If you’re a camping enthusiast you know how important lights are in the wilderness. For newbie campers, you might not feel the importance of an LED flashlight because you might think you could use your phone flashlight.
No doubt, cell phone lights are great in some situations but for camping, it's a big No! You can’t rely on your phone light for your camping trip because the battery won’t last and the light is not bright enough.
If you are new to the camping world, you might find it hard to find the perfect camping flashlight because there are so many brands and types of camping flashlights out there. Don’t worry we’ll help you!
Difference between Camping Flashlights and Regular Flashlights
There is a thin line between camping LED flashlights and regular flashlights. The makeover and the design are almost the same, only the lumens and the feature is what make them different from each other.
Regular flashlights are those flashlights that you keep in your trunk, toolbox, and or kitchen cabinet. These types of flashlights have about 40 to 100 lumens, just enough to light up the dark.
On the other hand, camping flashlights are a little more advanced than regular flashlights. These types of flashlights can produce several hundred or thousands of lumens and have longer beam throws.
Other than that, camping LED flashlight also has many inbuilt features such as different lighting modes, SOS modes, tail switch, glass breaker bezel, and more.
Types of Camping Flashlight
Depending on your trail and how you want to spend the night at the camping site you can between different flashlight options. Here are the top 5 flashlights mostly preferred by campers, hikers, and trekkers.
1. LED flashlights
LED flashlight is one of the most used flashlights during a camping trip. It has taken over the incandescent flashlight by its durability, longer battery life, maximum lumen, and maximum light throw. An LED flashlight can produce 10 times more lumen per watt than an incandescent flashlight.
2. Solar Powered Flashlight
Though this type of flashlight is not as powerful as those running on batteries, if you plan for a longer trip you might need one of these.
Flashlights with rechargeable batteries and changeable batteries can have a brighter lumen but in case the batteries don’t recharge or the charging doesn’t work. What will you do?
When you have a solar-powered flashlight you don’t need to carry an extra battery or a power bank. All you need is the light from our mighty sun!
3. Headlamp
Headlamps can make lots of work easier during a camping trip. With this type of flashlight, you can have a light and at the same time, you can engage in other activities which require your hands.
Headlamps allow you to easily search for dry woods for campfires, make tent repairs during the night, or even take great night photography. Most headlamps can be angled and clipped to the brim of a cap, mounted to a hard hat, or simply strap onto your head.
4. Lanterns
The word lanterns might give you the image of an old-style lantern that used to be fueled by kerosene. Today’s lanterns used batteries and LED bulbs to produce light. Though it might not produce as many lumens as the LED flashlight, still it is a great source of light for inside a tent, night reading, cooking, or lighting up the campsite area.
5. Tactical flashlights
This is a specialized flashlight mainly made for police officers and soldiers. So, how is it a camping flashlight? A tactical LED flashlight is a good camping flashlight because it's small in size and has strong lumens output, some reaching up to 1500 lumens.
You never know what emergency you might encounter in the wilderness. To make sure you are ready, a tactical flashlight is a must. You can temporarily blind or chase away dangerous animals with their strong lumen. Or you can use it for search operations if your teammate lost their way to the campsite.
Features You Should Look in a Camping Flashlight
There are lots of manufacturers out there who advertise their flashlights to be the best but most flashlights don’t even meet 50% of the advertisement. Here are a few features that you should look for in a camping flashlight.
1. Brightness
The first thing you should look for in a camping flashlight is brightness. Choose a brightness that is not too bright nor too dim.
Too much light can make it hard to see by washing away fine details, whereas low light will make your area hardly visible. The brightness should not be less than 300 lumens and not higher than 2000 lumens.
2. Light Modes
Most camping flashlights will have low, medium, and high lumen modes as a default. Other than that these are some modes you should look for.
● Strobe mode - This mode is mainly used during emergency situations by operating the flashlight as a blinker.
● Red Light Mode - This mode is best for reading books and maps.
● Lantern Mode - Not all camping flashlights have this feature but if you can find one, go for it. A flashlight with a lantern model comes with an additional wide lens that produces wide light instead of narrow light.
3. Batteries
A flashlight battery is another important factor you have to consider while choosing a camping flashlight. You get two common types of batteries in a flashlight a)Alkaline batteries and b)Li-ion batteries.
Li-ion batteries are those batteries that you will find in smartphones. This type of battery has excellent runtimes and doesn’t take long to recharge.
The best-LED flashlight batteries should be the one that is easy to charge with a power bank, can be charged in a car, and has no charging problem in use.
4. Durability
When you’re in the wild, there is a huge probability of dropping your flashlight. When the flashlight drops you don’t want it to break. For that reason, you should choose the one that is not only bright but durable at the same time.
Look for a flashlight that has a rigid body made of high-resistant plastic and aluminum. If you’re looking for a stronger one go for a titanium body flashlight. Also, make sure they are waterproof and dustproof.
5. Portability
Decide how you want to carry your flashlight! Most people think of a portable flashlight as something that can fit into their hands. While that’s true, but still many flashlights come in lots of other portability options. For example, some can be clipped to a keychain, and some might need to be carried in a bag.
Do you need a flashlight that you need to carry around? If yes, go for a smaller one that has a hanging clip. If your flashlight is staying in the trunk of your car, go for a bigger one.
Benefits of Camping LED Flashlights
There are countless benefits of using an LED flashlight during your camping trip. Here are some of the most important ones.
● Light - For obvious reasons, the first benefit is it lights up your path and avoids falls and injuries.
● Self-Defense - You can turn away wild animals and prevent attacks. You can also use it as a blunt weapon.
● Save Your Phone’s Battery - You need to have your phone turned on while you’re in the wild from making calls or even making Tiktok videos. Using your phone for light is a waste of battery.
● Emergency Signal - If you’re lost somewhere in the dark and the only thing you have is a flashlight. You can use it for sending emergency signals because, during the night, light is the only guaranteed thing that can be seen from many miles away.
3 Best Camping LED Flashlights in 2022
Here are the 3 most popular flashlights for outdoor activities that you need to try.
1. Warrior 3S Tactical Flashlight
This flashlight is one of the best flashlights on the market for outdoor activities. It has a powerful dual-switch with a proximity sensor. The best part is the rechargeable battery it has and the runtime of 55 days.
Warrior 3S is lightweight, it has 4 level battery indicator, a side switch, and a magnetic USB charging cable.
2. Baton 3
This is another powerful flashlight by Olight. The best part about this torch is you can use it for both EDC (Everyday Carry) and for outdoor activities. The battery of this flashlight is very powerful, it can produce up to 1200 lumens with a light throw of 166m beam distance.
3. Warrior Mini 2 Compact EDC Flashlight
If you’re looking for a lightweight, compact LED camping flashlight this one's for you. It has 4 brightness levels that can be used as per the situation and needs. Warrior mini 2 can produce up to 1750 lumens. With this amount of light, you can use it for hiking, camping, and during emergencies.
Getting Ready For Your Next Adventure
Whether you’re getting ready for your next adventure or only planning, choosing the best camping flashlights is important. Choosing the best camping flashlight depends on your idea of camping.
For setting up a camp during the night you will need a brighter flashlight with a hands-free option. If you’re someone who likes hiking deep into the forest to camp, you will want a flashlight that’s easy to carry and also dependable.
A solar-powered flashlight can be a better option if you’re planning to camp for more than 3 days. No matter how you plan to camp, your primary deciding factors should probably be the brightness and battery life.
