Gas, candle and battery-operated camping lanterns are all available, offering everything from romantic flickers to intensive, practical beams. Use the following guidelines to find the right lantern for your camp.

Steps
1. Think about ambience: Gas lanterns are bright and noisy; candle lanterns, quiet and softer. Battery-operated lanterns offer little in the way of ambience

2.  Buy a lantern with rechargeable batteries or a refillable liquid canister if you're looking for fuel efficiency and versatility. Candle lanterns only burn up to 8 hours before the candles need to be replaced; a good fuel-burning lantern will burn up to 18 hours with minimum light.

3. Consider a battery-operated lantern or a fuel-burning lantern with an adjustable flame if you want intensive, focused light.

5.  Pick a fuel-burning lantern or candle lantern ($19 to $32) for cold climates. Battery-operated lanterns don't operate well under cold conditions.

7. Understand that a battery-operated lantern is the only safe choice if you want to take your lantern inside your tent.