Battery Lanterns
Reviews And Tips.

Battery lanterns vary in output and weigh from 4.6 oz. to over 5 lbs. Which is great for backpacking... camping?

Battery lanterns offer safe fast light for camping, backpacking, and hiking. No hunting through your camping equipment for matches, fumbling with igniters, filling fuel tanks, or potentially dangerous gas flames. Although these lanterns can put out a good amount of light, from what I've seen they aren't as intense or as bright as gas lanterns. But unless you have a need to fool the birds into thinking it's morning you probably don't need 235 watts of light anyway. Most people can read, do dishes, or play cards just fine by the light battery lanterns give off and usually less light means less bugs.

Battery lanterns vary from disposable battery lanterns to rechargeable lanterns, and from florescent and krypton bulbs to LEDs. Florescent tubes can put out a good amount of soft light if you don't mind a little bit of bulb flicker and they usually stay pretty cool. Krypton bulbs give off an intense white light and usually burn hotter than florescent lanterns. LED lanterns provide an intense bright light and their temperatures can vary depending on the type of LED being used. All in all LED's are known for their durability, efficiency, and quality of light they can put out.

The Coleman Electric Northstar Lantern with Night Light at REI offers 42 watts of adjustable electric light that you can dim to save the batteries or turn up to increase the amount of light. It will last almost 12 hours on 8 D cell batteries. Obviously with all those big batteries you won't want to take this puppy backpacking, but for around the campsite this 5.5 pound lantern shouldn't blow away in the wind too easily. ;-) If you'd like an electric lantern that's a little lighter...

The Coleman Pack Away Electric Lantern weighs in at 2 pounds 9.5 ounces and is for when your space is limited. This lantern actually collapses into itself so that it takes less space to stow it. The krypton bulb throws off about 10 watts of light, so it's brighter than a candle lantern but dimmer than most camping lanterns. Battery life is about 12 hours. Still want something lighter?

A very light-weight possibility are LED lanterns. The 19 watt 4.6 ounce CMG Bonfire lantern runs on 2 AA batteries for up to 8 hours on bright, or 72 hours using the power-saving red mode. This is a great tent light because its tough, compact, and spare AA batteries are pretty easy to bring along. Since it hangs from a tent ceiling loop you don't have to worry about tipping it over. And from the world of high-tech camping...

Coleman's Remote Control Lantern runs up to 15 hours on 8 D cell batteries. At 35 watts the light is respectable but shouldn't leave light spots floating in front of your eyes when you look away into the dark. At just over 5 pounds it's no light-weight but if you like the idea of being able to turn on your lantern from across the tent check it out. It also has a nightlight which is nice for kids and keeps you from fumbling in the dark.

If you use battery lanterns often, invest in some rechargeable batteries to help ease the burden on your wallet and local landfills.