Cheap Campsite "nightlight" (solar)

[georgiadrifter]

I picked up a solar-powered "flag light" at Home Depot. It has a small envelope-size panel that charges a AA Lithium battery. The panel and the light have small clamps that I attached to a piece of 3/4-inch PVC.

I burned it for four hours last night and it provides just enough light to allow you to safely wander about the campsite.

Only downside I can see right now....it is activated by darkness (sunset) and doesn't turn off until the light level increases (sunrise). I shut it off by unplugging the light from the panel. A small switch would be nice.

$19.99 from Home Depot

 

[anickode]

I've seen people use regular solar landscape lights as well. Get em for a couple bucks at the local big box, and modify them with a cheapo slider switch like you find on kids toys and stuff (dirt cheap online). I've seen them stored in homemade PVC racks, and tall-side cardboard 6 pack boxes (like Sam Adams). Set em in the sun to charge, and stick em in the ground for just enough illumination to not kill yourself in the dark.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Just a few days ago I picked up a small solar landscape "flood" at Lowe's for $18. Only used it a couple of nights in the yard to test it, but it's pretty decent for only 15 lumens. Self-contained with the solar panel on a gimbal mount above the lamp. Comes on a plastic stake but can be easily modified for magnetic mount or rack mount. Package says it will burn for 4-6 hours after a day with decent sunlight.

 

[paj54]

I have several inflatable and waterproof lucie lights . The last up to 12 hrs on a charge, are cheap and pack down to nothing.
https://www.amazon.ca/Inflatable-Wa...sr=8-2&keywords=luci+inflatable+solar+lantern

 

[robgendreau]

I have several inflatable and waterproof lucie lights . The last up to 12 hrs on a charge, are cheap and pack down to nothing.
https://www.amazon.ca/Inflatable-Wa...sr=8-2&keywords=luci+inflatable+solar+lantern

And you can turn 'em on and off. I even have a colored LED one now. Kinda fun. I much prefer them over the succession of lawn solar lights like the one above, which are rather fiddly and take up much more room. And I prefer the diffuse light on the Lucy's; YMMV.

The Ikea Sunnan solar lamps are pretty killer; http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/sunnan/sunnan.html

Unfortunately I don't think you can buy 'em online from Ikea, although they are on eBay. They are terrific lamps, and they donate one for every one you buy. The very cool feature is that you can remove the solar battery pack from the lamp and charge it anywhere, and even stick clips into the plugs on the battery pack to power other stuff (3.6 V or so); people have even hacked 'em for use charging iPhones and such. Not designed as waterlproof, but I've left mine out in the rain with no prob, although they are too bright for outside nightlight duty. Better for reading.

If you've seen HBO's Silicon Valley I think they're the blue lamps you see in the Hooli board room.

 

[rossvtaylor]

+1 (or 2?) on the Luci lights. Get the real Luci brand. They're great, fun, durable lights. The Grand Canyon river running crowd loves them and they survive well with the abuse there.

 

[hour]

I have 7 of these in total, 2 dedicated for camping...

The 4 in my back yard are dim light until triggered and last until morning, even in the winter. Even in snow storms in the winter when they're frequently triggering. One on my garage is off until triggered.

14500 battery, replaceable if you remove the back sticker to gain access. JB Welded some rare earth magnets to the back of the two I bring out and they stick nicely to my roof rack - set on 'dim light until triggered' mode.

Also have one of these that I wired with a male 2.1mm x 5.5mm barrel connector. I throw that up in the trees as high as I can manage and run a 25ft extension from the light to an SAE->2.1x5.5 adapter on an ammo can DIY portable power pack. Fed by an 18ah SLA battery and recharged by a 18w folding solar panel & el cheapo solar charge controller. These are not a true 10 watts but are cheap/effective-and I could run several of them. I just unplug it from the battery box when I go to bed but I could also wire up a 12v remote to it pretty easily.

just some additional thoughts. if you're creative, LED lights for offroading purposes are booming now on Amazon - so many generic companies producing high quality and genuinely well reviewed ones of all shapes/sizes/wattages. A toggle switch, 12v remote, or just disconnecting it from the power source are all ez