Camp Lighting Ideas

golgotha-a-go-go · Post by **golgotha-a-go-go** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 8:37 am

Camp Lighting.... how do you light your camp effectively and efficiently?

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:43 am

See the thread on tips on getting back to your camp -- long lists of links for solar lighting.

See also
http://www.pgilighting.com/Merchant2/me ... ry_Code=BL

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 9:47 am

golgotha-a-go-go wrote:Camp Lighting.... how do you light your camp effectively and efficiently?

This is something I'm thinking about since I've put a lot of thought into the structure but not much into lighting it. Hopefully we'll be able to get a string of those little lights you see in restaurants (especially if we're also running x-mas lights for the exterior; what are those called?). If all else fails, we'll just use a couple of propane lanterns.

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:54 am

DallasPlaya wrote:This is something I'm thinking about since I've put a lot of thought into the structure but not much into lighting it. Hopefully we'll be able to get a string of those little lights you see in restaurants ... .

See that pgilighting link above. They have a lot of string lights that run off AAs and such. You can run those around the eaves of your shade. (They also sell lighted pink flamingoes, but some of their stuff requires 110VAC.)

Our top fabric is aluminum, and we shine a flashlight up into the top, which casts an even glow onto our tables and such at night without being overpowering. (We have a light you can hang and swivel to point up or down or where ever.)

You can also run el wire around your eaves. See
http://www.civex.com/stuff/beingSeen.html
for links to more lighting.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:17 am

Note: it may be worth spending extra for LEDs, as they are more efficient and you won't use your genny as much. I'm not expert, but I think it's an idea worth popping in your mix.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 8:59 pm

Solar lanterns are good. They're even better if you can get whole boxes of the cheap ones on sale and cluster them in masses.

I bought a dozen kerosene lanterns for our camp in '04 (I didn't go this year). They worked beautifully: there's a reason Lamplighters use kerosene lanterns as the lighting of choice. One tank full will usually work for at least 2-3 nights (several of the ones I bought lasted 5 nights before they needed to be refilled) and inside a structure, they shed astounding amounts of light. I hung one in Safer Sex Dome and it was better-lit than almost all the other structures in Opera Camp.

Faerie lights are good but you need to bust out beaucoup des buckeroonies for the battery array/inverter and/or gennie to power them. Nah, better to rely on solar/kerosene lanterns for your general lighting needs and use the lightstrings as an attention-getting enhancement rather than your primary light source.

EL wire is pricey but worth getting. And it sheds a surprisingly good amount of light. Again, because of the cost of the lighting element, it should be sparing. Save it for your costume/bike/camp banner.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 9:55 am

...And I'll endorse LEDs- If you're tech savvy you can get high-intensity diodes and rig 'em yourself, and if not you just go to Pep Boys and get LED tubes. Hook to 12V and you're done! The beacon on top of the Snowman in Hushville was a frosted-plastic party ball with three strips of blue LEDs inside- You could see it from several blocks away. Needless to say, you can light your camp with them.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Oct 24, 2005 12:24 pm

I saw a solarpowered pink flamingo once and didn't buy it. Wish I had, it was either too cool or too tacky for words.

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 6:22 am

I'm a big fan of cold cathode tube lighting. More light per amp than even LEDs and pretty cheap too. I use them to light the inside of my dome (you could see the light coming out the skylight) and to light my pavillion at Ren Faires. And they're already all set for 12v. Perfect.

phil · Post by **phil** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 1:29 pm

capjbadger wrote:I'm a big fan of cold cathode tube lighting. More light per amp than even LEDs and pretty cheap too.

Louise and I use CCTs on our bikes from
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/glowingstuf ... hodes.html
They're having a sale today on 16.5 inch long, 2.6mm diameter CCTs, white only, $2 each, $18 per ten. There's a connector, but no power source. Their full price kits come with battery holder, inverter, and two lights (in choice of colors) for $20.

Louise and I use their colored set on our bikes. Some guy came up to us at night last year, saying he thought we were an art piece on the playa. :-)

CCTs are also available from
http://www.allelectronics.com/
All Electronics sells parts scavanged from a variety of sources, so you need to buy parts and assemble the kit yourself. Cheaper than GlowingStuff.com, though. Today, All Electronics offers two CCTs (12 inches long; encased in 0.45" tube) and an inverter that requires 12VDC input for $15. Four-inch and twelve-inch tubes in colors are also available.

CCTs are delicate. We put them on our bikes, and we always break at least one during a week at the Burn. But they are much brighter than EL wire, and provide more light than LEDs as general lighting. I suspect they suck down batteries faster than EL wire and LEDs, though.

Phil

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 3:25 pm

phil wrote:
capjbadger wrote:I'm a big fan of cold cathode tube lighting. More light per amp than even LEDs and pretty cheap too.
Louise and I use CCTs on our bikes from
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/glowingstuf ... hodes.html
They're having a sale today on 16.5 inch long, 2.6mm diameter CCTs, white only, $2 each, $18 per ten. There's a connector, but no power source. Their full price kits come with battery holder, inverter, and two lights (in choice of colors) for $20.

Louise and I use their colored set on our bikes. Some guy came up to us at night last year, saying he thought we were an art piece on the playa.

CCTs are also available from
http://www.allelectronics.com/
All Electronics sells parts scavanged from a variety of sources, so you need to buy parts and assemble the kit yourself. Cheaper than GlowingStuff.com, though. Today, All Electronics offers two CCTs (12 inches long; encased in 0.45" tube) and an inverter that requires 12VDC input for $15. Four-inch and twelve-inch tubes in colors are also available.

CCTs are delicate. We put them on our bikes, and we always break at least one during a week at the Burn. But they are much brighter than EL wire, and provide more light than LEDs as general lighting. I suspect they suck down batteries faster than EL wire and LEDs, though.

Phil

Ahh.... The real store for that first link is http://www.elwirecheap.com/index.html I love them. They're the cheapest CCFLs that I've found and their phone support folk are very nice. You can find the occational sale that beats thier price, but it's rare. Your second link isn't cheaper actually. You can get a dual inverter and (2) 12" lights for $12 as vs the $15 "All Electronics" is charging.

Yeah, the tubes can be broken, but I've only ever broke the 16.5" type. I made a battery pack (8 AA's in series. 1.5volts x 8 = 12volts) for a dual red CCFL set and wore it in my hat all week with no problems. Friends could actually know who I was while I was zipping past on my bike on the open playa at night. (Quite handy when you are looking for people. Let them find you!

) They survived all week of gettnig bumped around (they were sticking up like this /\ on the hat so I'd catch them on doors and such all the time)

These lights are good for area lighting. I used only (3) 12" tubes to light up my whole 8.5dia dome, plus a few black light tubes for fun (granted the sliver tarps help make them work even better for area lighting). LED are better for things light flashlights where you are spotlighting something. But no, CCFL are still the best light per amp you can get for area lighting. LEDs suck down batteries far faster (I don't know about EL's power drain, but then you most likely aren't going to try to area light with it.

).

Badger

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:09 pm

I ended-up using the battery-operated LCD light strings for the structure (and to light myself at night) and a pair of battery-operated fluorescent Coleman lanterns (using recycleable D-cells of course). Not very creative, but, effective. One thing I learned is that if your camp is open to visitors at night, you really need some light so they can see who's saying "Howdy!" and know that they're welcome there.

Probably have more lights on the inside next year. Need to start planning...

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:15 pm

We had lighting problems this year due to our generator. I was a dumbass and brought a lot of 110v lighting that wasn't used but is now still covered in playa dust. :/

A 12v system would be ideal because you can use a deep-cycle battery (array) and charge them during the day with a $50 solar panel.

The trick is to determine the wattage of your bulbs. A string of incandescent Xmas lights or rope lights draws more than a large blacklight but you should still be able to run half dozen or more for quite awhile depending on your system.

Do NOT use cheap car inverters to power 110volts because you'll damage the inverter and your battery. The inverter will fault out after a few minutes anyway.

-c

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 4:37 pm

I still liked our kerosene lanterns... They weren't blinding white light, but it was enough to function at night. And they didn't need an electrical source to run.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:31 pm

Kerosene lanterns rule

There's a reason they're still in circulation and usage a hundred fifty years later. Can't argue with a track record like that.

Just be careful and shield flammables in the vicinity. Heat rises.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:58 am

And don't break the chimneys!

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:00 pm

I lost 2 from my indoor lamps (which didn't work all that great anyway!) out there last year. I think I'll stick to regular lanterns from now on...

bb

serafaery · Post by **serafaery** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:22 pm

I had a terrible dream last night that I arrived at Burning Man and had completely forgotten to bring any kind of fancy lighting, so I want to get a real early start on this so I know I'm ready in time.

Those Cool Cathodes look awesome, but I have a question. Everything keeps talking about "hooking up to a 12v power supply". Wha? Do I have to become an electician to do this? The CCFLs on that website, the 12" "complete computer kits" look like they still draw power from a PC - how would I run this in a camp? Is there some kind of battery guy I could buy that would somehow connect to this kit and give it power? I found some solar 12v power supply thingies by googling, but they look like they just re-charge the 12v supply, rather than supplying any power on their own. Where and how do I get 12v of power to run my lights? (Sorry i r a dum grrl.)

serafaery · Post by **serafaery** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:27 pm

[quote="HughMungus"]I ended-up using the battery-operated LCD light strings for the structure (and to light myself at night) and a pair of battery-operated fluorescent Coleman lanterns (using recycleable D-cells of course). Not very creative, but, effective. One thing I learned is that if your camp is open to visitors at night, you really need some light so they can see who's saying "Howdy!" and know that they're welcome there.

Probably have more lights on the inside next year. Need to start planning...[/quote]

May I ask where you purchased said battery operated LCD light strings? I've been searching around with little luck, outside NOMA in the UK, which doesn't ship to the states. A few little tiny red strings (with 10 lights each I think)on a few glowy sites, but I was hoping for blue. :D

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:46 pm

serafaery wrote:Those Cool Cathodes look awesome, but I have a question. Everything keeps talking about "hooking up to a 12v power supply". Wha? Do I have to become an electician to do this? The CCFLs on that website, the 12" "complete computer kits" look like they still draw power from a PC - how would I run this in a camp? Is there some kind of battery guy I could buy that would somehow connect to this kit and give it power? I found some solar 12v power supply thingies by googling, but they look like they just re-charge the 12v supply, rather than supplying any power on their own. Where and how do I get 12v of power to run my lights? (Sorry i r a dum grrl.)

Car electrical systems are 12v dc systems. The power supplies in computers are also 12v dc systems. All you need is a bank of 12v batteries, and some solar panels to keep them charged. Red wire is positive, Black wire is negative. Easy.

(A chagre controller would be good too to keep the batteries from over charging)

You could power the lights straight from the 12v solar panel, but A: powering the lights during the day would be a little silly, and B: The battery acts as a buffer so that the power supplied to the lights is more steady.

diane o'thirst · Post by **diane o'thirst** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:50 pm

Hi —

Hooking up to a 12v power supply is a technical way of saying "getting a deep cycle/RV battery and attaching a power inverter to it, then plugging your lights into the inverter."

Both battery and invertor can be had at Kragen's, Schuck's, GI Joe's or Costco. Adjust your budget to spend around $150 and up on this setup. You'll probably want to get at least two batteries, depending on how many lights you plan to put up.

Personally, I'd do only two strings of lights for embellishment, maybe an EL wire something-or-other, cheapie solar lanterns for ankle-level/camp definition lighting, and go with Coleman and/or kerosene lanterns for my high visibility/task lighting needs. Yeah, the former aren't much to look at but I've found the kerosene lanterns to be a decently economical investment with a good cost-to-benefit ratio.

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 6:00 pm

diane o'thirst wrote:Hooking up to a 12v power supply is a technical way of saying "getting a deep cycle/RV battery and attaching a power inverter to it, then plugging your lights into the inverter.

Actually, unless you need AC power (like what you get out of your wall outlet at home) you don't need an inverter. You're better off having your whole system running off of 12v dc power. Save money and save power (when you convert the DC power to AC power, you lose power).

CCFL are really nice since they are already set up to run off of 12v DC power. No inverter needed.

Deep cycle batteries are the way to go. They are built for the charge/discharge cycling you will put them through. Normal car batteries will be killed by that kind of usage. Make sure you get real Deep Cycle batteries, not car or Marine ones.

phil · Post by **phil** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:14 pm

Those Cool Cathodes look awesome, but I have a question.

I'm a little hazy on what you need to know, probably because you're a little hazy on what you need to know. Here's my suggestion: go here and read up:
http://del.icio.us/philip/beingSeen
http://www.templetons.com/brad/burn/burn-power.html

Some of my lighting requires a AA battery-pack (supplied with the light), some requires 12VDC, so I bring AAs and 12V batteries with me. You have a dilemma: you need to know what power source your lights will require, and you need lights that your batteries will power. Which do you buy first?

My suggestion is that if you can get lighting that runs on AAs, you're better off. See
http://www.cieux.com/bm/2dTime.html
for links to lighting supplies. You'll have to scroll through, I'm sorry to say, as the links to blinkies, EL and CCTs are spread through the page. I'll get it organized in March or so.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:41 pm

how do you light your camp effectively and efficiently?

Phosphorus and a few claymore mines sprinkled about works well for me and mine.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:12 am

Yeah! That there's traffic on this thread can only mean that we're entering Preparation Season....

I like to use trolling motor batteries- Deep cell 12V numbers, about 1/8th the size of a car battery. Available at fishing or marine supply stores. They pack plenty of juice for a few modest strings of diode lights or EL wire, and are easier to wrangle. I made up a 'power pack" with two of these, wired together with a switch and packed into an old cordless drill case, to run the beacon and nav lights on my structure last year. Handy!
There are lots of new LED Xmuz lights on the market, although we're leaving holiday Aftermath Clearance Season. I got some colorchanging LED lights that have RGB diodes (red, green and blue) inside a diffuser that's basically a pingpong ball. Very pretty light effects, and they even came with a battery pack! (4.5 volt 3AA setup, and thrifty on current.) One drawback is that the blue diodes seem to be somewhat more perishable than the others, and when they fail you don't get the full range of colormixing anymore...But hey, they're pretty cheap.
Serafaery, don't be afraid of DC lighting. The only things to watch are LEDs, which can fry if you hook them up backwards. Everything else will pretty much work or not. Try visiting Pep Boys, and peeking at their fancy-schmancy aftermarket lighting section....Good for ideas!

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:58 am

If you use smaller batteries for flashlights, radios, etc., one of the cheapie solar rechargers and a handful of rechargable batteries is handy to have in camp.

A battery-operated taplight works wonders in a tent.

regionalchaos · Post by **regionalchaos** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 7:33 am

robotland wrote:Yeah! That there's traffic on this thread can only mean that we're entering Preparation Season....

Entering! I've been preping since December! Maybe I was just a bit early

Anyway this is a great thread. I've really been thinking a lot lately about building a small scale power grid. Using a bank of battaries and a generator to charge them. The goal would be to have to run the genny for no more then 3 hours a day to charge the bank.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:20 am

AntiM wrote:If you use smaller batteries for flashlights, radios, etc., one of the cheapie solar rechargers and a handful of rechargable batteries is handy to have in camp.

A battery-operated taplight works wonders in a tent.

This reminded me...last weekend when I was at REI they had a product from Nite Ize for AA Mini Maglites caled the LED upgrade combo. It changes the end cap to a push button on and off switch and it upgrades you from that teeny tiny bulb to 3 LED's. The upgrade does cost almost the same as the flashlight itself but when you look at the track record of the mini-maglites and you throw in the LED's with their power consumption...I grabbed it and so far it's worked great. I'm also working on brackets to mount them as bike headlights too.

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:01 am

I like to use trolling motor batteries- Deep cell 12V numbers, about 1/8th the size of a car battery.

An important point often forgotten: Car batteries weight a lot and deep cycle marine batteries weigh even more - about 70 lbs. as I recall.

Louise and I do volunteer work where we need a deep cycle, so we have an off-playa use for the purchase (under a hundred bucks, so not a major expense) to help justify it laying around the garage in the off-season.

If you buy a 12VDC car or deep cycle battery, you're going to charge it before you leave. And recharge it when you get back. Keep it in good condition all year so it lasts. Chargers are an additional expense. In the San Francisco Bay Area, I have no hesitation getting alternative power sources for when the lights go out in the next big earthquake, but others may disagree.

My suggestion is to use rechargeable AAs where possible, but if you need a 12VDC, go for it - just figure in weight, recharging, storage, and the like.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 12:26 pm

I keep two deep cycle batteries and a small 400 watt inverter on hand at all times. It's enough to run my laptop and power LED and flourescent lighting when I need it. I found a place here in KC that recycles industrial batteries and they had the deep cycle batteries for $20 so I get the bonus of saving money and recycling all in one shot. I've also seen the inverters like mine run about $35. The one thing I didn't skimp on was a good charger, I spent a bit more for one that I can hook it up, set the charge rate and not worry about it overcharging the batteries as it auto-senses the charge and shuts itself off.

One other thing I use for lighting....LED giftmas lights. Especially when I picked them up for 50% off!

Camp Lighting Ideas

Camp Lighting Ideas

Re: Camp Lighting Ideas

Re: Camp Lighting Ideas