Keep The Light At Night And Don’t Forget Your Lantern When You Go Backpacking

by Ric Henderson

When you are getting your pack ready, it is quite easy to forget some of the essentials.  You can make lists and check each item off, but it is still quite easy to walk out the door and forget something that is not actually in your pack.  A lantern is one such item as people will often tie it to the outside of their pack.  Whatever you do, make sure you don’t leave the lantern behind.

There are some items that you can ad lib with some things, but creating light is not one of them.  If you walk out the door without your lantern, the nights are going to be quite interesting.  You will end up fumbling around and will pretty much be restricted in what you can do once the sun goes down.  Not only that, but you would then be responsible for holding everyone else back as well.

As you are shopping for lanterns, you will see that you have plenty of options to pick from.  It really is a matter of preference as you will see all varieties at just about every price point that you can imagine.  Some of the components will be a little better and one might be a little larger, but they are all there to do one thing, provide you with a source of light.

A common problem with a camping lantern is that if they are made of glass, they can break rather easily.  If you have room in your pack for it, it will be a little safer.  If you have to carry it outside the pack, one wrong bump or trip can shatter the glass and basically make your lantern useless.  The draw to the glass lanterns is that they show more light, but you are probably not going to be traveling at night so you will not need to see that far.  Besides, you should have a flashlight with you anyway to see far distances.

When you are backpacking, you should stay away from any lantern that uses a flame.  You can only imagine the danger that can happen if you fall asleep or the lantern accidentally tips over in your tent.  Use a battery operated lantern and carry an extra set of batteries with you.  Safety should always come first on a backpacking trip and this is one thing that you can do to keep things as safe as possible.

In addition to batteries, you will also want to pack extra bulbs as well. If it is battery operated, the bulb could blow and you would be stuck in the dark again. You will also want to make sure that you carry these supplies in a waterproof bag that is sealed. In a pinch, you can put everything into a sealed foodsaver bag. You will only need to break the seal if you have to use them so not being able to close the bag again is no big deal.