Solar lights for camping

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    Posted: 08 Sep 2015 at 3:12pm
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Anyone have some great tips for either solar or rechargeable LED lighting for a big 4 room tent? Plenty of smallish lights, varying in number of LEDs and lumens, but looking to see if anyone has some recommendations for what works.

Cheers.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote 3rnzir Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 6:14am
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Cliff,try your local Hunting & Fishing franchise.
They seem to stock items you seek in the camping section. 
Cheerz
Peace.Via superior firepower..
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u are not 'traveliing'.. basically arrive pitch tent and stay?
For the last 20+ yrs have a battery jumper pack and a couple super cheap florescence lights in each tent room and front fly..
The lights are pre wired with switches in the leads, once the tent is up the lights are fixed to the frame with Velcro that  sticks to its self. originally use to duck tape.
The wires run, and being pre wired the switches located at the door of each tent room.
These then hook onto the jumper cable clamps.
The reason they go to the jumper clamps is the cig lighter would work or be knocked.
Then a 5W solar charger was thrown on the tent roof and plugged into the cig lighter.
This would run lights, pumps for the air bed, radio, charge phones etc for well over a week. plus
If the battery.. which never happened got low, just connect to the car or boat whatever , with jumpers start engine and turn on the jumper switch...
We also had a small florence light that hung on the front of the tent...was a green super cheap one that boy races use under their cars.. espec when the children where young, they could always pick the 'way home' idf got up in the night.

Each light and wire/ switch pre wired and rolled up labelled as to which room etc
Small compact, simple, reliable and cheap.

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Clifftastic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 11:02am
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Originally posted by 3rnzir 3rnzir wrote:

Cliff,try your local Hunting & Fishing franchise.
They seem to stock items you seek in the camping section. 
Cheerz
Good idea - cheers!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Clifftastic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 11:06am
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Originally posted by Steps Steps wrote:

u are not 'traveliing'.. basically arrive pitch tent and stay?
For the last 20+ yrs have a battery jumper pack and a couple super cheap florescence lights in each tent room and front fly..
The lights are pre wired with switches in the leads, once the tent is up the lights are fixed to the frame with Velcro that  sticks to its self. originally use to duck tape.
The wires run, and being pre wired the switches located at the door of each tent room.
These then hook onto the jumper cable clamps.
The reason they go to the jumper clamps is the cig lighter would work or be knocked.
Then a 5W solar charger was thrown on the tent roof and plugged into the cig lighter.
This would run lights, pumps for the air bed, radio, charge phones etc for well over a week. plus
If the battery.. which never happened got low, just connect to the car or boat whatever , with jumpers start engine and turn on the jumper switch...
We also had a small florence light that hung on the front of the tent...was a green super cheap one that boy races use under their cars.. espec when the children where young, they could always pick the 'way home' idf got up in the night.

Each light and wire/ switch pre wired and rolled up labelled as to which room etc
Small compact, simple, reliable and cheap.

Bloody good info there Steps, cheers. Yeah we camp at the same place in the Coro for about 2 months of the year. Bought a cool new canvas tent that will be housing four of us, so thought it needed the proper fixed lighting treatment, rather than just using torches. Those battery jumper packs seem worth their weight in gold. Will defo get one.

Cheers again.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kandrew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 6:22pm
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I wonder if those solar powered outdoor garden lights would put out enough light to light up your tent. Put them outside during the day to charge up, then bring them in at night - cheap enough.

The bees nees would be a proper solar battery setup, like you have in houses that are off the grid or like used on launches and yachts. You can also run inverters to power fridges, TVs.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote Wide Load Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 7:53pm
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I have all sorts of camping lights but now use Luci lights.
http://www.lucilight.co.nz/
They produce a heap of light and last for hours.


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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote smelli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 7:59pm
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I have got one of these portable solar lighting sets left.. Was selling them for $75, can sell this one for $50 plus shipping...
Has a 4w solar panel, battery and controller, 3 LED lights and also can charge phones etc
Continuous lighting for 8 hrs once charged..

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=717361
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Kandrew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 9:08pm
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Originally posted by Wide Load Wide Load wrote:

I have all sorts of camping lights but now use Luci lights.
http://www.lucilight.co.nz/
They produce a heap of light and last for hours.




Looks interesting what are they worth?
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2015 at 8:51am
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The bees nees would be a proper solar battery setup, like you have in houses that are off the grid or like used on launches and yachts. You can also run inverters to power fridges, TVs.

Yep just need the storage capacity.. larger jump battery pack and bit more than a 5 W solar panel to maintain... or connect up to the car for 5mins to re charge if no power source around to use the charger

And LED  garden solar lamps.. try sitting down read a book for any length of time...leds are bright because they focus a lot of light in a 'beam' get out of that beam or in shadow and the 'reading light' is no more.
Hence for over 20yrs now we have had the above system, and now the children and the grandchildren do the same.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Clifftastic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2015 at 10:43am
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Originally posted by smelli smelli wrote:

I have got one of these portable solar lighting sets left.. Was selling them for $75, can sell this one for $50 plus shipping...

Thanks smelli, very nice offer!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote smelli Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2015 at 2:43pm
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Originally posted by Clifftastic Clifftastic wrote:

Originally posted by smelli smelli wrote:

I have got one of these portable solar lighting sets left.. Was selling them for $75, can sell this one for $50 plus shipping...

Thanks smelli, very nice offer!


Sweet as, just PM if keen Clifft
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=717361
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Wide Load Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2015 at 6:40pm
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Originally posted by Kandrew Kandrew wrote:

Originally posted by Wide Load Wide Load wrote:

I have all sorts of camping lights but now use Luci lights.
http://www.lucilight.co.nz/
They produce a heap of light and last for hours.




Looks interesting what are they worth?

I'm not sure. I think around $25? 
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