Best Camping Lanterns: 10 Beams to Trip the Light Fantastic

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose a Camp Lantern

Power Sources

Fuel Burning Lanterns

Traditional gas lanterns are iconic in design but have lately declined in popularity. While these lanterns are brighter and have an adjustable flame to control light intensity, traditional camping lanterns suffer from safety concerns.

Gas-powered lanterns are dangerous to use in tents because they emit toxic fumes and generate a lot of heat.

If you’re a traditionalist in terms of design or need to light a large outdoor area then a gas-powered lantern may be the way to go.

Battery Powered Lanterns

Nowadays, the most popular options for camping light sources are battery powered lanterns using rechargeable and disposable batteries.

In comparison to traditional camping lanterns, LED electric lanterns are safer, meaning they’re tent, dog, and child-friendly. In addition, battery-powered lanterns have a superior “burn time”, meaning you won’t be left in the dark.

If safety and longer battery life aren’t enough to convince you then electric lanterns tend to be lighter and more durable than their gas-powered compatriots.

The downside to battery lanterns is the frequent need to replace the batteries, which will discharge even when in storage.

Increasingly, rechargeable batteries as a power source are becoming the norm in most models of lanterns. These lightweight batteries can be charged and discharged hundreds of times making them a much more environmentally friendly option.

Rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries are typically charged with micro-USB cords connected either to a power outlet, battery pack, portable solar panel, or a built-in solar panel. Lanterns may or may not have the included USB cable required for this charging.

The main issue with rechargeable batteries is that once you’ve run the battery down, you’ll need an external power source (outlet, battery pack, or the sun) on hand to charge it up again.

On the flip side, disposable alkaline batteries are small & easy to carry, meaning it is easy to have backups.

Some of the top models like the Black Diamond Apollo have an internal rechargeable Li-Ion battery and are also compatible with 3 AA batteries. This gives you the best of both worlds – the benefit of rechargeables with the reassurance of disposable backups.

Brightness (Lumens) & Light Quality

One of the banner specifications manufacturers will specify is a camping lantern’s brightness, given in lumens. The higher a lantern’s lumen output, the greater its light intensity. 

For the technically inclined, one lumen is equal to the intensity of one candle shone onto a meter square of area. Thus, the 210-lumen Goal Zero Lighthouse Mini is equivalent to the light output of 210 candles.

The camping lanterns we’ve tested range from Goal Zero’s Crush Light’s 60 lumens up to the staggeringly bright light of the UST 60-day Duro Glow at 1200 lumens.

How much light, and therefore how many lumens, you need will depend on your usage, but we recommend the following as a rough guideline:

• 60 to 100 lumens: Gives a pleasant glow perfect for reading in a small tent.
• 100 to 200 lumens: Perfect for solo-use or for a two-person tent.
• 200 to 600 lumens: Great for group use.
• 600+ lumens: Enough light output to light up a room or a large outdoor area.

If you want your lantern to light a large area, all-out brightness is a good thing. However, lower settings of light output are easier on the eye late into the night.

In fact, we’ve found there is such a thing as too bright. Particularly for certain tasks or situations.

In our opinion, the quality and adjustability of the light are more important than the max brightness alone.

All the lanterns we have featured have multiple brightness settings available. However, a continuous dimming feature is one “upgrade” that we recommend, almost as a must-have. This will allow you greater flexibility in adjusting the brightness level to suit the task at hand.

The quality and color of a lantern’s light is another key consideration, with a spectrum of light tones available. These range from bright white most suited to illuminating a large area, to a warmer orange glow better suited for reading.

The more you move towards the red end of the light spectrum, the easier on the eye the light becomes. Too far towards the cooler-blue-white end, as is the case with the Etekcity, and you can feel like you’ve been caught in a prison light spotlight.

Lastly, the casing plays an important role in helping to diffuse the light, making it softer and easier to look directly towards.

Burn Time (aka Battery Life)

When you’re camping or backpacking for extended periods of time, the battery life of your camping lantern is an important consideration.

A good tip is to calculate the approximate number of hours each evening your group will need light. Multiply this by the number of days of your typical camping trip and, hey presto, you’ve got a baseline number to work with.

Bear in mind that the “headline” number of hours of light output given by lantern manufacturers is typically given for the lowest setting you can adjust to. If you run your lantern on the maximum brightness, then expect a significantly shorter burn time.

For example, the Streamlight Siege can run for almost 300 hours on its lowest brightness output (55 lumens). Crank that up to its max brightness of 540 lumens, and you’ll drop the battery life to around 30 hours.

Specs should also be treated with skepticism as we’ve yet to find a lantern that performs to the manufacturer’s battery life claims whilst being used in the wild.

For longer car camping adventures it makes sense to choose a heavier lantern, such as the Siege or the UST Duro, which can keep emitting light for even the longest of trips.

Longer hiking trips will necessitate looking for a lantern that has its own solar panels, such as the LuminAID Packlite Max, or bringing along a portable battery pack, solar charger, or one that takes disposable batteries like the Black Diamond Apollo.

Durability & Water Resistance

Like most pieces of outdoor equipment, durability and resistance to water are key to a long-lasting lantern. While all the models we’ve tested will hold up well to the rigors of camping, some still perform better than other lanterns.

If you need a lantern that can take a battering then impact-resistant plastics, and rubber such as seen on the UST Duro or the Streamlight Siege, help protect the lanterns from accidental drops and falls.

Unsurprisingly the lighter lanterns are made with less durable materials, but the products we tested all still held up well to the demands of the backcountry.

The most susceptible ones to damage are inflatable solar lanterns like the LuminAid Packlite, or string lights such as the MPowered Luci, where punctures or fraying respectively could place them into early retirement.

Water and dirt are an inescapable part of spending time in the outdoors, both of which don’t mix particularly well with electronic products. The IP rating system is a standardized international system for rating the protection provided against intrusion, dust ingress, and water. It’s made up of two numbers, the first is the solids protection (rated from x – 6) and the second is the product’s water resistance (rated from 1 – 8).

The higher the number, the greater the protection from solid or liquids offered by the lantern. For more details on  the IP ratings take a look at the following chart:

All of the electric LED lanterns we’ve reviewed are a minimum of IPX4 rated, which means they can handle splashes of liquid (i.e. light-moderate rain). At the top end, the LuminAid Nova (IP67) and the Streamlight Siege (IPX7) are the highest-rated and can be submerged in water (for a short time) without issue.

Ease of Use

For ease of use, electric lanterns win hands down over propane lanterns. A simple on/off switch is much easier to operate than trying to get your gas lamp to light.

If you’re looking for something basic then you can’t get much simpler than a large, and easily accessible on/off switch (or dial) and a hook to hang your lantern – the Coleman Twin LED is a good example of such a camping lantern.

Beyond this then the intuitiveness of selecting the correct light mode should be frustration-free. This is where dimmable lanterns such as the Goal Zero Lighthouse or the Black Diamond Apollo win over products like the Goal Zero Crush or UST Duro where you have to cycle through light levels.

Pushing a button multiple times may seem like an easy operation, but the lighting you require may be between two brightness settings (sometimes necessitating cycling through them all more than once to adjust to the right setting). In instances like this, simply turning a dial to the desired brightness is (in our opinion) the better option.

Setting up your lantern should be a piece of cake, whether you plan to set it down somewhere or hang it on a tree branch.

Wider bases or camping lanterns with legs are the better options for getting them to sit well on uneven surfaces. The rubber-tipped legs of the Black Diamond Apollo made it a cinch to find a place to set it down at various campsites.

If easy hanging is your wish, then look for good hooks (again the Black Diamond Apollo’s twin hook design is a winner). Also, pay attention to a lantern’s weight, as heavier lanterns are much harder to suspend. At 1.5kg and with a small recessed hook like the UST Duro is not going to be great for hanging.

If you opt for a rechargeable lantern then take a look at the charge time (particularly for a solar-powered lantern). Longer charge times like the 7 (USB) to 16 hours (solar) charging time of the MPowered Luci may not necessarily fit with your itinerary.

Weight and Packed Size

The importance of weight and packed size on your decision-making comes down to your intended style of camping.

Unless your campsite is a long distance from the car park, then the packed size and weight won’t be an issue for car camping.

If you plan on backpacking, you’re going to want a lantern that is lightweight and doesn’t take up a lot of space. We’d recommend nothing larger than the Black Diamond Apollo (12 ounces) depending on your other gear requirements.

Ultralight backpackers and those watching their weight will likely want to opt for something even lighter. The Goal Zero Crush (3.2 ounces) and the Black Diamond Moji (4.3 ounces) being two of the lightest camping lanterns we would recommend.

Further reading: If you’re looking for something more lightweight, then check our guide to the best headlamps for hiking & backpacking.

Additional Features

While not essential to the lantern’s main function, extra features can help make life in the wilderness that little bit easier.

One of the more popular features seen on lanterns like the Goal Zero Lighthouse is the ability to use it as a phone charger or to charge other electronic devices like your GPS unit via USB. Definitely, a handy function if you intend to be out on a longer camping trip.

Power runs out unexpectedly? Several of the lanterns, such as the LuminAid Packlite or the Black Diamond Apollo have a battery life meter. It’s a useful function to keep an eye on…and turn down the brightness level if you need light for a little bit longer. While it didn’t make the final cut, the Goal Zero Lighthouse 400 lantern features a built-in hand-crank so you have the option to manually power up your lantern.

One useful feature we’d like to see on more light sources is a night vision mode – red lighting is an unintrusive light setting that won’t disturb your tent mates’ sleep. It also doesn’t dilate your pupils like white light does, meaning you’ll be able to see while retaining your night vision.

Beyond this, there are camping lanterns with other interesting features such as flashlight mode, or directional light settings. While handy, these features are unlikely to be useful enough to sway your decision one way or another.

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