The 8 Best Camping Lanterns of 2026: Tested

One lantern made it to our tester/first responder’s list of favorites: the Lighthouse 600 from Goal Zero. A top scorer in every metric that matters, the Lighthouse 600 has specs that belie its compact dimensions. It’s roughly the size of a coffee mug when its collapsible legs are folded, yet it emits a whopping 600 lumens. That’s enough to illuminate most tent sites, the front of a car being jumped back to life or a family room during an unexpected blackout. One tester set up the Lighthouse 600 at their cook station while car camping at Gross Reservoir outside Boulder, Colorado, and it provided enough ambient light for her pal to pitch their tent 50 feet away without a headlamp.

The simplicity and battery-longevity of the Lighthouse 600 is another hallmark. From its single dial, you can fire up both sides of the lantern for 360-degree light or just one for more directional light (like if you wanted to illuminate your tent repair without waking up your neighbors), as well as adjust brightness. The lantern also has a USB port for plugging in and juicing up other devices like a phone, headlamp or portable battery pack from its power stores. Its own integrated USB charger wraps around its middle, so you never have to dig for the cord at the bottom of your pack.

Its three charging methods—including one that doesn’t require anything more than a little muscle power—are what make this lantern a top pick for emergency situations. One of our testers deployed the Lighthouse 600 on a winter blackout in northern New England during which she lost power for more than a week. This lantern kept shining for three full winter days before petering out—and it only took a dedicated arm workout to power it back on. That’s right: Pop the lever out of the top of the lantern and start cranking for a mechanical boost to the battery. (Goal Zero calls it a 10-to-1 ratio: 10 minutes of its lowest-level light for every 1 minute of cranking.) It’s a great insurance policy against a dead battery, making this lantern a versatile choice for emergency kits or bug-out bags. The Lighthouse 600 also pairs neatly with the Goal Zero suite of solar panels, so it can recharge via UV rays if connected.

Physical features are a rarity at this weight, but the Lighthouse 600 does have a metal, swinging handle, which makes it easy to carry or pop on a sturdy tree branch or tarp line.

OK, backpackers, hear us out. We know weight and space are of the essence, so a lantern may seem like overkill when you already have a headlamp in your kit. But the upgraded LuminAID Max Quick Inflate Solar Lantern with Phone Charger (previously called the LuminAID PackLite Max 2-in-1 Phone Charger) will convince you otherwise—and it saves you the weight of a battery pack, too.

As a lantern, the waterproof Max Quick Inflate delivers up to 200 lumens via five modes. Hang the tissue box–size lamp from a tree to illuminate small campsites or affix it to the tent ceiling for visibility when changing, reading or producing epic night photography. The Max Quick Inflate can run for up to 50 hours on the “low” setting, which is why our testers love it for multiday hikes and hut trips. Best part? The lantern has a built-in solar panel, so you have a backup if your batts die.

Or harness the sunshine and use the Max Quick Inflate as a charging station. A built-in USB port allows you to plug in and juice up a phone, headlamp or camera. One tester appreciated the versatility when his phone died on a backcountry ski adventure around New Hampshire’s Tuckerman Ravine on Mount Washington. “Even after powering up my phone, the Max Quick Inflate had enough in the tank for a little lantern-light après in the parking lot,” he says.

Back to weight and space: If we haven’t convinced you yet, consider that the versatile Max Quick Inflate weighs less than a pound and collapses to about the size of a Rite-in-the-Rain notebook, stowing easily in a pack’s top lid. Did we mention that this lantern self-inflates, requiring no huffing and puffing to blow up your light? One Alaska-based guide, who brought it on a two-week ski-mountaineering trip, called it “the best weight I could carry.”

Looking for a simple lantern that you can clip onto a backpack, toss in a gear hammock or keep handy on your way to the outhouse? Look no further. The Moji R+—a rechargeable version of the popular Moji from Black Diamond, and the newest iteration of the ReMoji—is a little baseball of a lantern with a couple of D-rings for easy lashing. Compared with a previous version, Black Diamond slashed the Moji R+'s weight nearly in half, doubled the lumens and increased the run time by dozens of hours. (We lasted 30 hours on high and low.)

The compact Moji R+ sports many of the same settings of a headlamp—maximum brightness, dimmable light, strobe—but with a couple of key differences. For starters, the globe is frosted, which creates soft, ambient light—a pleasant departure from the harsh spotlight effect campers get when hanging a headlamp from the tent ceiling. It also has a rainbow cycle, so you can let it flow through the spectrum like hot tub lighting or stop it on the solid color of your choice (including red light).

The Moji R+ has collapsible hooks, which allow you to string it on anything without a carabiner, while four magnetic dots let you snap it to a fridge or car door when you’re out of the field. It fully charges via USB in less than three hours, and it’s waterproof.

The Barebones Railroad Lantern doesn’t just light up a campsite—it gets noticed, too. During a 4-day camping trip in Shenandoah National Park, tester Gilberto G. fielded compliments from neighboring campers curious where it came from. Part of the appeal is the build itself: four Edison-style LED bulbs glow at a warm 300K behind a glass globe, with metal and copper accents that read more like a piece of furniture than outdoor gear. 

But the old-timey, classic aesthetic comes with tradeoffs: It may be too nice for camping. “My wife liked it enough that it never went back in the camping bin,” says Gilberto. “It now lives on our deck and comes out for dinner at home.” 

Of course, it can’t just look good. The Railroad earns its keep with the stepless dimmer. Most lanterns force a choice between two or three fixed brightness levels, making you choose among the limited options. But the Railroad’s dimmer solves that, sliding from a warm-and-low glow for eating to a brighter light best for cooking or packing up in the dark. “It lets the lantern work as a table light at low output and a task light at high, which is why I did not need a second light source for dinner,” says Gilberto. 

Tester Laurie G., who also brought it camping during a road trip to Wisconsin and Georgia last summer, agreed that the aesthetic was the highlight: “Love the style!”  But she flagged a concern: The glass globe and turn-key switch aren’t indestructible. Pack carefully so you don’t bend or bust your Railroad by tossing it around with other gear. And it’s not ideal for hiking. 

For car campers who don’t mind babying it a little, it’s tough to beat. The rechargeable 4400 mAh lithium-ion battery charges via USB-A to USB-C, and the lantern can also run wired as a 12-volt fixture without the battery installed at all. Tester Heather R. has used the lantern for more than a year and over 50 hours of runtime. In that testing window, she calls it invaluable for actual sleeping-in-the-car camping. During an overnight near the Mount Elbert Trailhead in Colorado, she hung it on a hangar hook near the car window while cozying up in her sleeping bag to read at night. 

A strand of lights might not be an obvious choice for camping, but it should be. Instead of pooling the light in one spot like a traditional lantern, string lights let you spread it out or even encircle an area you want to brighten. Our favorite for the occasion is the BioLite Luci Solar String Lights + Detachable Power Hub, a 44-foot-long strand decorated with 20 nodes. This updated version also has a detachable power hub, so you can juice it up over a multiday camping trip without removing your string lights from tree limbs. The effect is A+ ambiance with a lot less work.

Testers noted the durable nylon cord rarely tangles, easily wrapping up around the plastic base and telescoping in when not in use. That base holds a small solar panel, which can power the lights for more twinkling when the battery runs out. BioLite claims 16 hours in direct sun can fully charge the device. Testers had no problem after a day or two (this varied based on the amount of direct sunlight) of the lights sitting on a vehicle dashboard in New England. A built-in USB port means you can also power up other gadgets with the hub, making you the campsite superstar.

The Luci Solar String Lights + Detachable Power Hub is a slam dunk for car camping: String it around a picnic table or tent vestibule. Though a little bulky for ounce-counting backpackers, it can fit in a pack if you want to up the ambience of your backcountry site. It’s less than 2 pounds and about the size of a Tupperware container, so you can easily slide it in the brain of a backpack or lash it to the top lid for on-the-go solar charging.

Our testers also lauded its versatility in more casual pursuits. One tester brightened up her tailgate for a season of post-adventure hangs and sunset missions. “Best night: Hot drinks and an apple crumble were enjoyed on the Maine–New Hampshire state line under the glow of these lights,” she wrote on her gear tester feedback form. She couldn’t have been happier at the ability to Pinterest-out her truck.

Light up your backcountry hut, ice-fishing shed or backyard picnic the old-fashioned way with the Powerhouse Dual Fuel Lantern from Coleman. Why a gas-powered lantern, you ask? For starters, it will be your best friend in extreme-cold conditions, which can drain batteries in other lanterns faster than you can say “nor’easter.” (Just ask the Maine-based testers who relied on it during a weeklong power outage—thankfully, it would have to be pretty darn cold for your gas to freeze.) Plus, weather is less likely to affect this lantern compared to other gas-powered options, thanks to glass that protects the flame from strong winds, snow and rain.

Top off the attached fuel canister with white gas or car-grade unleaded gasoline, then enjoy the warm glow of the flame and the nostalgia of gas-powered light. An adjustable dial lets you soften the intensity to reading-light levels or fire it up to illuminate your whole campsite.

Of course, there are a few reasons the ol’ Coleman is a classic. Most obviously, some may find the hissing sound of the gas to be too loud (others may find it nostalgic). And, as you’d expect from gear originally developed in 1914, it’s heavy and less intuitive than others on this list. To use it, screw the lantern atop the fuel canister, tie on the mantles, ignite the gas flow, lower the glass and attach the lid. (Don’t worry, instructions are included.)

The BioLite Luci Original Clear 2.0 is built for minimalist trips. It collapses down to almost nothing, and both of our testers called it the lightest, most portable lantern they’d used while tucking it flat into a backpack pocket. Durability held up, too. Our Florida-based tester Doug W. said his grandson “treated it like volleyball,” and it tolerated it a champ. Meanwhile, tester Annie Z. also lauded the Luci’s longevity after she clipped it to her backpack for a Colorado backpacking trip in Indian Peaks Wilderness, dropped it onto rocks along the way, and it still escaped unscathed. “Pros of the lantern were the weight, durability and compaction,” she says.  

Charging is straightforward. Annie never bothered topping off the battery before leaving home. She just clipped the lantern to her pack and let the solar panel do its thing as she hiked, never coming close to draining the stated 24-hour run time. Doug charged the traditional way with the included USB cable, but found it ran a bit short.  

Brightness was the main letdown. With 75 lumens, both testers found it dimmer than expected and wished for a warm-light option instead of the single cool-toned setting. Still, Annie’s husband managed to use the lantern as a beacon to navigate back to camp during a sudden rainstorm, so the Luci certainly does its job well.

The 6000 3-in-1 from HAVEN Lantern doesn't just light up a tent—it runs the whole campsite. During three camping trips spanning Ohio and Michigan, tester Sera K. put the lantern's solar charging to the test. She set it outside for a few hours before her first trip, unsure whether it came pre-charged. After that, it didn't need to be babied. Across more than 7 nights of combined use, the battery never dipped low enough to need more juice. 

But the Haven's real party trick might be its built-in red light. "My favorite feature of this lantern that I've never had in any other lantern is the red-light option," says Sera. "I prefer to use red light at camp whenever possible when I'm hanging out, and it was really nice to have this integrated into a lantern." She used the folding carabiner handles to hang it from her tent ceiling and found the red setting bright enough to rival her headlamp's high beam. 

But it comes with tradeoffs. The 6000 3-in-1 earns some of its lower marks on usability. Two separate buttons—one for the lantern and one for the flashlight—are both finished in the same white-on-white housing. "The operation buttons are kind of difficult to find because the white color of the buttons blends into the color of the lantern itself," Sera says, adding that she initially mistook the flashlight button for the lantern's main control. A built-in emergency strobe setting compounded the issue: Because it can't be skipped or disabled, she had to cycle through a jarring flashing light every single time she wanted to switch to red.  

Still, quirks aside, the 6000 3-in-1 earns it keep with sheer brightness. Thanks to the maximum 650 lumens, you’ll never have trouble seeing. “This lantern can get bright,” Sera reports. “Its highest brightness setting was way brighter than I ever needed for my use.”