Mantles

Mantles usually take the shape of a small coin purse or bag but instead of a leather or fabric case its made with a ceramic mesh that encompasses the bright flame that is burned by the lantern.

The makeup of the common mantle is of a mixture of rare-earth elements such as; magnesium oxide, cerium oxide, and thorium oxide. These are forced into the fibers of the mantle which are made of a silk or silk-like material. And it has been the same makeup for the better part of a decade or longer.

The Danger of Gas Lanterns

Because of the rare earth elements and gas burn off, these types of lanterns do give off dangerous amounts of CO2. So please don’t use them inside of your tents. If you must, for safety reasons, please make sure your tent is ventilated and keep the lantern away from the walls of your tent. They get very hot and that would not be a good time if your tent burns down. Am I right?

(There is also a very minimal risk of radiation involved with the mantles form the Thorium and Cerium Nitrates. Read More about the radiation Here.)

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Styles of Gas Lanterns

Propane Lantern

Typically, a use and throw away container, propane is very inexpensive. The containers just screw on to the fitting on the underside of the mantles. Usually, there will be some type of base that you set the propane container into providing the lantern with some stability. You don’t want these guys falling over. Not only will it most likely destroy the mantle, but you might break the lens as well.

Coleman Lantern

Runtime for the normal 16.4-ounce bottles of propane is approximately 6-7 hours on high and 13-15 hours on low. Some of the newer models also come with regulators and self-ignitors making running these little gems an easy chore. And everyone likes easy when camping.

Liquid Lantern

These lanterns put out a very high lumen rating when burning. Some can be adjusted to burn not so bright nowadays though. That did not use to be the case. Because they are a liquid-based fuel, a huge issue is getting the fuel into the sometimes nickel sized hole. If not careful, you can spill the contents all over the place and that sucks.

These liquid fuel sources are also under pressure but it is not automatic. You must manually thumb pump these guys up until they are under enough pressure to burn for a few hours. Then you must keep pressurizing it every once in a while. “Coleman Liquid Camp Fuel” and “white gas” are the store bought kinds of “naphtha” the actual name of the fuel.

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Battery Operated Lighting

Now technology is advancing at an extremely fast pace and when it comes to camping gear, I am on the fence about many issues. Call me old school or maybe I’m just thick headed about certain things. But, I will tell you the truth, these new battery-powered lights are really fricken cool and they are the future of lighting.

Most if not all battery operated campsite lighting comes with LED (light emitting diode) bulbs. Because of this fantastic technology, they come with a number of advantages;

Battery Life

I have heard of these some of the lights last 200 hours on one set of batteries. And that’s running at 800 lumens. Ridiculous.

Kid Safe

Because of the LED bulb technology, these do not get hot so children can safely handle them and move around with them freely. It is especially great for tent interiors.

Durable

I have personally seen these lights fall from trees and still work perfectly. Mine have taken an extreme amount of camping abuse. They are made to last so have peace of mind when buying them.

Brightness

Although not as bright as their fuel counterparts, these lights can reach very high lumens and are a constant light source.

Battery operated lantern

The lanterns offered in battery power these days are awesome! They come in many sizes and shapes. Some are designed to look just like the traditional fuel lanterns and some, that are more mainstream, are sleek and colorful. Depending on where you buy them or the brand is going to determine what quality you get.

The LED lantern is pretty cut and dry when it comes to its functionality. Most of them have multiple settings like

• Bright
• Medium
• Low
• flash or pulse
• Red

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It just depends. Some have multiple bulbs in one lantern. Some have single bulbs in four separate parts that can be removed for single use. The only downside I can see with an LED battery powered lantern is that you need to buy batteries now and then and dispose of them. Big woop! We can deal!

Everyone knows that you get what you pay for and let me tell you, you don’t want to be out on a bathroom walk in the dark and your LED lantern decides to call it quits. So make sure and do your due diligence on the products before a purchase.

Battery Operated Headlamps

Oh man! Are these thing important or what? I don’t know what I would do without a headlamp while camping these days. Gathering wood is so much easier when you have two hands to cut and chop.  Being able to see the trails if you stay out too long and the sun gets behind the mountain before you make it back to camp.

With so many uses the battery powered LED headlamp (get the best one here) probably rates in the top 5 for my personal backpack list. I always have one and a set of batteries in my bag. With so many features I could write a whole post just about these guys and I might just do that in the future but for now, let’s look at some of the options.

Beam type

Floodlight wide range helps when you are cooking or prepping the fire, anything that needs to be done that fairly close up will need this setting for best results.

Spotlight tight range will help with navigating walkways and checking on noises in the forest. You can pinpoint the light on something very easily.

Strobe is made for more of an attention grabber. People will notice it easier than a straight beam. It can be used during emergencies.

Low beam is the less battery draining mode the headlamp will have. Used for small campsite tasks or reading in a tent.

Medium beam is a selection for really whatever you want. It’s kind of a mundane setting and I actually never use this setting. But its there on most headlamps.

High beam is used for looking at items further in the distance. Where you need more light to get the task done, such as pulling in a boat at a dock or ramp.

Red light beam is mainly used in the dark. It causes less stress on the human eyes and is just pretty cool to use.

Other amenities they offer are a tilting head that can be adjusted to point down which comes in handy when conversing with your campsite mates. Most, but not all LED headlamps, are going to be water resistant, That doesn’t mean you can take it swimming in Lost Lake, but it can be worn in a little rain if you need to.

Battery Operated Flashlights

Now that we have covered the ever growing class of the headlamp, let’s take a look at the age-old battery-powered flashlight. Flashlights are serious business actually. A flashlight is one thing everyone should have in their campsite gear.

Nearly all of the flashlights produced these days come with the LED bulbs and they have pretty much made all other bulb types obsolete. The options LED offer are just too great for other older bulb types to be able to match; such as efficiency, runtime, brightness, and different modes

A flashlight actually has the highest rated lumens available when it comes to mobile lighting. That means lighting up any area is going to virtually be a click of a button. Bam there was light!

?The only sad face with these, in my opinion, is that they are a one-handed accessory and need to plan your task accordingly. For example, changing a child’s diaper, cooking, and wood gathering are all a little more challenging if the only light source is a flashlight.

                                      Big Boy

Beam Type

Spotlight beam is for pinpointing things in the distance such as trail and cave exploring. A single beam that’s tight and bright.

Adjustable beam is an awesome addition to a flashlight. Some of these you can turn to widen or tighten the beam making it very versatile when out in the wilderness.

Floodlight beams are the brightest and the option that will be used for the most basic tasks. Walking trails and trips to the bathroom are just to name a couple.

Size and Shape of a Flashlight

The size and shape of a flashlight can vary drastically. From your typical cylinder shape with a reverse umbrella shape head to a short and fat handheld one that looks like a disc. No matter what size you come across there is no way of getting around it they are very valuable when out camping or hiking.

Made with either a plastic, aluminum,  or stainless steel, they are drastically different in durability. some are thinner and lighter and some can hold a significant weight behind them. This does not mean that they produce a higher lumen though. Most flashlights can withstand some pretty heavy abuse.

A downside to the cylinder shape flashlights is that they tend to roll away from you if your on any type of an incline. Some model types are designed to anti-roll and are shaped kind of blocky or have angles on them to avoid the rolling.

Battery Powered Strip Lighting

These type of lights are becoming very popular with the modern camper. They have an awesome ability to light up the most modest areas. I personally don’t see any problems with them really. Maybe the only downfall is the battery replacement. But honestly, they last so long it’s not a problem. There are also styles that can be charged by USB and that allow for chargeable battery blocks to be carried around and used almost anywhere.

LED bulbs that are inside of a waterproof membrane is what supplies these lights. They can come in many different lengths and widths. I have seen them from 6 inches all the way to 100 feet. Some of the LED strip lights come with sticky backs, magnets, or you can just hang them on some branches. It doesn’t matter as long as you are getting the area lit up, right?

Some are specifically made for a campsite and then I have seen some specifically for Christmas lighting being used in a campsite. Go figure. However you want to use them, they are extremely handy and bright. Again, choose wisely as you always get what you pay for.

Solar Power Lighting

Solar power actually has been around for quite a while but never has it been so reliable. The technology behind it is complicated and I will not pretend to understand it. (Sun makes power. No sun, no power). 

Best I could find on Amazon HERE

There are actually quite a few different types of solar lights and lanterns out now. I have even seen an inflatable type. They look pretty cool but are super cheap. I personally don’t know if I would trust that as my light source out in the wilderness. Possibly on the back porch barbecuing with some buddies, but that’s probably it.

There are hybrid styles as well. You can charge these models by car chargers, portable batteries, and some by a hand crank and then use the sun as a source of power which would probably be a great campsite lighting idea. Anything with multiple sources of power is really great in my opinion.

There are several different designs to choose from, from traditional camping lantern designs all the way to the aforementioned blow up design. They are also available as a bare bulb that can be suspended, which are great for the inside of your tent. You can pretty much choose from any style your little heart desires.

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Conclusion

We have gone over a lot of campsite lighting ideas throughout this article and if you have anything to add please do so in the comments below. I would love some feedback and to hear your opinions. We can venture into any of your ideas as well.

I did not delve into the art of DIY lighting because that will be a whole post on its own and I am looking forward to putting that down on some paper soon.

And remember

Explore. Relax. Have Fun.

So you’re heading out on a camping trip with the family. Do you have everything you need? Do you have these things on my list of 12 essential camping items?

The more you know about camping, the better prepared you will be. This isn’t the expert guide to pack for camping, but it’s an essential list for the average family that’s heading out to the campsite. Here is my list. Check it out.

12 Essential Camping Items
1) Tent
Tents are the main item in most people’s arsenal when heading out to camp. Whether it is for a single person or a whole family, you want it to be large enough, so you’re not sleeping on top of one another.

When choosing a tent for camping, you want to pay close attention to the actual dimensional size of the tent, rather than the per person tag. It does not know if you are a large person or a small child. A four-person tent barely fits my two of my tweens inside with all their gear.

Rule of thumb is if you are going to sleep four, don’t get a four-person tent, get the next size up or larger, depending on your circumstances. I know that when we go camping, we have a queen size air mattress, duffel bags for each person, the baby’s bag with all her diapers, and what have you.

A tent’s primary purpose is to create a microclimate that allows the person that is going to sleep in it be as comfortable as possible. So help yourself out and get a decent tent that will not puncture too easy, rip from pulling on the zipper too hard, or fall from a strong gust of wind. There are many decent styles and brands out there. Just do a little research, and I’m sure you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.

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2) Sleeping Bag
Picking a great sleeping bag can be a daunting task when you go to an outdoor store. The so many different styles, colors, and ratings to choose from that it makes it difficult if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

Picking the right sleeping bag is very important depending on what kind of camping you’re going to be doing. If you’re planning to do summer camping only, lightweight sleeping bags will be just fine. If you plan on doing some hunting and you need a warm weather bag, then that’s the way you have to go.

Most sleeping bag manufacturers have the same ratings.

Summer Season Reading – which is comfortable at 35 degrees Fahrenheit and higher

Three-Season Bag – which is over 10 degrees Fahrenheit up to 35 degrees Fahrenheit

Cold Weather – which is usually from 10 degrees Fahrenheit and anything lower

Often, when picking a sleeping bag, you want to choose one that is the stage lower than what you’re going to be camping in. You never want to get stuck out there and get cold.

There are four styles of sleeping bags.

Regular rectangle shape – which most people had as they were growing up. They have a canvas outside, and a plaid inside and are comfortable honestly. But, they are super heavy.

Semi-rectangular – called a barrel-shaped. They are tapered towards the legs, and they offer a little bit better efficiency than the old bulky rectangle bags, but they still have a room for the most part.

Mummy Style – they are very lightweight and compact. Many people have trouble with these because they’re so tight that they never can get comfortable and are the more restrictive.

Double-wide – where you and you’re significant other can get inside together. If you have a young child, they could probably jump in there with you too. If you buy two of these things, you could have a comfortable night on a king size air mattress. Most of the time, it’s too hot honestly.

3) Fire / Fire Starter
So fire is a valuable commodity when you’re out camping, but it is not always acceptable and permitted, especially in the summer months. At least where I live in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s still nice to have. I’m not going to get into any survival techniques or what’s the best fire starter or anything like that. I am just going to list a couple of styles of fire starters, and we will go from there.

A more primitive style and survivalist style is the wood friction fire bow drill, fire plow, or fire saw. I don’t have any experience using any of these, and I don’t plan on it unless it’s an emergency, then I’ll try my best. But I don’t see that happening I always have lighters and strikers.

Next is flint and steel or striker. You know the kind where you take a sharp object, and you scrape it along the flint and light tinder. A fun way to teach your children how to get a fire started honestly. The last camping trip, my boys, played with those things for a couple of hours trying to get the fire going. It was pretty fun to watch.

You also have the magnifying glass fire starter situation. Which if you grew up in the 80’s and 70’s you probably know all about that. Use the magnifying glass with the sun glaring down through it and angle it down onto a piece of wood or piece of paper to get it lit. It works pretty well actually, as long as it’s sunny out.

Good old matches if you use matches. You’re going to want to have a waterproof container to keep them in. If you have any rain or your kayaking or boating and drop them in, you’re screwed.

Then you got your refillable butane lighter. You can buy a pack of six from Walmart for a couple of bucks. It’s great! To go through, by a box to throw them in your camping gear, and you’re all set. Another thing about these, you do not want them to get wet, or they’re useless.

4) Food
Unless you’re a pure survivalist, and out to fish and catch your food for the weekend for your family, you’ll need to bring along some food. It would be fun to fish and find all your food, but, I think it would be tough, and not a thought-out process. My family always packs food, and we pack a lot of it. We usually end up cooking it all up on the last day and eating it. Or we bring it back home if we still have ice in the cooler.

Here are my food essentials when camping:

hot dogs

eggs

potatoes

pork ribs

marshmallows

chocolate bars

graham crackers

sausage for breakfast

oatmeal

If you buy enough of these products, you will have meals for every day you are at the campsite, At least if you’re only out for the weekend. After a few days, you probably would end up getting tired of it if you’re there too long.

My Favorite Campsite Meal
I cook the pork with some potatoes the night before in a cast iron dutch oven. Just drop it right down into the coals. I let those pork ribs cook up nice and tender to eat them if we want for dinner. Then we have some left over for the morning. We chop them up, scramble some eggs, and throw it in a pan. Just let it cook. Put some cheese over the top and there you go, you got yourself some camp hash.

And then of course for the kids, you always have your s’mores over a campfire before bed. It’s very messy and especially if you have a little one, but we can handle the mess to see the smiles on their faces.

5) Water
Water is the most important element in the world. So on a camping trip, of course, you need to have an adequate amount of fresh drinking water. If that’s coming from bottled water or 7-gallon freshwater tank that you filled up from your bathtub at home, it doesn’t matter as long as you have it.

What I usually do is I have two seven-gallon jugs I bought from Walmart with the spout on the inside. Until you need it, then you spin it around and stick the spout on the outside. You can figure that seven gallons last a family of four for two days with cleaning dishes and washing hands, brushing teeth all that kind of stuff. Then you have your other seven for drinking water, boiling for cooking, etc.

Nowadays, they have an assortment of backpacking water filters that you carry around with you. You can put water inside these water bottle filters, suck them up through the straws, or pump it into your water bottle with a carbon filter. I don’t know a lot about them honestly. I know that they’re out there and they are trendy among the hikers.

Here are a few ways to clean your water – pump filters, purifiers gravity filters, ultraviolet purifiers, bottle filters. Squeeze filters, straw style filters, chemicals, and then boiling. I recommend boiling everything that you are going to drink from the wild.

6) Cooking Supplies
If you wanted, you could go to the outdoor store and spend over $1,000 for just a minimal amount of cooking supplies. There are double cooking stoves, there are single burner cooking stoves, and there are jet boilers now.

We use a stove for breakfast. A double burner propane stove. I have a little cheap one I think I paid 40 bucks for. We also have a cheap little cookware set that comes with a couple of cups, plates, bowls, utensils, a boiling pot, and a small frying pan. The kids usually use that to cook up some hot dogs, or they make some water for tea or hot cocoa. You name it; it works great for them.

I prefer to cook with our cast iron. We have a griddle that we can use on both sides, that is awesome. It can cook everything from steaks to fish to pork loins. Everything you can think of, we can cook on it. We also have a 9-inch skillet pan and a dutch oven. Honestly, with these and some foil, that is all we need to cook whatever type of meal that we are going to make when camping.

So for years, I used metal spatulas, spoons, and forks that we had in our camping gear. And I would use that to cook all the food, and it was fine. I noticed I was starting to get specs of cast iron in my food because I was scraping the pan so hard. I decided to switch over to wood cooking utensils. They seem to work fine.

We have bought all the kids their own multi utensil multi-tool. It comes with a spoon, fork, can opener, and a butter knife. It will break down so they can have just the fork or just a spoon. They’re pretty cool, and they’re relatively cheap. I think I paid like eight or nine bucks for each one and they each have their own color. It’s pretty awesome.

7) First-aid
First-aid kits are so important you wouldn’t believe. The worst thing that could happen is your young child is running and slips or trips and hits her head on the picnic table or the fire ring. Or even worse, accidentally falls into the fire and you’re stuck with nothing to help her, nothing to cover the wounds. I’ve been there, and it is disheartening.

What we have are two Walmart pre-made first aid kits that we throw in the camping gear.  We also have some elastic bandages, bug spray, and extra-large stick-on bandages. I also added some hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin, diaper rash cream, anti-itch cream, and some calamine lotion.

You get the point – you want to make sure that you’re fully prepared for anything that might happen. Don’t forget the Aloe Vera for burn injuries. They do happen especially if you cook a lot of marshmallows and hot dogs. The end of the stick is burning hot and will burn finger while they are pulling off the food. This is very common.

8) Warm Clothes and Rain Gear
Living in the Pacific Northwest, you start to understand that the weather will be sunny one minute and then rain the next. You always want to make sure and pack warm clothes, even if it’s a hundred degree day. By the time the sun goes down behind the mountains or the trees, the temperature is going to drop 20 to 30 degrees. The wind us going to pick up, and you are going to be chilly and cold. Always pack a sweatshirt and always pack rain gear. Bring a pair of shoes, don’t pack a pair of flip-flops because you will get cold.

I have a light set of rain gear that I pack in with my gear for my wife and me. The kids all have their own cheap stuff from Costco that we have packed away and use if we need to during the Fall and Spring. I always carry a heavy duty top and bottom set. They’re fairly warm, and I wear them when I’m fishing.

9) Light / Lantern
When camping, you don’t want to get stuck out there without any lighting. You want to make sure and have enough propane for your propane lantern and enough batteries for your battery lights as well. If you decide to have battery lanterns or lights out there, that is.

Have propane lanterns, and carry extra Mantels in case they get wet. I do prefer the Coleman brand for my lanterns, my tents, and cooking gear. We just haven’t had good luck with anything else. If you decide to go the battery powered headlamp and lantern style gear, that’s great; you need to carry many batteries because they do go dead very fast. The best place I found to buy lighting is Amazon and Costco.  Costco sometimes has a three-pack of the small lanterns that collapse. I own them myself, and my kids love them. They hang them the inside of their tents. You can close them, so it’s like a little night-light. They’re great!

I also think that having four or five headlamps in your gear is an excellent idea for late-night bathroom treks and walks down to the water. We have a telescope that we like taking with us, and it’s good to have those headlamps with us so we can turn them off and on to see what we’re doing when we’re tuning in the stars.

10) Knife / Hatchet
This is probably my favorite essential just because I have had it for such a long time. Of course, you need to have a Leatherman Wave. I’ve had mine for 20 years, and it has everything on it that you need.

Then you have to have a hatchet for cutting firewood into kindling. It doesn’t matter on the brand name or anything. Just be sure it has a sturdy handle and durable, broad backside. That way you can use it to pound on your steaks as well.

If you have the chance to pick up small firewood saw, get one.  A saw will cut the time to gather wood in half. I was lucky enough to find a kit that had the hatchet, a bowie knife, and a saw all in one, so I bought it. I will have a review on that very soon.

11) Toiletries
When it comes to toiletries, make sure you pack light. You need the essentials.

Think carefully about how much toilet paper to pack. Think about how long your trip is and how many in your group. You want to be sure to pack enough so that you do not run out! If you do run out though, there are other options out there, leaves for one.

If you decide to stay in a campground, then most likely you will have a toilet in there. Hopefully, the Rangers take care of it because there’s nothing worse than a nasty, smelly outhouse toilet in a campground that everybody uses.

If you want to spring for a couple of items, you could purchase a campsite shower hooked to a campsite sink. That way you can wash right inside your campground. Use your own seven-gallon jugs to gravity feed the shower of course. Soap up right there, no one would be the wiser.

12) Navigation
Navigational items like a compass and map should be a part of your camping gear. You don’t want to leave them in your camping bag. You need to take them with you when you are going on walks and hikes. If you don’t keep them with you, then they are useless. They are in case you need them to get yourself out of an unfortunate predicament in case you get turned around.

This is a huge one – there are places to go in your local area to learn how to use read a map and to learn how to use your compasses. I suggest doing that. Maybe you and your significant other go or you and your children, whatever. Just make sure that you learn how to use it. It will come in handy someday. You always know which way you’re going.

Conclusion
So that’s my list of 12 Essential Camping Items. I do not know if you want to use this list or not, but it is a good list to go by. It hits all the primary marks. What you don’t want to happen as you get to your campsite and realize you forgot one of these items. They are all critical to having a successful camping trip.

So go out, have fun, and relax. If you follow this list, you won’t have anything to worry about. Everything and all things will be covered.

Have fun. Enjoy. Relax.