Light The Night: The Crua Community’s Seven Best Camping Lanterns & Lights

At Crua we are in a great position as we have such an experienced community of adventurers, hikers and campers to learn from. We enjoy hearing about all the trips, adventures and weekends away that our community undertakes. We also love being able to lean on our ambassadors and community members for camping tips and insights on camping equipment. Recently, we asked our community for their take on the best camping stoves and compiled a list of the top seven. You can check out that post here.

After getting such great feedback on our camping stoves query we decided to once again dip into the well of knowledge. We asked our community for their personal favourite camping lights. Once again we were humbled to get back such generous feedback. We got back a host of different models of lanterns, light ropes and torches. Together we drew up our community’s top seven.

This is not the definitive guide to camp lighting or a showcase of the latest technologies. We wanted to get our community’s favourites. These are the tried and tested. The most loved camping lights in our community. The lights that have been taken on camping adventures and demonstrated their reliability and quality. That to us is the very best endorsement. Thanks again to everyone who offered their support. We hope you enjoy this list of the Crua Community’s seven favourite camping lights.

This Coleman Twin LED Lantern was a firm favourite amongst the Crua community. A powerful lantern that, compared to some lanterns on the market, is rather easy on the wallet. Exactly what you want in a camping light. The Coleman Twin LED Lantern produces an extremely bright 390 lumens on its highest setting. If you are unfamiliar with those values, we assure you it’s enough to light up even the brightest of night’s skies.

If you prefer to create an ambiance, you can adjust the light output to seven different levels. The Coleman 390L is water-resistant with a rubber sole, which means it can be placed on the ground in all weather conditions. The battery life ranges from 85 hours on its highest setting, to a massive 300 hours on the lowest. It is a little heavier than some models but it’s only a slight complaint on what is a terrific model.

The luminoodle is a fun way to light up your campsite but don’t be fooled, it is not just another gimmick. The flexible noodle light is a real favourite amongst our ambassadors. The Luminoodle proves its worth in its incredible versatility and functionality. This camping light is essentially an illuminated rope that can be wrapped around trees, poles and hung from almost anywhere.

The Luminoodle has been an incredible servant for night time readers and those cooking under canopies. By fully utilizing the length of the rope and hanging it inside your tent it also gives an even light source like no other.

Lastly, let’s not dance around it - the Luminoodle is a fun piece of camping gear. If it wasn’t enough to have a rope that lights the night, there are also a variety of colours and other fun settings. The rope itself is very lightweight and can fold into a small bag. All in all an incredibly handy camping companion.

We asked our community for their favourite camping lights. We had no preconceived expectations but we’ll admit that we didn’t expect this ode to candlelit lanterns to be so popular.

The design is very simple. A lightweight lantern case which allows you to insert a good old fashioned candle. Not a ultra bright LED bulb but a natural flame. Afterall, camping is meant to be an escape from the modern world, where one can embrace nature. The UCO Original Candle Lantern certainly plays into that idyllic notion.

There is no requirement for batteries, no exact power measurement to report or any adjustable settings. It is just a quaint and clever nod to olden times.

• Etekcity Ultra Bright Portable LED Camping Lantern

Another very affordable LED camping lantern.

This lantern is incredibly powerful and lightweight with great battery power. The design of this camping lantern is incredibly clever. Instead of being fixed at the same height, the ends of the lantern collapse at the ends for easy packing. This means that it’s storage height is almost half the size.

If you want to use the lantern again after folding, it’s very simple. You just pick up the handle and let gravity work its magic. The lantern goes back to full size and the light automatically turns on.

Innovative design at a very reasonable price. Definitely one to try out.

After swooning over the simplistic, old fashioned design of the UCO Candle Lantern, here Biolite bring us to the other end of the spectrum. This is a 21st century lighting system. The world’s first flat pack lantern that is also bluetooth enabled. An incredible feature for a camping lantern.

The lantern itself cannot be faulted. At a max outage of 500 lumens, it is even more powerful than the Coleman twin LED lantern. Not only that but the system doubles as a portable battery pack. A USB portal allows you to charge your phone and other electrical equipment. Now that is modern technology at its most efficient.

The Biolite BaseLantern does not come cheap and is not your typical camping light. However, with this flat pack lantern, Biolite offers something a bit out of the ordinary and a little special. This model is sure to impress the outdoor enthusiasts with a penchant for innovate design.

When going on an adventure outdoors. it is always useful to carry a great flashlight. After reaching out to our community it was the Olight S1 Mini Baton that came up trumps. When we asked our community for their opinions on top camping lighting we kept it ambiguous. We wanted to see if people would remember the humble flashlight. The small piece of camping gear that is sometimes needed to locate all the others.

The Olight’s miniature design makes it incredibly useful. It is also extremely powerful with a max outage of 600 lumens and a beam that can carry for over 130 metres. To cap it all off the Olight S1 Mini Baton is rechargeable through a mini USB port. A handy feature from a Crua Community favourite.

We round off our list of our favourite camping lights with another small and mighty flashlight. This powerful flashlight is a favourite, not only for our community, but professionals in all areas. The Streamlight 88044 ProTac HL is one of the more expensive pieces of camping equipment on our list.

In this day and age there is no excuse not to be carrying a flashlight on your camping adventure. This powerful EDC light really is as good as any.

Thanks to all our community for shining a light on your favourite camping lights. We really appreciate your tremendous feedback.