Not to argue the use of outside lights when camping (pros and cons, lights on all night, blinding your neighbor at 2:30 am, etc)... But ...
But to share a simple money saving tip for those who do use outside lighting: Buy lights after holidays!
After Christmas is a great time to purchase string lights, rope lights, all kinds of lights with different colors very cheap. Stock up and if a string of lights goes bad, it's no great loss financially.
I've done this every year for many, many years now, (purchased holiday items after the holiday), especially lights.
At one time, we had over a hundred boxes of Christmas outside ice-sickle house hold lights. I ended up giving them all away to my son so he could hang them at his house a few years ago. So I had no more.
Actually, I got tired of hanging outside items out when camping, including lights.
Well, there is another holiday that is great for after-holiday buying... and that is Halloween.
This last year, after Halloween, the local grocery store had all kinds of left-overs, including rope lights. I bought 9 strings for about $2.00 each. They are purple. I thought that would be pretty especially NOT during Halloween.
Well, this week end is the first time I used them. So I put them out in a very simple fashion.
So, if looking for some cheap lighting and a simple way to use them at your campsite without a lot of work, here's how it worked out for me. FYI, I turned them off at 9:30 pm.... I don't like lights when I'm sleeping either! They look red in the photo, but they are actually purple. The photo below was taken just right before it got dark last night, so the sky looks much lighter than it really was.
Feel free to share your outside lighting ideas! Photos welcome!
But to share a simple money saving tip for those who do use outside lighting: Buy lights after holidays!
After Christmas is a great time to purchase string lights, rope lights, all kinds of lights with different colors very cheap. Stock up and if a string of lights goes bad, it's no great loss financially.
I've done this every year for many, many years now, (purchased holiday items after the holiday), especially lights.
At one time, we had over a hundred boxes of Christmas outside ice-sickle house hold lights. I ended up giving them all away to my son so he could hang them at his house a few years ago. So I had no more.
Actually, I got tired of hanging outside items out when camping, including lights.
Well, there is another holiday that is great for after-holiday buying... and that is Halloween.
This last year, after Halloween, the local grocery store had all kinds of left-overs, including rope lights. I bought 9 strings for about $2.00 each. They are purple. I thought that would be pretty especially NOT during Halloween.
Well, this week end is the first time I used them. So I put them out in a very simple fashion.
So, if looking for some cheap lighting and a simple way to use them at your campsite without a lot of work, here's how it worked out for me. FYI, I turned them off at 9:30 pm.... I don't like lights when I'm sleeping either! They look red in the photo, but they are actually purple. The photo below was taken just right before it got dark last night, so the sky looks much lighter than it really was.
Feel free to share your outside lighting ideas! Photos welcome!
We installed our own LED lights permanently to the side of our camper. I do like the seasonal type lights, but it just got to the point where putting up lights was one more thing we had to do at set up/break down.
What I like the most about our lights is that they can be different colors. You can do a fast strobe if you want a party atmosphere or a plain low red if someone needs lighting to see around you but you don't want to disturb the campfire atmosphere.
What I like the most about our lights is that they can be different colors. You can do a fast strobe if you want a party atmosphere or a plain low red if someone needs lighting to see around you but you don't want to disturb the campfire atmosphere.
