Lantern Wars & Glowing Innovations

Australia’s Brightest Camping Gear for 2025

There’s a glowing war on the Australian camping front... and no, it’s not over who forgot to pack the marshmallows again. This week, the spotlight (quite literally) is on lantern innovation! From bug-repelling orange hues to disco-ready glow globes, it’s clear that 2025 is the year your tent becomes the envy of Coachella.

🎇 Light it Up: A Lantern Revolution

Camping lights have long been stuck somewhere between your uncle’s rusty torch and that one solar light you swore would charge (but never did). But lo and behold! The top 10 lanterns of 2025 have entered the scene like contestants on an outback version of MasterChef, each with its own flashy features and odd quirks.

At the top of the hierarchy is the Hardkorr U-Lite Dual Colour Lantern, which doesn’t just light up your swag like a mini sun but has the added party trick of switching to an orange bug-deterring mode. It’s like the Swiss Army knife of lanterns—minus the blade, unless you count its brightness as a weapon.

Following closely behind is Dogbox’s Lumoclip Mini Light, a lantern that has ambitions far beyond lighting. It doubles as a bottle opener and attaches magnetically to just about anything. Essentially, it's your best friend in a blackout and the life of the campfire party.

And then we have the BioLite AlpenGlow, a lantern that is a bit of a show-off. Shake it like a snow globe and it cycles through candle flickers, rainbow glow, and a setting I swear whispered “vibes only” when I turned it on.

One Snowys writer even quipped that the AlpenGlow was “like a lava lamp that got a PhD

in electrical engineering.”

🧊 Meanwhile, in Cooler News...

Lanterns aren't the only stars of the show—enter myCOOLMAN, a brand of fridges so advanced they might just apply for citizenship. In a recent podcast, myCOOLMAN’s Charlie Graham revealed that the secret to their success is the Blue-Gen compressor technology, which sounds like something Tony Stark might use to power a fridge in the desert.

But what really takes the (cold) cake? These fridges are whisper-quiet, can run on battery packs, and boast better insulation than your grandmother’s winter coat. They also feature integrated USB ports and efficient noise-reduction tech. In other words, they’re more polite than your camping neighbour blasting Cold Chisel at 2 AM.

🤨 Conflicting Coolness?

While Snowys gives high praise to myCOOLMAN’s frosty prowess, some off-grid forums (which we can only assume are powered by dreams and portable solar panels) have hinted that their battery performance in high humidity environments isn’t quite as “cool” as claimed. One user reported the fridge humming louder than their snoring dog at night. Another swore it made their cheese “too cold.” Tragedy.

Nevertheless, the consensus is that myCOOLMAN is shaping up to be the cool king of the outback, if not the overlord of leftovers.

🧭 Key Takeaways

• Camping gear is no longer just functional—it's high-tech, fun, and a bit cheeky.

• Lanterns now include USB charging, party modes, bottle openers, and even magnetic feet. We are one step away from sentient lighting.

• myCOOLMAN fridges are among the best for off-grid cooling, with thoughtful engineering and Aussie durability.

• If you’re camping this winter, bring a lantern from this list and you’ll be the MVP of the night trek to the toilet.