Small and lightweight enough for a toddler yet bright enough to provide true visibility on the trail, at the campsite, during a blackout at home, or for backyard play, these affordable headlamps for kids are a must for the family of outdoor enthusiasts. With a 40 lumen brightness and a nearly 30-foot throw on its higher powered setting, a Kidled4R Headlamp isn’t going to blind anyone, but it will brighten things up. On lower power output, it’s perfect for use in the tent or for reading in bed. On the red light settings, they are even easier on the eyes, so to speak, and the blue light is just good fun.

This best affordable but top-quality headlamp is a core piece of gear that belongs on every camping trip and should live in your nightstand when you’re home. While rechargeable devices are great, you’ll take comfort in the fact that this one uses batteries so you know you can always instantly refresh it; the fact that it gets 200 hours of light at a lower setting from just three AAA batteries is also a comfort. The headlight has multiple brightness outputs, two shapes of white light beam, a strobe effect, and red light for preserving night vision.

Summer camp days can start in the darkness of early mornings and long after sunset, so a headlamp with a good, long battery life is a good idea. This rechargeable headlamp from BioLite has a four-hour runtime on its brightest 425 lumen output mode, and an impressive 60-hour battery life at its lowest brightness setting. The primary light can be used in beam or flood settings and a red light setting, all of which can be useful around camp or in the tent. And for safer trekking in darkness, a second red light is built into the battery pack at the back of the headlamp that makes you more visible from behind.

As a bluetooth speaker, this lantern earns a passing grade. As a lantern for camping (or for blackouts at home), it earns an A+ with extra credit. The Coleman 360º lantern can be set to several different brightness levels, easily illuminating a tent, campsite, or mid-sized room. When dimmed, it’s pleasant there on the table after sunset, whether for reading or a card game, or as an impromptu nightlight. And on its lowest setting when fully charged, it can glow for more than a day and a half. At full brightness, it will last seven hours following a full charge.

This capable little lantern can be made bright enough to fill the whole tent with light, and it’s light enough to be hung from the top of most tents. It can also be dimmed to not impede sleep, serving as an ideal tent nightlight. And all the different colors and fun lighting patterns it can be set to? Well, those are just fun. And that’s true whether you’re camping or playing in the basement. Also, in a pinch this lantern can be used as a battery bank to charge up other small devices.

The Sprout is at its best when hung from the dome of your tent, but it’s also a great modest light source for use outside the tent at night when you don’t want to sacrifice much night vision. Also light enough to be clipped onto a pack as you stay visible while trekking at night, the UCO Sprout can be set to a pale white glow or a cool blue light. And while generally speaking rechargeable camping lanterns are the way to go, the fact that this one runs for hours (up to 50 on the lower output) with three AAA batteries is kind of comforting, actually – always bring a few extra batteries along and you’ll know you have a light source ready even if all the other lights run out of juice and can’t be readily recharged.

Coast is known for its high quality products, namely its knives and flashlights. What they’re not known for is unfairly high prices, as evidenced by this excellent compact flashlight that costs less than $15. It has a high and low output setting, sending a beam 170 feet in the former, and about 115 in the lower, and it gets about two hours or more than five hours, respectively, using just one AAA battery. All while only weighing in at 2.6 ounces, even with the battery installed.

Pricey to be sure, but likely a lifetime purchase, the reliable and capable Fenix LD30 flashlight is one of those pieces of gear that belongs in your camping kit when you head out to the woods and in your glovebox or a drawer in the kitchen when you’re not in the wilderness. It has four light output settings, shining at 30 lumens, 150 lumens, 800 lumens, or a stunning 1,800 lumens in “Turbo” mode, which will throw a beam out past the length of two football fields. Long story short, this is a powerful flashlight.

This flashlight is more toy than genuine camping illumination device to be sure, but that’s kind of the point. It’s not bright enough to ruin anyone’s night vision when shined in the face, it’s affordable enough that you won’t cringe when kids drop it, and it’s large enough for easy gripping by little hands, so maybe those drops will be rare. And thanks to its adorable bug-themed styling, it’s a flashlight kids will want to play with at the campsite, in the tent, and at home.