Headlamps give you a focused beam of light. Lanterns disperse light to illuminate a broader area.
If you have the latter, and want the ambient lighting effect of the former, you can use a headlamp to create a lantern if you have a plastic water or milk jug on hand. It’s a super simple camping trick that can give you the lantern-like glow you’re looking for.
![](https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2021/11/jug1.jpg)
Put out a water or milk jug. If the jug had milk in it, rinse it out, and refill the jug with water. Remove the label.
![](https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2021/11/jug-light2.jpg)
Put the headlamp around the jug’s body.
![](https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2021/11/jug3.jpg)
Turn the headlamp around, so that the lamp part is facing into the jug.
![](https://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2021/11/jug4.jpg)
Turn the headlamp on and — boom! — you’ve got yourself a lantern. The handle makes it easy to tote around camp.