I am going on my 1st camping holiday this year and am confused at to what options are safest and best with young children. We will be using EHU some of the time but not exclusively. We want enough light to eat aroung a table, socialise and read(without squinting). We have a wind up torch for toilet runs.
The options to me seem to be:
1. Flourescents - Safe, cold light, both battery and mains hookup
2.Battery or Rechargeable Lanterns- Safe, transportable and child proof, but expensive to run(batteries) or a lot of time needed to recharge.
3. Gas/duel Fuel lantern - Nice bright light, throw off some heat,slightly delicate (excl tilley) but not very safe in a tent.
Originally I was going to get a Coleman Northstar battery operated Lantern £15, but it takes 8 D cell batteries for 15/25 (low/high)hours. and a coleman duel fuel lantern, but am afraid the kids will knock it over and unclear as to whether they are safe at all in tents.
Tent is a Sun valley 6.
There are many posts on lighting in general but have struggled to find one that points out specifically the safety element and the Child factor.
Many thanks in advance for much needed clarification.
With kids, gas lamps in tents are a bit iffy IMHO. It`s not just the fire risk but that a gas lamp gets hot enough to sear flesh. I remember when a friend of mine`s son touched their gas lamp...trip to casualty, then surgery to restore the skin on the palm of his hand. Not for my kids. I do have a gas lamp but it`s for outside use only and when the kids are in bed.
I use an ordinary outdoor rated inspection lamp with a 60w bulb for inside lighting when on hookup plus a standard 4x D cell battery lamp inside..current version is a duel level Osram one I bought from Lidl for £10 last year. the battery one is safe enough for the kids to take inside their pods when they want to read or play (They`re now 5 and 10, but I`ve been using this arrangement since the eldest was born.) I`ve also got a pair of very small lamps that run on AA batteries, for pods and to hang over the coker if I need more light there.
I take your point about battery lamps being more expensive to run, but what price child safety? You could always use rechargable batteries to cut the long term cost, and these can be used in other appliances as well.
As you have an EHU you can look at mains lighting. We use 2 x flourescent tube inspection lamps with 5mtr leads that are IP rated (we got them from Aldi and they had some more last week at £4.99) in the tent and can take these outside when we want. Always use cool lamps (never tungsten which get very hot) so they do not burn the tent fabric. When we don't have an EHU hookup we run a 12v liesure battery and 12v lights. Normal selection of torches (led ones seem better as the don't drain the batteries so quickly) and a rechargeable lantern or two.
We have two girls (4 and 7) so stay away from duel fuel lanterns for safety. I think it's just down to a parents instinct as to what will be safe with their kids.
One thing we have found invaluable is a set of walkie talkies from Maplin. They have a 3km range, lots of channels and always send the girls off with one of them so we can stay in touch. Only around £30 with rechargeable batteries.
------------- HelenD
--------------
We must be experts - we are out standing in our chosen fields!
Wouldnt have a gas one with my kids ,they are quite active !
As for Recharable ,dont bother ,been there done that ,they dont last very long on acharge ,dont bother trying to charge them from the car either ,cos you would need to drive for 6 hrs straight!
We have a combination of a fluorescent lamp when we take EHU ,does not get hot so no risk of melting the tent fabric!
And 3 large Osram lanterns ( only one if we only go for a weekend ) each takes 4 D batteries ,but find they last a week.
2 mini lanterns for the kids for reading ect ,each takes 4 aa 's
Skatty, i agree with you regarding the rechargables. we won't be taking ours this year as they hardly lasted very long at all even when fully recharged. definate no no regarding the gas lamps- just wouldn't be safe with young children. Claire
I've got a coleman twin area, rechargable lamp that's brilliant, runs about 9hrs before needs recharging. If you've got hook up you can recharge during the daytime. Kids have glowsticks for a bit of fun and solar garden lamps to see by (which last in summer till about 4 in the morning) Give a night time comfort light, I can just about manage to read by one as well.
We used a bedside lamp from their bedroom as it had a sturdy base and that worked fine using the EHU, we plan to invest in a rechargable lamp this year as a backup/extra.
I would definately steer clear of any fuel lamps until they are all older.
If your car is parked anywhere near the tent, then the 12V flourescent inspection lamps will run for several nights from the car battery even without running the engine each day. Good brightness, and cool to run.
We take the lamp from beside our computer. Great as a decent arm lenght that can be angled around to direct light where we want it. Also has a solid base. We also have rechargable coleman light that as 2 bulb strips in this lasts awhile when charged and we recharge it through the day. A head torch is great we got 1 last summer from argos and we all fight over it. Our 6 year old loves it and its good for toilet runs reading and making the last brew outside. will definately get 2 more this season. Also have a couple of battery torches son takes one inyo bed pod at night and are good for backup incase of any EHU problems.
I may be a lone camper, but I've pondered long and hard over lighting. The result is a "Power Station", I bought one recently from Aldi, but Maplin do one and you can see it here.
Also from Maplin I've purchased a battery charger that runs from 12v and can recharge NiCd and NiMh batteries for torches, lanterns, head torches, MP3 players etc. and you can see one of those here.
Added to that I have a solar trickle charger for the power station, but I hope to upgrade that in the not too distant future to a solar panel with a bit more "oomph" to extend the usage of the Power station battery. I also have a rechargeable lantern that can also be recharged from the power station. If everything is charged fully before leaving home it should be possible to remain independant for a week at least.
Pack of two - circular plastic things, batteries, with a big hook and a pull cord so we hung them in the bedroom - i found the cord easy to find in the night.
The quality isnt the best but for 50p each you cant complain. We got them last summer so not sure if they will be in stock until this summer will splash out and maybe get another pack.
We use battery everything - and on the odd time we use the gas lamp - but only outside again no kids around but we love the old candles outside.
Something I came up with last year was when I put the kids to bed(age 5 a 1 years) it can be very dark at night if they wake up. So put out a couple of the solar lights during the day to charge, then pop them in the bedrooms to give off a feint glow for most of the night if the kids wake up.
We also have a rechargeable Coleman Twin Tube Area light, which worked really well last summer and charged up fine, as far as I can remember, from the lighter attachment when we were out and about.
It also slots nicely into one of the pockets outside the bedrooms in the Sunvalley 6 and lights up the living area and gives a glow in the bedrooms at the same time.
I bought my friends kids a proper child's mini size camping lantern from Millets they do a pink one for girls and green for boys, handy child size with carrying handle and takes batteries so no worries about gas and children getting burnt, are nice and bright too and cost under a tenner would well reccomend.
------------- life is like a box of chocolates you never no what your gonna get
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Lighting with Kids
