Tent illumination

[Hans W]

Wondering if anyone has some experience with subtle tent illumination utilising photoluminescent products. Options may include either adhesive tape, or perhaps even painting the floor.

I am not seeking an alternative to a light, rather was seeking a softer ‘glow’ effect (less the gear within my tent sitting against the floor.

A possible secondary benefit of utilising paint would be a finished internal surface that was not as slippery as my current cuben fiber floor. Currently my sleeping pad has a tendency to slide around a fair bit. Not sure how much weight paint would add and equally not sure it there would be any meaningful benefit increase in R-value.

[R]

A few dabs of silicon on either your pad or the floor will fix the sliding.

Unlikely any paint will hold up to the folds and wrinkles fabric gets packing up a tent.  Unless it’s highly IR reflective, anything so thin won’t be much of an insulator.

Maybe try glow tape on your poles, for some illumination?  The problem with all that stuff is that it only takes so long before it discharges and goes dark.

[Mark Fowler]

I am unsure what level of illumination you are seeking but I expect treating the tent fabric with a paint will add quite a bit of weight and if using a tent with an inner it will decrease the breathability. My main concern at night is finding the zips sliders on the door so I replaced the slider tags with a loop of luminescent cord which works well and lasts pretty much all night.

[Dale Wambaugh]

The paint would need direct exposure to sunlight too. There are so many low powered LED devices available. A Luci inflatable solar charges lantern can be reduced to candlelight levels and last all night.

https://mpowerd.com. REI and others carry them.

[Matthew M]

Yah Ill also vote for the Luci I have the smaller emergency model and it works fantastically for my needs

[William N]

No glow paint would illuminate for more than a couple of minutes, most of that time it’s pretty dim. As far as I know all of these materials are effectively exactly the same. They will work after being lit with a flashlight. I agree, LEDs are the ticket.  (The old ‘glow’ stuff on watches was radium (I had one, it was really neat) and tritium (military compasses and gun sights). Both of these glow on their own. Radium will glow longer than you’ll live, and the tritium lasts for about ten years.  Neither is all that dangerous– unless maybe you worked in the place where they made them, or you got some and painted your tent with it.

What I find interesting is that LEDs offer so many possibilities, yet there are so many holes in available gear. A good powerful adjustable flashlight: no problem. There are lots of good ones. Headlamps: some really good ones (all of which have absolutely stupid interfaces. Yeah I use ’em and they work, they’re still stupid.)

You just need a single AA battery overall very low level. I clip my Fenix to the clip on my hiking pole (to clip the other pole to) Pointing up it lights the inside of my poncho/rainfly, but it would be too bright for your needs.  At Costco and HomeDepot they sell headlamps that are really crappy as headlamps. They’re crappy because they aren’t very bright. Maybe that would work?

[Sharon J.]

I took a photography lighting class some years back. To get a nice soft glow using a flash, you need a diffuser. The recommended *cheap*, portable option was a white plastic grocery bag, puffed up like a balloon and wrapped around the flash. Should do nicely with a headlamp. You could even use a cuben fiber stuff sack if you need more ambiance.

[Author]

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