Lanterns and headlamps

Light for camp and the trail, what runs it, and keeping it going when the nights are long and cold.

What you need

Put fresh batteries in everything the night before you leave and carry one spare set per light.
Pick lights that take the same battery, so one spare set fits them all.
Use the low setting around camp. High burns the batteries in a fraction of the time and blinds whoever you look at.
Switch to red light in the tent and around the fire so your eyes keep their night vision.
Hang the lantern above the table from a line or a branch so it lights the work and not your face.
Keep the headlamp in the same pocket every night so you can find it in the dark.
In the cold, sleep with the headlamp and the spare batteries inside your sleeping bag.

Lock the headlamp switch, or turn one battery around, so it cannot come on in the pack and drain.
Carry a light on every walk away from camp, even a short one at dusk.
Choose lithium AA or AAA cells for winter. Alkaline cells quit early in hard cold.

Don't

Do not burn a fuel lantern, a candle or a stove inside a closed tent.
Do not count on your phone as your only light. You need that battery for calling out.
Do not shine a light in someone's eyes at the fire.

Danger

A fuel lantern gives off carbon monoxide and gets hot enough to melt a tent wall. Outside only. See Propane and carbon monoxide.
Dark comes early and fast in the fall woods. Be back at camp, or have your light out, an hour before sunset.
Rechargeable lights lose charge in the cold and a dead one gives little warning. Top them up every evening.

A headlamp is the one light worth spending money on. Hands free is what lets you cook, split wood and fix things after dark.

A flashing headlamp at night is also a signal. See Getting found.

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Updated 2026-09-23