As the season changes and warm-weather adventures begin, we explore the different ways that flashlights, headlamps, and lanterns can light up your next outing.
Brighten your camping trips with a variety of lights that provide function and entertainment. Deciphering which light is right for you can feel overwhelming.
While a handheld flashlight can help navigate a path safely, a lantern can prevent tripping over logs and guylines. Soft red lighting can help you see fellow campers without blinding them in the process.
Understanding the different lighting options — and how to use them — can go a long way in making your next outdoor adventure a better experience. Below, we’ll run through some Fenix lighting offerings to show the different designs and uses for lighting outdoors.
Hand, Head, Overhead
Fenix makes dozens of lights, ranging from pocket-sized keychain LEDs to flashlights blasting 12,000 lumens of light to safety-minded bike lights. Most can be used in more ways than one, but for common activities like camping or working in dark areas, it’s better to have a light built specifically for the occasion.
Fenix uses LEDs in all of its flashlights, and most of the models are rechargeable. Ounce counters may appreciate this, as skipping batteries helps save weight.
Many of the flashlight models are intended for everyday use, whether that’s for regular work in dark areas or just an assist while navigating a front walkway at night.
Meanwhile, headlamps provide hands-free lighting to see what you’re working on in front of you or what’s far up ahead on a trail. Some emphasize lightweight designs for jogging or hiking. Others have more heft from a larger battery and provide enough light to see wide areas 100 feet away.
Unless you’re camping by yourself, you’ll want a lamp that easily dims or switches to red light to avoid blasting fellow campers with the light.
Lanterns cast light around a greater area and are often used for work areas and campsites. The more general lighting can help organize a site and illuminate tripping hazards. Some camping lanterns can cast different intensities in different directions to focus the more intense beams downward.
Additionally, Fenix uses a magnet base in several of its lanterns to give users more options for placement.
Fenix makes everyday carry flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, and more. Below, we’ve highlighted examples from the Fenix catalog that reflect their range of use, with an emphasis on camping and outdoors.
PD36R Rechargeable Flashlight: $100
A bestseller with a lot of lumens in a pocket-sized tube, this light throws a max of 1,600 lumens over 300 yards and is rechargeable. It’s 5.4 inches long with a one-inch diameter.
This everyday carry flashlight can clip onto a belt or pack for external access when the light is low, whether that’s digging through a pack on an early start or a late-night bathroom break.
LR35R Rechargeable Flashlight 10,000 Lumens: $200
This 5.5-inch handheld flashlight throws out 10,000 lumens of lighting power in a dustproof, waterproof design. Yes, you read that correctly — 10,000 lumens in this compact design. That is enough light to reach 500 yards. It’s rechargeable and has a battery status indicator to prevent getting caught off guard.
The midsize LR35R is the type of light that can live in your vehicle and be ready when you need an extra-bright camp light, or if you want to scan fields for other signs of life.
E-LITE Mini Flashlight: $20
Shown here in red-light mode and clipped onto a hat, this everyday carry mini-light is one of the smallest Fenix offers. It has a front white light, and the red light can be reduced to a flash.
There’s a blue light for use around water as well. The USB-rechargeable E-LITE is 2 inches long and weighs 18 g with a battery.
HM61R Multi-Use Headlamp: $85
Fenix built the HM61R as an all-purpose headlamp with a removable light mounted on the headband. It disconnects for use as a right-angle flashlight that also hooks onto a pack. And there’s a magnetic base for attaching it to a car.
The light can produce 1,200 lumens of white light or run in red-light mode. It recharges via a magnetic USB.
HM65R-T Rechargeable Headlamp: $100
This rechargeable headlamp focuses on bright, clean lighting. It has an independent spotlight and floodlight that can combine for 1,500 max lumens. The floodlight has a neutral-color LED to avoid the blue hue common in flashlights. This light has a patented SPORT headband fit system for quick, one-handed adjustment of the headband.
CL26R Rechargeable Lantern: $60
Lanterns typically cast a wide glow to illuminate a broad area and avoid intense lights. The CL26R has three modes of 360-degree lighting. But it stands out from the pack for its multidirectional options with one front-facing light and two downlights.
This type of lantern works for general lighting at a campsite, with the brighter light directly underneath for cooking or organizing your gear. Later, you can use a dimmer setting or red-light mode inside a tent. There’s also a magnetic base for car mounting.
CL30R Rechargeable Camping Lantern: $110
Car campers and weekend backpackers can bask in the light of a lantern with this small camping lantern, which weighs less than a pound. This rechargeable LED lantern also has a USB port to charge your other devices, like your phone.
Light the Way
Don’t get us wrong — we love to sit and enjoy the light of the moon and stars. But as soon as we stand up, we like to have a reliable light to see where we’re going.
Having a light at the ready helps with safety, organization, and general peace of mind. On occasion, we’ll scan a treeline for things that go bump, or growl, in the night.
Campers typically use a variety of lighting solutions on a trip, including on the way to their sites. However, all of these can come in handy around the home, too.
A headlamp can illuminate a crawlspace or dim attic, and a lantern works as a backup during power outages. Plus, an everyday carry flashlight gets that name for an obvious reason.
Fenix makes dozens of lights for different uses. You can explore more and factor in weight, size, and brightness to find the right light for your needs.
This article is sponsored by Fenix. Learn more about Fenix lighting products here.