Why Your Headlamps and Lanterns Should Always Be Set to This Color Mode Around Camp

Have you ever wondered why headlamps and camp lights come with a red or orange setting? It’s not just for ambience — there’s a surprising benefit to switching from bright white to more mellow red. If you’re sick of dealing with a tent full of flying bugs, this info is for you.

According to the North Carolina State University Agriculture and State Sciences Department: “Most insects have only two types of visual pigments. One pigment absorbs green and yellow light (550 nm); the other absorbs blue and ultraviolet light (<480 nm). Insects cannot see red.” Even if the reasons don’t interest you, the results should. Your camping lantern has a red light mode. Use it, and you won’t attract insects.

I’ve tried this trick myself: At camp I typically use a Biolite Headlamp 325 and Goal Zero Crush Light Chroma, when I’m not testing other lighting solutions. They’re both lightweight, easy to operate and the Goal Zero has solar charging; I leave it on the dash to soak up the sun during the day’s drive, and it’s ready to go when then sun starts to set.

First, I tested the headlamp: Anyone who’s worn a headlamp during the evening at camp is probably familiar with the flickering, flying bugs that are drawn to your face almost immediately after you turn your headlamp on. It’s annoying and can make seeing clearly a chore, cancelling out the appeal of the headlamp in the first place. Sure enough, with the standard white light setting I had bugs up in my grill; once I switched it to red, they all left me alone.

Same with the Crush Light Chroma. We keep one in our GoFast Camper and have built a routine around the red light. When we’re getting into the tent and need to see and have panels open, we set the Chroma to red. No bugs follow us inside, and once we’re in and all the tent flaps are securely shut, we’ll switch to white light. It is trickier to see details at night with red light, so we mostly use if for entering and exiting the tent, and reserve the white light reserved for use after we’ve tucked in for the evening.

Nearly all headlamps come with a red light setting, but read the product description rather than assuming. Camp lights and lanterns aren’t equipped with red light as widely, so check to make sure your pick has the ability to go into red mode. With that in mind, here are a few of my favorites for keeping bugs at bay.