This is the one essential I take with me to make camping trips easier

Testing camping gear is one of my favourite parts of the job. Space and weight are always at a premium when camping, so the best kit has to earn its place twice over, multitasking and holding up under pressure.

That’s exactly why I was excited to take the Dometic Go Area Camp Light out on a recent trip.

A modern design

The first thing that gets you is the design. It’s not trying to look “outdoorsy” in that overly rugged, over-engineered way a lot of camping gear does. It’s compact, it’s clean, and it wouldn’t look out of place next to a laptop on a desk.

I know it’s shallow, but that’s important to me and my aesthetic Instagram feed filled with camping pictures.

Three lights in one

But it’s the versatility that’s actually won me over. This is really three lights in one – pop the diffuser off and it’s a proper torch, bright and focused enough to find your way to the loo block at midnight without stumbling over a guy rope.

Leave the diffuser on and stand it upright and it becomes a table lamp, throwing a soft, even glow across the picnic table for dinner.

Then there’s the hook, which lets you string it up on an awning or a branch, and suddenly you’ve got a lantern lighting up the whole pitch.

I’ve used all three modes on a single trip, sometimes within the same evening, and switching between them is very easy.

Controls and smarts

The controls deserve a mention too, because they’re refreshingly simple. There is no fiddly button-holds to remember and no manual required.

You can cycle through four brightness levels and eight colours without thinking about it, which sounds like a small thing until you’re the one stumbling around in the dark trying to work out why your light is now purple.

Speaking of colours, there’s an anti-insect mode which I am excited to test out long-term. I haven’t had the chance to properly put it through its paces yet, whether that’s camping in peak midge season in Scotland or a mosquito-heavy trip somewhere warmer, but the idea is that it’s a light setting that’s specifically engineered to keep bugs away rather than attract them (which is what most lanterns do)

It feels like exactly the sort of practical thinking that separates gear designed by people who actually camp, from gear designed by people who don’t.

Power up your phone

If you thought this was only a light, boy, were you wrong. The Go Area Camp Light can also act as a power bank for you phone.

That 400-lumen output can run for up to 8 hours on the highest setting, and the same rechargeable battery inside can top up your phone if you need it.

On a trip where signal is patchy and you want your phone alive for maps, photos, or just an emergency, having a backup built into your light rather than needing a separate battery pack is genuinely useful. I’ve used it to give my phone a top-up mid-trip more than once, and it works flawlessly.

There’s an SOS function too, which thankfully, I’ve not needed to use, and hopefully never will, but again, it’s a feature that’s reassuring to have sitting in the car or backpack regardless.

Expensive but worth it

Okay, at US$99.99 / £89.99, I won’t pretend it’s cheap. It isn’t. You can find much more affordable LED Camping Lamps on Amazon, but if you’re looking for something reliable and multifunctional, I think it earns its space in the bag every time.

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