Choosing the Right Lighting for your Outdoor Needs

Flashlights are the most common type of lighting for outdoorsmen.  They are light, compact, portable and easy to use and the light can be directed exactly where you need it.

Headlamps are great to have when you need both hands to complete a task such as cooking, putting up the tent or walking at night with walking stick.

	Weight Are you going to be hiking great distances or is the campsite or destination not too far from the car.  If there will be a long trek, a lighter flashlight or a headlamp may be the way to go, but if you are not too far from the site a bigger light source may be plausible.
	Shape If there is going to be a long trek to the site or some unusual situations in which you use the light, you may want to consider a flashlight with a handle.
	Beam Some flashlights and headlamps have an adjustable beam so they are able to give a sharp beam to help you read a map or a broad beam to enable you to see the trail ahead but some flashlights and headlamps have set beams so consider what you will be using it for.
	Power Source Alkaline batteries are the most common power source.  They are inexpensive, long lasting and start to dim as the power gets low so you know to change them out, but performance is sub par in cold conditions. Lithium batteries last longer than alkaline batteries and work better in colder conditions, but are more expensive and when the power runs out they quit without warning. Nickel-cadmium batteries can be recharged using solar rechargers and are less expensive in the long run but don't hold a charge as long as an alkaline and lose the ability to hold a charge over time.

Lanterns are best used at the campsite itself and not to provide light on the trail.  Lanterns are excellent to light up the whole campsite just like the lights in your house.

Power Source As well as the battery power sources above, lanterns can also run off liquid fuel or compressed gas. Liquid fuel is more environmentally friendly due to the fact that there are fewer canisters to throw away as the fuel source is used but they can be bulky and harder to use. Compressed gas is easy to light and more compact but there is more waste and they don't last as long as liquid fuel.

Hopefully these tips on choosing the lighting for your campsite will help you figure out which lighting is right for you and your situation.  The one recommendation I will give is to get a Coleman Dual Fuel lantern.  It runs off the traditional "white gas" as well as regular unleaded fuel and in my experience has lasted all night (14 hrs) on one tank of fuel with no problems.