Camping LED light bars are one of the most valuable pieces of equipment every camper needs without a doubt since they’re able to conveniently illuminate your entire tent, swag, canopy, tailgate or toolbox by using your 4x4’s cigarette lead only. But choosing a proper LED light bar for your upcoming camping trips can be a daunting task, especially when you get hit by the huge range of choices the market offers. This is why we wrapped up a couple of tips to help you choose the best option out there.
Choose a Reputable Brand
Your LED bar’s purpose is to provide you with proper lighting when you’re out in the wilderness, and that’s why it’s always recommended to choose a reputable brand that won’t leave you “in the dark” when you need light the most. Talking about reputable brands, Hardkorr is one of the manufacturers the Australian campers trust, and there’re many reasons behind it.
First of all, since Hardkorr invented the camping LED bars in 2008, they have been the only choice on the Australian market for many years. In fact, their simple, yet ambitious goal to manufacture high-quality products without charging extraordinary high prices led them from being a small local company to distributing in a huge range of countries such as New Zealand, the United States of America, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Russia, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.
The significance of their high-quality work can be seen in many ways, and their comprehensive 5-year Australian warranty and 30-days money-back guarantee on their overall products is just a small part of it. So, don’t hesitate to choose a Hardkorr LED camping light bar to provide yourself with the quality that will serve you for many years and many upcoming camping adventures.
Bar’s Length
Aside from choosing a reputable brand that produces LED camping light bars that stood the test of time, it’s essential to take a couple of more things into consideration, and your bar’s length is one of them.
But these bars aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution, since their size depends on the area you’re about to mount it. Many campers prefer attaching them to aluminium tents or awning poles, while some of them are conveniently mounting them inside the gullwing door on most touring canopies, so make sure you choose a size that fits the surface. At this point, know that it’s not a problem if you choose a shorter bar than the width of the surface, but if the bar is too long it can look unsightly and become a potential hazard.
Another factor to consider is the amount of light you’re looking for- the larger the bar, the more bulbs it has which means more light. But this doesn’t mean that a shorter bar won’t do its job and illuminate your area efficiently. For instance, Hardkorr’s camping LED light bars come in many different sizes- from the smaller 25 and 48 cm to the larger 100cm ones, each of them powerful enough to illuminate great areas.
Lumen Output
Your new LED bar’s maximum light output is measured in lumens- the measure of the total amount of visible light to the human eye. The higher the lumen rating, the more light your LED bar will produce.
This means that the lumens value will depend on your lighting needs and preferences. For instance, if you want to light up your small tent or canopy, a bar with a light output of 300 to 500 lumens will perfectly do its job. But if you’re looking for something to illuminate great areas, then make sure you go for a bar featuring at least 1300 lumens.
Beam Angle
The beam angle also plays a great role in your new bar’s light output, regardless of the lumen value you choose. To make things clearer, the beam angle is a measurement of how the light is distributed, measured in degrees. Have in mind that the wider the beam angle, the more space it will cover. And while your tactical camping torch’s beam angle may be narrow to provide a great throw distance, the LED bars for your camping area should have a beam angle of at least 180 degrees so it can spread the light broader.
Water Resistance
Getting a LED camping light bar with great performances would be in vain if stops running once it gets in touch with the first drop of rain in the area. This is why you should always make sure that the bar you choose has a great waterproof rating. Waterproofing is often measured with the IP code. While the first digit of the code measures protection against hazardous parts and ingress of solid objects, the second digit measures how moisture is able your LED bar to withstand.
A rating from 1 to 4 (IPX1 to IPX4) means that the bar will be able to operate if exposed to splashes or dripping water, but won’t work if it’s fully exposed. A rating from 5 to 6 means that the bar can resist jets of pressured water, but without a guarantee that it will “survive” underwater. And finally, a rating from 7 to 8 indicates that the bar will operate while fully exposed to water for a longer period of time.
This means that you should always choose a fully waterproof LED bar with a ranking of 8 (IPX8), that won’t leave you in the dark and make an electrical hazard if a pouring rain suddenly approaches.
Range of Colours
While most camping LED light bars will produce a cool white colour which is the most efficient to illuminate any area, there are many bars on the market that feature Tri-colour dimmers that allow you to select between cool or warm white and orange.
But the market also offers a huge range of RGB bars that can be more fun than just “staring” at an orange light. But if you’re wondering why exactly this range of colours, it’s because orange light reduces bug presence which is very valuable for the camping grounds. In fact, bugs like mosquitoes and moths are known to move towards any light source in the spectra of light they can see. But what is significant is that, unlike humans, bugs can only see light with a wavelength between 300 and 600 nanometres.
The orange light’s wavelength is around 610 nm, which puts it outside of these bugs’ visible spectrum and therefore results in a bug-free area while camping, unlike the other RGB colours with a wavelength of a maximum of 550 nm.
