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Author Topic: Built in tent lighting  (Read 4068 times)

Rich.H

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Built in tent lighting
« on: March 02, 2015 »

Following on from my thoughts about having a light in a tent other than either a head torch or a bulky lantern type, I went about making this happen today. I have my eye on a new tent soon so this was more of a prototype test for now as such I did add some stuff that could be considered heavy. So the requirements for this were fairly simple.

1. It had to be light weight and come to a maximum of half the weight of a reasonable head torch.
2. It had to be part of the tent without adding any extra bulk when packing.
3. It needed to give out an amount of light on par with a head torch.
4. It had to run off a standard 3-5v usb power line to keep in standard with all my other gear.

So the basics of this are pretty darn simple, you just find a light that fits all your criteria and sew the bugger into the mesh inner of your tent. As it happens I found myself some nice pcb style led lights that had a handy usb connection at the base with a built in IC for finger touch control with dimming. Here is one of the lights when compared to a Petzl Tikka XP 2, you can easily see that these things add zero bulk or weight to any tent.


Yes the weight is in grams however as this was a test model and I am getting a new tent soon I was a little lazy with the power line. The cable I used added another 30g to the total weight, but I know using just bare connections and light gauge wire I can get the entire thing done for the region of 20g.


Here is the light section sewn in so that the light points down the length of the tent and you can easily tap the back for control.


An inside view with the cable in place also.


Finally a quick video where you can see it working, I always carry a battery pack with me for all my gear so this works off the same power source. Due to the light power it draws almost nothing and as such you could have it on all night an hardly do more than around 15% of a 6000mah pack. I was doing this in the daytime so obviously the light amounts are hard to see fully, but you can clearly see how it has a full control dimmer built in. The second slightly brighter light is a Petzl Tikka XP 2 for comparison, This light source would however be plenty for anything up to a tent around the size of the Colman 2 man tent. Oh and total cost for the next one I do will work out around £4.50 tops for everything.


Overall it should be a handy addition to a tent as it means even if your pitching in the dark you can get your tent up using a head torch, then bung your battery pack in and turn on this light so you can see both what your doing outside properly, and have plenty of light to see where your putting mats and sleeping bags etc. Also the main reason for this for me was so that I can be in a tent without having to wear a head torch as they can be a pain at times, and it doesn't drain the battery on such.
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polroger

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Re: Built in tent lighting
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2015 »

Brilliant.  Could you post a list of what is required, bearing in mind that I have zero electronic knowledge.
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RDeckard

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Re: Built in tent lighting
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2015 »

What is the battery pack you are using, what other pieces of kit do you run off it?

Nice set up by the way.
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Rich.H

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Re: Built in tent lighting
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2015 »

Brilliant.  Could you post a list of what is required, bearing in mind that I have zero electronic knowledge.

You could easily replicate what I did here with minimal gear and zero knowledge needed. Either a pack or one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311289529910?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=610408157731&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT is what serves as a light. Then for simplicity sake you can just use a usb cable that has a usb A female connection at one end, and whatever you need for your power pack (most likely usb A male) at the other end. After that just sew them into the tent at whatever spot suits your needs best.
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Rich.H

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Re: Built in tent lighting
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2015 »

What is the battery pack you are using, what other pieces of kit do you run off it?

Nice set up by the way.

The pack is just a small spare power pack I used for testing here, when I think it is around the 7000mah range labeled. However since all packs pretty much are identical and run of a number of 18560 cells the actual amounts they hold vary lots, I will guess this one probably only has a real capacity of around 4000mah. It is fine for an overnighter or as a carry along for an all night hike but I wouldn't bother with it for anything longer. For most trips I take along a much larger custom pack that has around 9000mah along with a built in 18650 cell charger.

As for other kit I like to have a universal power source as it means less crap to lug about, so I make sure anything electronic can take a micro usb cable as a power supply/charge lead.
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RedLeader

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Re: Built in tent lighting
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2015 »

I've never seen this sort of thing before. It's got lots of interesting applications.

Brilliant.  Could you post a list of what is required, bearing in mind that I have zero electronic knowledge.

You could easily replicate what I did here with minimal gear and zero knowledge needed. Either a pack or one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311289529910?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=610408157731&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT is what serves as a light. Then for simplicity sake you can just use a usb cable that has a usb A female connection at one end, and whatever you need for your power pack (most likely usb A male) at the other end. After that just sew them into the tent at whatever spot suits your needs best.
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Rich.H

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Re: Built in tent lighting
« Reply #6 on: March 04, 2015 »

I've never seen this sort of thing before. It's got lots of interesting applications.

There are also plenty that work without any built in IC, so they simply go on/off at the application of power. Something with a simple circuit could work well in a backpack lid so it came on when you open the pack. It could make it easier to find stuff in the dark rather than rooting around the bottom of a dim pack.
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