Camping Night Light

Everyone I know that camps has been at least a bit scared by something going bump in the night. My scare was one night on the Arizona Trail, all alone, when I heard coyotes howling - not from one direction, but all around me. My tiny little silnylon tent didn't feel like much protection that night.

New campers can feel a lot more comfortable with just a slight bit of illumination to fight back the utter darkness in a forest with no city light pollution in the sky. Whether it's his first year at scout camp or first wilderness backpacking trip, the UV PaqLite can help a scout relax and get some rest out in the wilds.



The PaqLite is a vacuum sealed, flexible package of glow-in-the-dark crystals (strontium aluminate) that absorb light and then slowly release it as a green glow for hours. Shining a flashlight on this and then hanging it in a tent gives off a reassuring light until everyone is asleep, and it will still be glowing if someone wakes in the middle of the night.

The UV PaqLite provides comfort without wasting hours of flashlight batteries. A bright, overpowering light really isn't helpful at night, but a soft glow is perfect. This night light is a very thin 6x7 inches, weighs just about 1 ounce, can be rolled, folded, or crunched into any small spot in your pack, and illuminates a 3 person tent nicely.

Enough glow is thrown out so you can actually read by it for about an hour or so, but it does fade over time. A quick shot from a flashlight under a cover (to not bother tentmates) and hang it back up will give more time.

As you can see in the image, the crystals come in various packaging. The PaqLite is the large rectangular item. You can also get small amounts of crystal embedded in clear, poured epoxy so they are indesctructable, solid, and reusable indefinitely. These are good to hang on pieces of gear you might want to find in the dark. These hard packages come in various sizes and shapes, and you can cut and drill them to make smaller zipper pulls or whatever.

It's a night light for camping without the disposable waste from snap glow sticks - maybe a good little stocking stuffer?