Camping and Manners re: light(s)

LEDBE
S

Sarratt

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
475
Location
Ottawa, Ont. Canada
We all love our lights but lets be considerate of others this camping season.
I generally camp in Provincial Parks here in Ontario, Canada and the camping sites are not that far apart.
There have been times when my ''neighbours" were so lit up I had to wonder why they bothered camping. (but thats another topic)
Usually the brightest and most annoying were the huge propane gas lanterns with several mantles.
I have a gas lantern (a single burner Coleman )and never realized exactly how bright it was until I looked at it from a distance.
I fashioned a reflector using a large coffee tin so that the light could be reflected to only my site.

Happy Camping this summer.

ps... after re-reading this it sounds like I am some kind of prude or kill-joy --- I'm not. When weight allows I love taking my "2 million" camping just to ... um .. hell just for fun. ;)
 
You know, there's an awful lot of inconsiderateness around these days, so good on you, nice reminder. The approach I took with my car driving lights was "with great power comes great responsibility". Same with camping lights.

Sadly it's not our camping season right now.

Got any pics of your coffee tin reflector? Did you place the curved surface around one side of the lamp?
 
You're not a kill joy at all, manners when using flashlights are very important. I was always taught in the Scouts not to point a flashlight at someone's face, or to wave them around a crowded campsite.
 
Point your headlamps down towards your feet where you need the light anyways, keep the "big boys" for walking in the woods away from other campers, and enjoy the firelight.
 
I agree! After supper has been served the lanterns should be turned down. Isn't the purpose of camping to commune with nature? Not try to change it? Well at least they will attract more than there fair share of insects. My favorite lantern is a three candle hurricane model.

I love going to a dark field with a bright incan. Ahh, it is still fun to have flashlight wars though.

I'm heading to the Tahoe wilderness next week. I will finally get to try my Turboheaded 9P and Cree'd 6P in the wide open spaces!

Someone pass the Smores...
 
I agree. I hate it when a neighbouring site has an annoyingly bright lantern. Its especially irritating when you are trying to sit and enjoy your campfire and this bright light is in your peripheral vision. Totally kills the fun for me. I don't mind if people need the light but they should be as considerate as you and have a reflector so as not to bother others. I love walking around at night and only seeing camp fires everywhere.
 
last year some friends "invited" me to join a 24 hours run.
Crazy what some of the ppl there bring along but the most stunning (for me) were these GIANT gas laterns.
Mounted to poles and illuminating some kind of ballon, about 1 meter in diameter from the inside.
At night these things seem to be as bright as the sun and illuminate quite a large area.
 
I agree, manners is a good thing when it comes to your fellow camp goers.

Light is like sound, it has both soft and loud qualities as well as the various nuances in between. it can be harsh as well as soothing.

Light pollution leaking into your camp space from others can be annoying. I run into this when car camping where you pull your car up to your campsite. With kids running around and music going, it kind of feels like a tenement.

That's why I prefer primitive, wilderness camping.

I use red LEDs for close up and general around camp needs and a compact incan for going out in the "wilderness" away from camp if needed. White LEDs I rarely use. The red does a good job of not attracting hordes of bugs and goes a long way for night adapted eyes.
 
Bright lights can be a problem. All considered, I prefer the glare and gentle hiss of a Coleman lantern to the steady drone of a generator running TV, AC and boom boxes. Do they still call boom boxes ghetto blasters? IMHO, one boom box turns a nice camp site into instant ghetto.
 
Sarratt,

Let me throw a little good-natured ribbing into the discussion.

"Camping" implies being in or near the woods, where humans are not at the top of the food chain. As the threat of harm from four-footed and two-footed critters grows, campers have two choices: stop camping, or find a way to protect themselves.

The right to self defense is slowly dying in North America, even in the beautiful country of Canada, where the government continues to ban firearms. Fear is on the rise, and lacking an effective means to protect oneself from death or serious bodily injury in a campground, campers resort to the one thing that hasn't been banned yet: light.

Predators lurk in the dark. In areas where I am not allowed to possess an effective tool to protect myself from harm, I, too, use as much light as I possibly can. At least that way I'll know what--or who--is about to do me harm.

I don't like an overwhelming amount of light in a campground either, but I understand why they do it.
 
This is exactly why I use a single 5mm flashlight, like a Gerber Infinity Ultra or older Inova X1, when camping.

I hate it when people go to the restroom in the middle of the night at a campground and use a 200 lumen flashlight, and flash it at my tent. I try to use a very small LED flashlight, and avoid shining it at other people's tents.

Toshi
 
Bob K ........ your idea of camping is way different than mine.
No offense taken but ,,,, buddy,,,, if you camp where you need knives and stuff to defend yourself from humans you are not in my world.
I promise not not to stab you in the night. Nor are the 100 other campers happily camped next to you.


*Disco music played in the woods sadly means you get stabbed.*


Rules are rules
oh ... um we all enjoy "being with our partners" in that natural way but 7 is enuff ok ? and hush!!!
 
Last edited:
Bob K said:
The right to self defense is slowly dying in North America, even in the beautiful country of Canada, where the government continues to ban firearms. Fear is on the rise, and lacking an effective means to protect oneself from death or serious bodily injury in a campground, campers resort to the one thing that hasn't been banned yet: light.

Predators lurk in the dark. In areas where I am not allowed to possess an effective tool to protect myself from harm, I, too, use as much light as I possibly can. At least that way I'll know what--or who--is about to do me harm.
Click to expand...
Wow, you sound quite paranoid Bob. I'm glad I live in a country where we don't have your predators. :sick2: Campers' biggest worry here is our politicians.
 
Sorry Bob. You have every right to be paranoid. And Sarratt has reminded me we do have predators here. You remember the giant insects at the bottom of the crevasse in King Kong? (One had to be shot off a guy's face.) We've got them here.
 
"Fear is on the rise".... its no.
Hust up
Studies have just proven that rural area people are more likely to be shot_the_blank-Up then living in a city.

YOu farmer boys are more likely kill your kind .

but when you find smart numbers you let me know ok ?

I'm sadly serious
S
 
Last edited:
RTLFC: You folks might be surprised...

Many folks bring a lot of booze on camping trips, and sometimes get out of hand with it...here's a story.

So my wife and I are car camping on Mt. Madonna, about 45 minutes south of us. It's the first night, tent is up and she's cooking dinner. Sun has been down about 45 minutes or so...

Since our arrival, we became increasingly annoyed at the noise coming from the adjoining campsite. It's not *that* close, but it's carcamping, you know the drill...Apparently it's a few college kids having some fun in the woods. No big deal, I was probably that loud and obnoxious 10-15 years ago too. The real problem comes when I start hearing branches snapping and being thrown into the firepit...I was unaware as I am not a California native, but apparently that's a huge nono here. I decide to let it ride and perhaps the rangers will catch them and do the 45 minute lecture...no such luck.

So, they have their absolutely *huge* bonfire built, it pretty much lights up our entire campsite. Pretty farkin' annoying, so I'm in a "mood." All of a sudden there's commotion next door. Cries of "Hey! Hey! That ain't right!" "Stop!" I look up to see what the deal is and one guy has another in a headlock and is about to toss him in the fire. Um, okay...this has gone far enough. I walk over while they are breaking up the fight and ask them quietly, yet sternly, if they could possibly keep it down. I notice one guy sliding to the right and pay a little closer attention to him, not noticing the one on my *left*

*WHAM* stars...

As I'm told by my wife, the one on the left has clobbered me with a beer bottle, I'm down for the count, and these guys are approaching our campsite. She did the right thing, with no cellphone reception on the mountain. First, she unclipped the chains from our dogs' necks. Apparently, they immediately ran to me and stood over me (damn good dogs!) She went straight to the car, fired it up, and drove to the ranger station. Remember, I'm out for the count. I have no recollection of anything that happened before and after, this is all how it's told by my wife (and in the police reports)

Either way, would a big-handled Mag have sorted the situation? Probably not, infact it may have caused even more trouble. Most definitely if I'd had a knife displayed. I got blindsided, none of those items would have helped. But the fact remains that whilst there are hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of "happy campers" out there, there is always a possibility you will run into some that aren't so happy. Keep it in mind, and always be prepared.
 
thats

horrible ....

what can you do ?...I can see exactly how that happened.

I;m glad you are ok and
if your are ever camping next to me ..and I'm loud.......just wander over and smack me with the baseball bat. ... I'ts set out for you.

Or just to be smacked by someone from NZ
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Interesting/unusual Brightstar light I found (and bought)
Replies
7
Views
599
knucklegary
knucklegary
2
Recommend a replacement light
Replies
6
Views
473
Tungsten98
T
B
Synergy3 and Match Saver
Replies
0
Views
98
bobb
B
B
space light
Replies
16
Views
531
Schokokeks
S
B
AAA light
Replies
3
Views
442
Monocrom
Monocrom

Latest posts

Top