Propane! at least a definate for outside of the tent.

Inside, i use a florescent with 4 D cells. Kept it on as a nightlight throughout 3 nights with plenty of life yet. If for any reason it would begin to dim, I'd always have spare batteries. No spare outlets in some camping areas.

Good searching,
Elliot

Those are both good suggestions. You might also look at led based lanterns for reliability and long battery life.

I like the rechargeable for the kids inside the tent. They live in their tent the whole summer and batteries start to get expensive! It can also be charged in a car. But, if you are going somewhere for any length of time that does not have access to electric you will want one that will take regular batteries. Just because you'll be out of luck if you can't charge it up!

I like the LED lanterns or flourescents for inside the tent. They are better for conserving energy and last longer than rechargables. LED's are extremely durable and about the only problem you may encounter, as with any electric lantern, is a malfunctioning switch. Propane lanterns are great for the campsite outside the tent, but I would recommend keeping it turned down low enough not to disturb any nearby neighbors that may be enjoying the darkness while stargazing. It can be pretty annoying if you are camped next to a camper that has a propane lantern turned up full blast, as the light covers a large area. The beauty is, it can be turned down low enough to provide enough light for your immediate area and conserve fuel at the same time.

leds all the way. we have 2 dogs we take camping & the lantern invariably gets knocked over. the fluorescents would not take it but my led lantern is still going strong (even with chips & dings). i've got the mountain green 30 led lantern but you probably wouldn't recongnize it from the one at the store. the handle & the top clear plastic ring broke off so i made my own modifications. i strung climbing rope through the old handle holes with a small carabiner attached. wrapped silicon tape to the rope entering the holes so that the lantern remains watertight. now it's bomb-proof as it gets knocked around in the back of my truck but still shines bright. the switch has 2 settings - 15 or 30 leds for 1/2 to full brightness. battery life according to the rei site is about 114 hours at half brightness. probably correct as i have yet to replace my batteries after a year.

otherwise i'd go for an led headlamp. why light up an entire campsite when you just need to light up what you're looking at.

Here is a link that might be useful: mountain green 30 led lantern

If you need to look at lanterns check out my site www.outdoortentexperience.com where I give all sorts of information about all aspects of camping and outdoor recreation.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.outdoortentexperience.com

heres an excellent option to run led lighting on

Here is a link that might be useful: micro solar generator

Propane or white gas by Coleman are the only way to go. Batteries don't last long and LEDs don't shed much light. I use a lantern shade, if that bothers the neighbors more than the stereo I'll turn one off and the other up!

Propane on the out side, and battery/florescent on the inside in case it should get knock over.

I use a couple of oil lanterns outside the tent. The red ones like you see cowboys throw in the barns of old movies. I don't need or want to light up the neighborhood. I use a headlamp with the red led for moving around in the tent. Nothing worse than someone using a multi megawatt flashlight half a campground away and shining it everywhere when they are trying to move from one chair to another. Looks like a lighthouse beacon flashing.....
Bob

I have a good old Coleman lantern for outside use and a Coleman pack away battery one for tent use it's not the brightest but does a fair job. Camping wouldn't seem right without the hiss of a lantern!!!!