It takes just one night of camping experience to know that a reliable light source is an essential piece of equipment — and we’re not talking about the one on your phone. Camping lanterns cast an even 360-degree glow for optimum hands-free visibility so that you can see to set up your tent, prepare that gourmet campfire meal, or simply take advantage of the peace and quiet with a good book.

The best ones offer multiple brightness settings for different scenarios; enough battery life to last a night or two out in the wilderness; and an outdoor-ready, weatherproof build. Other, more specialized features to consider range from solar panels to colored mood lighting.
To help you find the camping lantern that best suits your needs, Travel + Leisure editors tested 18 popular models both at home and out in the field. Each one was evaluated for ease of setup, portability, design, brightness, durability, and value with average scores used to determine our favorites. The T+L team continued to test the lanterns on camping trips over the course of six months to determine long-term durability and performance, and we updated this article with our findings.