The Best Family Camping Lighting
winter 2023
In most seasons, during most of your time at the campsite, the sun will be the only light source you need. And after sunset, the moon, stars, and the flicker of your fire are the best camping lights you can possibly get. But when you have kids who need to feel safe and comfortable in the tent, you’re trying to do meal prep after sundown, or you’re scouting for a good place to relieve yourself a good distance from the campsite, a reliable camping lantern, headlamp, or flashlight are all going to be welcome.
When we camp with the kids during the winter (or really in any season) we make sure to have multiple light sources available, both for comfort and safety. Our lanterns are used for dinner time, books, games, and as nightlights in the tent. Our headlamps ensure we can do anything from prep the marshmallows for roasting or the toothbrushes for brushing. And a flashlight close at hand means quick light for finding a wayward stuffed animal or during a midnight potty rush.
And of course a dimmable camping lantern or headlight means the adults can stay up a while after the kids bed down without being left completely in the dark. Not that being completely in the dark isn’t great sometimes. In fact, sometimes it’s even the goal.
For all the other times, here are some of the best camping lights for a winter camping trip that we have used, and for the record some of these have been used everywhere from a state campground to a South American jungle to a glaciated mountain traverse 14,000 feet above sea level. In other words, they’ve been put to the test. And they passed.
The Best camping headlamps
Whether you’re reading after the kids have bedded down, prepping a meal after sunset, finding a place for nature’s call, or hiking a trail at night, a great headlamp is an absolute necessity
Best Headlamp for Kids - Ledlenser KIDLED4R
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 Kidled2 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.
The Black Diamond Spot 350 is the headlamp I use camping, climbing, and around home
This headlamp is one of my core pieces of gear. I have trusted it on icy mountain peaks, in tropical jungles, and in many environs in between. It comes on every camping trip with me and lives in my nightstand when we’re home. While rechargeable devices are great, I take comfort in the fact that this one uses batteries so I know I can always refresh it, and 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. If and when mine breaks, I will replace it with another of the same.
THE BIOLITE HEADLAMP 330 WEIGHS 2.4 OUNCES YET PUTS OUT 330 LUMENS OF LIGHT
Those numbers can be a bit hard to square up, so let’s use a couple of practical examples. Grab a pack of playing cards. Feel that weight? That's a full ounce MORE than this headlamp weighs. Now, for some reference on that 330 lumen output, power on the flashlight on a recent model iPhone. Now imagine a light that’s more than six times brighter, because most phone flashlights put out between 40 and 50 lumens. Long story short, this is a very lightweight device meaning it’s one of the best headlamps for kids, sure, but also a great headlamp for running, for climbing, or for any time you want to be minimally encumbered yet still want to see in the dark. And yes, it has variable white and red light settings and strobe effects, as you’d expect from any fine headlamp.
Petzl, for the record, makes some of the finest climbing and mountaineering gear on the planet – people literally entrust their lives to this company’s hardware, whether it’s keeping them safe from falls while high up on a cliff face or lighting the way as they delve down deep into a cave. You can trust that their lower cost gear is still top quality stuff. This basic affordable headlight has low, medium, and high brightness settings (10, 100, and 250 lumens) and at the brightest output, it casts a beam some 120+ feet in dark conditions. It’s a perfect low cost headlamp, without sacrificing quality whether you want one for the kids, need a backup to feel prepared, or just don’t want to spend too much of your camping budget on lighting.
The Petzl Tikkina Headlamp is a great price, but don’t worry, it’s also a reliable headlamp.
The Best camping lanterns
A good camp lantern can fill your tent with light, can bring the glow to your campsite, and can also be dimmed dark enough to let everyone rest easy in near darkness
The Coleman 360º Sound and Light Lantern is our go-to for camping and for power outages
Truth be told, I have never used this lantern/speaker combo as a speaker – not once in all the years we’ve owned it. But as a lantern? It has been to campsites far and wide and it has been the first light grabbed at home whenever the power goes out. In fact, if there is even a chance at an outage, it’s one of the first things I make sure to charge. The lantern can be set to several different brightness levels, easily filling a tent, campsite, or mid-sized room with light, and when dimmed it’s pleasant there on the table after sunset, whether for reading or a card game, or as an impromptu nightlight. On its lowest setting, it can glow for more than a day and a half, while at full brightness it will last seven hours at full charge.
The BioLite AlpenGlow 500 is the perfect camping lantern for use in your tent
This plucky 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.
An UCO Sprout Hang Out Camping Lantern is a great tent nightlight
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. Light enough to hang from any tent or 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 – we always bring a few extra batteries along and therefore know we’ll have a light source even if all the other lights run out of juice and can’t be readily recharged.
Goal Zero Crush Light Chroma lantern can be charged via USB or the sun
These impressive little lanterns offer two to three hours of relatively bright light at a full charge and more than a day of nightlight brightness glow at the lower power setting. The light can be pale white, blue, green, red, orange, or pink, which is fun. Also fun is the fact that these things are tough and rugged and should by all means be played with by kids, whether in the tent while camping or in a fort or under the covers at home. Also fun is the fact the lantern “crushes” down nearly flat for packing. OK, that’s more practical than fun, but still. The solar charging? Practical and useful. And fun, why not?
The Best camping flashlights
Headlamps are ideal for most illumination situations when you’re camping, but it’s still good to have a flashlight handy, whether for quickly lighting up the tent, directing the way along the path for those ahead or behind you, for visual enhancement of storytelling, or as a backup in case your lamps or lanterns go dark
The NITE Ize INOVA T4R Flashlight is a lifetime purchase
And a very… very bright flashlight, too. If you’re looking for a light you can use camping, sure, but also in emergency situations, for doing work after dark, for nighttime treks, or for anything else, this rechargeable 850-lumen powerhouse will light the way. Or the whole room. Or the coyote crossing your path 800+ feet ahead down the trail. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s a powerful tool from a brand we know well and trust fully.
A Coast G22 Flashlight punches way above its price point
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 180 feet in the former, and about 120 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 1.5 ounces, even with the battery installed.
one more thing to always bring camping: backup power
Camping headlamps, lanterns, and flashlights are all well and good right up until they run out of power. Then they’re mere paperweights. The risk of dead lamps is one of the reasons we always bring spare batteries, meaning AAAs as well as a battery bank for our rechargeable devices.
With an Anker 313 Power Bank, you can breathe new life into several small devices
Whether used for an iPad, an LED lantern, a digital camera, or what have you, if you have one of these compact, affordable power banks with you at the campsite, you won’t be left without your tech. (But hey, turn the tech off, right? But not the lights, those you may need.)
Want more power? Grab a Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD Power Bank
With one of these potent yet still portable power banks, you can charge up lamps or lanterns (or phones) and even run some larger devices, like a speaker or a laptop computer. This power bank will bring peace of mind during longer trips.
And if you need real power, a Generark HomePower ONE Backup Battery Station is an option
This large and in charge device blurs the line between a battery and a generator. It can run full-sized appliances for several days, as in a fridge or deep freezer, not as in a laptop. You could run multiple lights, speakers, a blender, a hot plate, and several other devices all at once with one of these, turning your campsite into a veritable wired-up room. Not that you should, but you could. And you can by all means count on more backup power than you need camping, or on enough backup power to help you weather an extended blackout at home.