Enjoying nature is one of the joys of camping, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit in the dark and cook over an open fire. You can enjoy the great outdoors and have a bit of modern convenience too if you bring along the right camping equipment.

Today, there are many types of lanterns and lighting running on anything from batteries to white gas to kerosene. Solar power is becoming more popular since it is natural and does not have the offensive smell that some other power sources like kerosene have. For lighting, photo voltaic cells are used which store the suns energy during the day in rechargeable batteries allowing you to use it to light your campsite at night.

Some of these solar lamps can last 12 hours and you can even use some of them to recharge your iPod, GPS or cell phone! These new lamps use LED’s which are extremely efficient at using the stored electricity and produce bright natural spectrum lighting.

Another essential piece of camping equipment is a cook stove. While cooking over an open fire can be fun, it’s really not practical for many foods and can take a long time. So, you might consider a cook stove to make mealtimes a bit more convenient.

It used to be that if you wanted any type of cooking in the campground, you had to lug around a heavy kerosene cook stove but today you can buy propane stoves that model any grill you might use at home. They have models that sit on a table or ones that stand on your own. Stoves are available for many types of fuel sources and many will use more than one type. Some burn propane, some gasoline, some butane and some a propane, butane mix. White gas is a new fuel that you is very popular since it is inexpensive and efficient as well as clean.

If you are choosing a cook stove for your camping trip, you might consider a double burner stove that you can use to boil water or sauté foods on. Today, you can get them with an electric starter button and don’t forget to buy one that has a wind screen so the flame doesn’t blow out.

Make sure keep your camping equipment in good condition for safety purposes as well as making it last longer. Clean your cook stove and lanterns after every trip and store them properly and that way they will be ready to go for the next trip!