Camping Lanterns

What makes a camping lantern different from a headlamp

A headlamp throws a beam where you look. A lantern pushes light out in every direction, so four people can see the same table. That's why lanterns are rated by total output and runtime, and why beam distance doesn't show up on this page at all.

The lantern family at Hemlock Run splits by how the light is made and powered:

• LED on disposable batteries: AA, AAA or D cells you swap out
• LED rechargeable: a built-in or removable lithium-ion battery, charged over USB
• Gas or propane: a flame heats a mantle until it glows
• Solar and inflatable: a small panel charges a light you can flatten
• String lights and tent lights: small lights meant for a ceiling, not a table

Each of those has its own page, linked below. This page is the overview, with the specs that decide all of them.

The table on this page lists camping lanterns and camp lights we track, brightest first. It shows max output, max runtime, power source, water rating, format, dimming modes, whether there's a hook, string length on string lights, weight and pack count, from the maker first and the Amazon listing where the maker is silent (marked as listing values; weight is the maker's alone). The water rating appears only when the maker states it. When neither states a value, you get a dash instead of a guess.

How to choose a camping lantern

Here's how I read the table, one column at a time.

Pick the power source before anything else

The Power column decides how you live with the lantern. Disposable batteries mean you can buy more at any gas station. A rechargeable battery means one cable and no spares, until the night you forget to plug it in. Propane means fuel canisters, mantles and a lot of heat. Some hybrids take both, a rechargeable pack plus AA cells as the backup.

The rest of the specs only matter once this one is settled. A bright lantern on the wrong power source is a nice paperweight in the truck.

Max output: match lumens to the space

Lumens measure the total light a lantern puts out, not how far it reaches. Streamlight's summary of the ANSI FL1 standard calls it the total quantity of emitted light. More lumens light a bigger area.

BioLite's lantern guide gives rough targets by place:

• Inside the tent: 75 to 150 lumens, enough to read or play cards
• On the table: 200 to 500 lumens, for cooking and gathering
• Whole site: 500 to 1,000 or more, matched to group and site size

Its reference points help. A candle is about 10 lumens and a ceiling light about 1,000. The same guide says two or three 500-lumen lanterns are more than enough even for a large site. That beats one giant lantern, because spread-out light makes fewer shadows. (It also means fewer people standing in your light. Walt stands in my light. Every year.)

Max runtime is measured on the lowest setting

The runtime in the table is the longest the maker or the listing states. Under FL1, the clock starts 30 seconds after you switch on with fresh batteries and stops when output falls to 10% of where it started. Past that point it's too dim to count as the rated light.

That longest number almost always comes from the dimmest mode. One maker's manual for a rechargeable lantern shows the spread: about 2 hours 45 minutes on high, 6 hours 30 minutes on medium and 15 hours on low. Same lantern, same charge. So read the mode chart, not just the headline. A lantern you'll run on medium for a long November evening needs a big number in the middle row.

Dimmable modes save the battery and your eyes

The Dimmable / modes column shows how many brightness steps a lantern has, as the maker or the listing describes them. BioLite's guide recommends a lantern that dims, and that matches my experience of camp: full blast while you cook, low while you talk, off when Walt starts the story about 1994.

Some lanterns add a red mode or a flashing mode. Red is easier on night vision; flashing is for a roadside or an emergency. Neither should decide the purchase, but both are handy to have.

Water rating covers rain, not a swim

Lantern water ratings use the same IPX scale as flashlights. Streamlight's FL1 presentation spells it out. IPX4 means water splashed from any direction has no harmful effect. IPX7 means it survives temporary immersion, tested in about 1 meter of water. IPX8 means continuous immersion under conditions the maker states, tougher than IPX7.

For a lantern under a canopy, IPX4 covers a rainy night. A lantern that rides in a canoe or hangs outside all weekend earns a higher number. The rating is a maker claim, and the table shows only what the maker lists.

A hook beats a flat bottom

The Hook / hangable column is the most underrated one in the table. A lantern on the table lights the underside of everyone's chin. A lantern hung overhead lights the table. Look for a bail handle, a loop or a hook that can clip to a tent ceiling loop or a canopy frame.

Check the hook's shape against what you'll hang it on. A thin wire hook doesn't love a fat branch. A carabiner-style clip goes on almost anything.

Format: standard, collapsible, puck or string

The Format column sorts lanterns by shape: standard lanterns, collapsible ones that squash flat, inflatable ones, string lights, puck-style tent lights and fuel lanterns with a mantle. Collapsible and inflatable lanterns pack small. Pucks and string lights make sense where a lantern would be in the way.

Weight and pack count

The Weight column is in ounces and only gets a number when the maker gives one. For car camping it barely matters. For a lantern that rides in a hunting pack to a far blind, it does. Battery lanterns can get heavy because the cells themselves weigh something, which the battery-operated lantern page covers.

The Pack of column is the number of lanterns in one box. Two lanterns means one for the table and one for the outhouse path. (Renee asked why we need lights in two places. Renee has never walked the outhouse path at Hemlock Run at 2 a.m.)

Which camping lantern type fits which camp

Battery-operated lanterns for the truck and the emergency bin

A lantern that runs on AA, AAA or D cells is ready whenever there's a fresh pack of batteries. That suits a lantern that lives in the truck, the cabin closet or a power-outage bin for months. The battery-operated lantern page gets into cell sizes, cold weather and leaks.

Rechargeable lanterns for weekend trips with a charger nearby

A rechargeable lantern charges from a wall plug, a car port or a power bank. Some double as a phone charger through a USB output port. The rechargeable lantern page covers charging, battery care and USB.

Gas and propane lanterns for the open table

A gas lantern doesn't make light with the flame itself. Primus explains that the mantle is a fabric coated with salts that glow when heated; you burn the fabric off first and a fragile white skeleton is left. That's the bright, hissing light a lot of us grew up with.

It also means heat and fumes, so a gas lantern belongs outdoors. The gas lantern page covers mantles, fuel and setup.

String lights, tent lights and solar lanterns

String lights are for an awning or a canopy edge, where one lantern would leave dark corners. The table shows string length when the maker or the listing states it. Tent lights are small pucks that clip to a ceiling loop. Inflatable solar lanterns charge in the sun and pack flat. Each has a page: camping string lights, tent lights and inflatable solar lanterns.

LED vs propane lantern: the camp table argument

Every camp has this argument. Ours goes like this.

• Light: propane mantles give a warm, bright glow; LEDs give steady light with dimming steps
• Heat: a mantle lantern runs hot; an LED barely gets warm
• Fumes: propane burns fuel; an LED burns nothing
• Noise: propane hisses; an LED is silent
• Fuel: canisters and spare mantles, or batteries and a cable
• Inside a tent: LED only

Walt's take: "The hissing one is the porch light. The quiet one is the bedroom light." He's had that sorted since before LEDs existed, and he's right about where each one goes.

Hang it, aim it, put it away dry

A few habits make any camping lantern work better.

1. Hang it above eye level when you can. Light from above spreads; light from the table makes shadows.
2. Use two smaller lanterns instead of one big one, per BioLite's site advice: one at the table, one at the cooking spot.
3. Run the lowest mode that does the job. The runtime chart rewards it.
4. Wipe it down and let it dry before it goes back in the bin.
5. Store a battery lantern without its batteries and a rechargeable one with some charge left, as each type's page explains.

Fuel-burning lantern safety

Never run a gas, propane or liquid-fuel lantern inside a tent, camper or vehicle. Carbon monoxide doesn't care how cold you are.

The CPSC's carbon monoxide page says people die every year from camping heaters, lanterns and stoves used inside tents, campers and vehicles. It warns not to use them while sleeping in enclosed spaces, and says the risk is higher at altitude. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, sleepiness and confusion, and the CPSC says to see a doctor for cold or flu-like symptoms while camping. That's my one opinion on this page, and it's not really an opinion: inside the tent, the lantern is an LED.

Open-flame rules differ from state to state and on private land, so ask your state wildlife agency or the landowner first.

Who should skip a camping lantern

If you only need light to walk to the stand and back, a headlamp does that job better, and the headlamps page is the place to start. A lantern earns its spot when people sit still: a camp table, a blind with a kid in it, a tent you share. If your camp has a cabin with working lights, one small battery lantern for outages is plenty.

One lantern over the table, one on the path, both off by midnight. That's camp lighting at Hemlock Run, and the nail stays where it is.