I wonder if anyone can advise on the best battery lantern for use in a tent?
We have a gas lantern which also gives off a lovely heat. However, this time we will be camping with the kids and I'd like something safer. I'd also like something that could be used as a nightlight for the kids to take into their "bedroom" at night.
We won't have EHU so need something battery operated.
We use a battery lantern that has 12 LED bulbs, it also has a dimmer switch on it. Sorry can't remember where the O/H got it from so will have to ask her when she gets home. I think most camping shops sell them though, not overly dear as I recall, uses 4 D cell batteries.
I think ours is a Coleman. It has a flourescent tube and a high/low setting which conserves power. We also have a rechargeable one which we bought from Argos about 10 years ago - not sure if they still do it, but it's great, and even comes with details of all the spare parts you can buy when bits break (none have yet). It charges from mains and car. None will be anywhere near as bright as your gas light though, and the light they give off is a colder light, so not as nice. We got ours because of the young children, too.
My 2 have their own little torches which go next to them at night, they actually use them less and less in bed, but they find it reassuring. When we started we had a big recheargable lantern that had a nightlight, but the nightlight was a torch bulb, and I was constantly having to replace them. Not a huge expense, but a nuiscance. Another of our reasons for an EHU was the amount I seem to spend on batteries. I thought with electricity I could invest in recheargeables.
An idea which I picked up off a different thread was to use garden solar lights (without their spikes) as nightlights in the sleeping pods. Leave them out during the day to charge and then bring in at night.
We're soon off for our first camping trip with toddler so will try it then. I bought our lights last year at In Store for £3, lots of places probably do them cheaply.
I use a LED Headlight, about £5 at your local fishing shop, or there's a rather nice one for £10 in your local Wilkinsons with a choice of red or white lights.
About 50 hours of light from 3xAAA batteries, and safe as houses.
Ideal for the kids as they can wear them while scampering about outside, and if they leave them on all night it doesn't matter as there's no heat to worry about.
i bought a battery lantern today from argos , its remote contoled so you can switch it on when you get near your tent on a night and wait untill your snuggled up in bed before you turn it off. be handy for though the night too , wont have to stumble about in the dark to find it ,
it was 14 99 which i thought was reasonable , seems bright too. going to test it this weekend .
We have a Coleman Northstar. Its marketed as the 'brightest light abailable' and it definitely lives up to its name. The real bonus is the fact that it also has a built in 'night light' option. A great lantern (and we have tried many over the years1)
Quote: Originally posted by greenhill on 25/5/2006
I bought our lights last year at In Store for £3, lots of places probably do them cheaply.
Ruth
Asda have them for £3 at the moment.
Camping laterns also available in Lidl this week (although there may not be many left by now). The halogen one gives a softer light than the more common fluorescent ones.
My kids love glowsticks so I take some cheap ones to play with on the campsites in the evening. At bedtime we leave them in a tangle outside the bedroom pod or loop them from the toggles. They give out a nice low-level glow and look pretty. Just enough light to find the bucket as well.
(I don`t let the kids take them in the bedroom pods as my four year old still has the odd chew at things and the thin glowsticks will split under a determined chew! They are non-toxic but make a peculiar sort of luminous mess. Would be OK for older more trustworthy kids, but they do work as a nightlight if kept outside the pods.)
The Mrs got some cheap 6 inch thin glow sticks from the pound shop (15 in a tube for 99p each). Kids activated one yesterday afternoon, was still glowing at 7am this morning. Fortunately our kids know not to chew them and to be aware in case they leak.
Quote: Originally posted by Camping nutcase on 25/5/2006
We use a battery lantern that has 12 LED bulbs, it also has a dimmer switch on it. Sorry can't remember where the O/H got it from so will have to ask her when she gets home. I think most camping shops sell them though, not overly dear as I recall, uses 4 D cell batteries.
we have the same lights that your talking about - ours cost £20 each from the place in warrington..outdoorworld or whatever its called...I think they are bang on as we have 1 in the main living area and 1 in the kitchen/porch and at night they both give off plenty of light..