Tent Lighting (1 Viewer)

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gregnash

Anal Retentive Analyst
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Nov 3, 2011
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Carson City, NV
Figured that I would start a new tent instead of resurrecting something that was a couple years old. I have gone through most of the tent/camp lighting threads and looked at the information but figured I would start a more updated one.

Backstory:
Wife and I have been tent campers for years, go through a "nylon" tent about every two years (been camping together for 14yrs now) so it has started getting expensive. This year was another upgrade year so instead of just purchasing another nylon I started looking at more expensive ones, like the big agnes and Kodiak/Springbar. We decided that since we have no plans on purchasing a small camper in the near future (of course that could change with the right deal) that we would spend a decent amount on a nice tent, budgeting around $500-$700. It just so happened that when I went down to CA to see my dad one weekend we were talking about camping and I told him how we were in the market for a new tent, which was looking to be canvas as this point (going with the larger Springbar).

Well low and behold my dad still had their canvas tent from the 70s when my parents lived in Australia and I had grown up camping in until I was about 13yrs old. When we pulled it out it was actually in very good condition aside from a few overly dry spots in the canvas that were starting to dryrot (not bad for sitting in the humidity of the central valley for 20+yrs). Well after $300 to completely replace the floor of the tent with new canvas, which the company made the excess into a nice carrying bag for the tent for us, we are back in action!

This thing is huge for the two of us, 9'x16' and is quite nice. The main problem we have is that it is so thick with the canvas that it can get pretty dark inside.

Question:
So with all that being said, we need some interior lighting for this bad boy. I am thinking battery powered LED lights, no propane or fuel based lanterns just because the main light will be hanging in the middle of the tent to provide overall lighting for the interior.
- What lights do you guys recommend?
- And for that matter what Lumen should I be looking at? I was at Sierra Trading Post yesterday and they have these cool little Black Diamond Orbit lights that are super small and runs on 3 AAA batteries. However, it only puts out 45lumens which doesn't seem like a lot for our huge tent, and at $20/ea it would kinda be a waste.
- Do you have any "string" lighting that could help? With the holidays here I am going to keep my eyes out for stuff at Target/Lowe's/Home Depot and probably grab a few things.
- The other one was that my BIL just bought me a Milwaukee M12 driver/drill kit for my bday (he is a master plumber and swears by them). Looking on their site I saw they have a little lantern and light that use the batteries and was just thinking of getting one of those to run off my M12 batteries but at $80/ea I was wondering if there might be something cheaper? But with these it would serve a dual purpose for working on the cruiser and for camping.

Just to make it so that this is not a wall of text here is the tent on its first trip in over 20yrs....
#camping #oldschoolcanvas #canvastent So we got the family heirloom tent out after a 20+yr hiatus. Thanks to Eikelberger canvas for repairing the bottom she did phenomenal and has many more years of use!! by renofizz, on Flickr

Dad and I setting it up in his backyard...
Fizzy Canvas Tent by renofizz, on Flickr

And here is the little Milwaukee light I am talking about...
2362-20_1.png
 
We ended up using one of these http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018S4XIS/ which get great reviews (I really like it), the only problem is you get a bit of a dark spot right below it. We have a loop at the top of our tent that I just added small s-hook to to mount it (just watch your head!).

For a dedicated tent light rather than a more portable one, it looks like there are a bunch of down facing or side facing units if you search for "tent light". The Coleman Tent Light seems like a nice idea too - mount it anywhere with magnets. http://smile.amazon.com/Coleman-830A250T-Tent-Light/dp/B0009PUPU6/
 
I have the coleman and it works well in my RTT, albeit my RTT is no where near as large as your tent.
 
I keep 3 of the free harbor freight lights in my roof top tent. They have a hook to hang and are nice and brightbright
 
That's right I forgot about those free ones. Only problem is they are one directional lighting. I am really looking for something to throw light in all directions (or close too).
These were interesting I thought....
SunJack Camp light
Halo Camping Lantern

And I thought these were kinda cool for showing where our outward most lines are...
UCO Stakelight
 
I keep 3 of the free harbor freight lights in my roof top tent. They have a hook to hang and are nice and brightbright

I use four of these suckers in my Globetrotter trailer top tent and it's barely sufficient. I need to get around to installing a full size battery on the trailer instead of the small little one for the emergency brake cut off and install some better lighting. Projects, projects and no time!
 
I use this little Coleman X lantern left over from when I did more backpacking type camping. Uses CR123 batteries which I use for all my flashlights and headlamp. I like carrying only one type of battery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0NZ2PVTM1EJRHRJYKECY
It woks for me sleeping in the back of the 80 or in a tent. I have also used my 18v Dewalt light but it goes through batteries if used a lot.
 
Already invested in Ryobi 18V cordless products? I'm using one of these that can be had for $20. Will last a few night's use on single charge if you have one of the newer Lithium packs. Works pretty good if hung from the ceiling with a carabiner or velcro strap. It gives off a very cool light though, so that's the one downside.
shopping
 
I use this little Coleman X lantern left over from when I did more backpacking type camping. Uses CR123 batteries which I use for all my flashlights and headlamp. I like carrying only one type of battery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0NZ2PVTM1EJRHRJYKECY
It woks for me sleeping in the back of the 80 or in a tent. I have also used my 18v Dewalt light but it goes through batteries if used a lot.

That is nifty but the thing is it takes a very specialized battery (CR123) which can be very hard to find if you are out at a normal general store.
Guess I should add the specification that these should run off a standard, easily found battery like AA, C, D, etc.
 
That is nifty but the thing is it takes a very specialized battery (CR123) which can be very hard to find if you are out at a normal general store.
Guess I should add the specification that these should run off a standard, easily found battery like AA, C, D, etc.
That is true. I usually buy in bulk to get them cheaper. Usually 50 at a time so I always have backup.
 
That is true. I usually buy in bulk to get them cheaper. Usually 50 at a time so I always have backup.
That is true, but most people probably wont want to have to look for a specific battery like that just-in-case they get to a situation where they need batteries because they ran out, forgot that box, surplus got wet/damaged, etc. The one exception I am looking at is the Milwaukee lantern specifically because I have the M12 tools and have 3 batteries for them. But more than likely I will look at something that is a bit more wide spread.

Trying to think of a good comparison too for those interested in light output comparison. I was looking at some of them thinking that 100 Lumens was too little but then I am somewhat wondering what you want in your tent. Other cool option would be a red light, so that way you would not affect your night vision like one of the other guys said, but that might be a bit harder plus a lot of the places we stay have lights in the bathrooms that are pretty bright so you are ruining your night vision at that point.
 
We use a Coleman Butane micro lantern. We hang it in the middle of our tent from the ridge pole. It's small enough to leave in the FJ and puts out a ton of light. My only complaint is light out put is low in temps below 20. Here's a link http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Micro-Lantern/dp/B000BPEEGU
 
Battery powered LED Christmas lights.
yup just bought a bunch of strands to do around the awning (wife's request). So might have to string one or two inside.
I need to come up with a better storage setup for all out stuff. Have all our camping gear in a couple cheap rubbermaid bins now but thinking I want something with a bit better organization. Might have to build one of those chuck boxes that is in that other thread.

We use a Coleman Butane micro lantern. We hang it in the middle of our tent from the ridge pole. It's small enough to leave in the FJ and puts out a ton of light. My only complaint is light out put is low in temps below 20. Here's a link http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Micro-Lantern/dp/B000BPEEGU
Thats a neat little lantern. Only thing is I am trying to stay away from having fuel of any type inside the tent. And normally we only have the Memorial Day weekend where the temps really get low, most of the time it is fairly warm but this may be a good replacement for our propane lanterns that take up a lot of space.
 
I sleep in my 80, but I use a Snowpeak Snow miner headlamp. You can wear it around camp, then take it off and convert it to a variable brightness hanging lantern. Works great.
 
Thanks Dan but trying to stay away from open flame or fuel based items.
Why is that? Our popup tent trailer has electric lights built in and we usually use candles or a kerosene lantern because the quality of the light is more rustic or outdoorsy if you will. Electric light tends to be kind of harsh for our taste.
 
I guess I really don't have any particular reason as to why I want to stay away from fuel based lighting in the tent other than the fact that we take our dogs camping with us and I do not want to run the risk of having an accident. The other thing is that if I do a "candle" then I have to worry about open flame and wax but then again with a small lantern fueled by propane or fuel I have to worry about the same there. I do agree on the type of light that a candle/fuel based light throws vs. a battery operated LED or bulb. I don't know though, I will keep looking, main thing is something small, can hang, and whatever the power source is can be readily found at out of the camping general stores and what not.

Bit off topic but I think I may build a chuck box this year as most of our stuff is hap-hazardly stored in two different tote bins. It would be nice to have dedicated storage for all these items and something that is a bit easier to get into and inventory at the beginning of the year vs. a tote that has everything jammed into it.
 

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