This camping tip is by far a beauty
For me, lights at night in the bush can be just too bright.
If you keep lights turned down, or even off, you’ll find that your night vision really kicks in and you can find your way about quite well.
Complete darkness
I’m sure you’ve all experienced the ‘complete’ darkness that surrounds you when you turn a light off – but, give it time, and your night vision will return.
There are some colours of light that don’t break this vision to the same extent – that’s red and green.
Red is the most common colour used.
If you do choose to explore other light colours in the bush check out what the red, green and blue filters do to the things you may want to look at – such as contour maps (the rivers and contours can disappear).
Some of the modern van lighting systems come with a blue light option.
Be safe when you wonder around in the dark
But, of course safety does come into it when wandering about places where there’s rocks, sticks and branches.
This is also a good reason to know where things are when you pack for a trip.
If you need a light, please consider others. There’s many campers out there who would prefer staring into a fire or looking at the stars than seeing how many lumens your 200AH battery setup can produce.
Another camping tip is to Find the right torch
If you do find a torch in the shops with red-light capabilities, just be aware that you sometimes have to toggle through the white lights and the flashing light to get to it. This feature may be a make or break when you’re trying to maintain night vision.
Then again, it can be a very valuable experience for the kids (and maybe yourself) if someone (say two adults) go a distance off into the bush and at a preset time, or agreed over the CB, turn their white lights on. It is absolutely amazing how far away a relatively dim light can be observed. This can also be a great survival and rescue training tool.
At the other end of the scale, you may also like to explore the night vision googles option. While they’re not really essential for your general campsite, they can be handy (fun) if checking out the nocturnal wildlife.
Keep safe and feel comfortable in the dark.
