When camping there are quite a few useful, and some necessary, tools to take along.  One of the more important ones is a light.  Once the sun goes down it is pitch-freakin-black out there my friends… and not just 100’s of miles from civilization.  Over the years we’ve tried out a wide variety of lights to help keep Mr. Boogedy away… but nothing makes it easier, or more convenient, than the two items we’ve officially adopted into our regular weekend warrior arsenal.

First is the Coleman Quad Lantern ($70), an incredibly versatile way to not only illuminate your campsite… but also give everybody a hand on their solo excursions (i.e. potty breaks) without killing everyone else’s mood.  Can I just start by saying that this has got to be one of the most genius interpretations of a campground classic we’ve ever seen?  As a single lantern it is powered by 8 D batteries… hefty?  yes… but with a 75 hour runtime that sounds right in line with others.  But that’s not where the brilliance lies… that comes in the form of 4 separate, detachable, hand-lanterns.  That’s right… all four sides separate to make an easy carry-away for anyone needing to steal away for a quick smooch.  Each break-away panel has its own on/off switch and easy to carry handle… then when you’re done with it you simply re-attach it to the main base where those 8 D’s we mentioned will start recharging it.  That’s right… each panel charges from the base (even as it’s on).  How great is that?!?!  Great example… at one point on our trip I had to stumble off into the wild for a little pee-pee break, PaysteeWhite had to scurry off into his tent to change himself and Eggshell was left all alone; but we each grabbed our little section of illuminated joy and went about our tasks.  When all was said and done we met back up and once again joined the forces of light… together!!!!  Why did I just hear the Captain Planet theme song in my head when writing that?  A truly great camping-trip investment… like buying 4 lanterns in 1.

Secondly is an item we’ve talked about a few times before on the WGUB… the Nokero Solar Light Bulb ($15).  If batteries are an issue, or maybe you just love powering your life with a little help from the sun… this bad-boy is the worlds ONLY solar light bulb, and a great way to make yourself seen!  For overall lighting we used the Coleman Quad Lantern mentioned above, but when it came to keeping the tent nice and bright when getting ready for our Zzzz’s the Nokero Bulb took over.  We simply left it hanging from one of the tent poles during the day while we were out gallivanting around (Eggshell actually kept his hooked to his pack just in case we didn’t get back before dark)… then when we were all ready to settle in we hung it from the inside of our tent and it was ready for action.  A brilliant way to save battery power while taking up a very small amount of space (truly only the size of a light bulb).

There you have it!  The brands and options are endless… but these two beauties are really all you’ll ever need!  We’ve tested them… we took them out into the wild… and we even tossed them around a bit to see how durable they really are.  We can truly say that the Quad Lantern and Solar Light Bulb are your best options.  Happy Camping!