Whether you’re braced for winter storms or summer squalls, you really should buy one of these powerful lanterns before the next power outage comes your way.

Why Buy an LED Lantern Instead of Just a Flashlight?

Don’t get us wrong, flashlights are quite useful both during and in between power outages. It’s always a good idea to have a few on hand. But during a power outage, the lack of general-purpose task lighting is where lanterns really, well, shine.

Shining a bright flashlight down in the basement looking for supplies or poking around in the garage is great, but when the power won’t be back on for hours (or even days), and your home is pitch black, a lantern is a superior option.

Not only is it more pleasant to sit around a bright and diffuse light source like a lantern, but many of them have additional features like detachable flashlights and power bank functions to help you charge your phone.

These Lanterns Will Help You Weather the Storm

Hit up Amazon and you’ll find, quite literally, thousands of LED lanterns. There are a lot of low-quality white box options out there, so allow us to help you wade through the crud. Here are our some of our favorite models.

LE LED Camping Lantern

1000 lumens of illumination, IP44 water and dust resistance, and a 4400 mAh make this lantern a popular pick. Better yet? It’s one of the few lanterns around that offers crisp cool white and warm white lighting in the same package.

LE LED Camping Lantern and Flashlight

This camping lantern is both a lantern, flashlight, and powerbank. Features six lighting modes including a flashing red warning light, a built-in hanger, 500 lumens of illumination, and 2600 mAh battery.

LE Camping Lantern with Flashlights

The design of this camping lantern is quite clever as it includes a base lantern that can use both a rechargeable battery and disposable batteries, but detachable flashlights that use disposable batteries. Throw in the car charger and you’ll keep the lights on no matter what.

Eventek Camping Lantern and Battery Pack

This lantern is essentially a giant 20000 mAh battery with an LED panel on the side. It has enough juice to deliver up to 144 hours of light on the lowest setting or charge your phone multiple times.

LuminAID

This collapsible lantern is IP67 water and dust resistant, packs flat, and can charge both by solar power and USB charger. It isn’t the brightest lantern in our list, but it can provide up to 75 lumens of illumination. Switch it to the low mode (12 lumens) and you’ll get a whole 24 hours of light.

Mix and match some of our favorites from the list above, and you’ll have all your bases covered. With a few different lights that feature rechargeable batteries, disposable batteries, and solar power, you’ll never want for light (or a smartphone charge) during a power outage again.