Lamps That Are Not Electric

• If you plan on going camping, on a long boat trip, spending time in a rustic cabin without electricity or looking for back-up power in case of a black-out or other emergency, multiple types of non-electric lamps are available. While each of these lamps offer what you are looking for -- light -- each lamp has pros and cons, which makes it easier to choose which lamp best suits your situation.

Battery LED Lamps

• Light emitting diode (LED) battery lamps are easy to use and safe indoors and out. LED lamps don't use a filament, like traditional bulbs, which means they do not get as hot and they last much longer. Traditional bulbs use most of the energy to produce heat, not light. LED lights have no moving parts, making them not only more durable, but almost indestructible.

Fuel Lamps

• Fuel-operated lamps, such as kerosene, propane or butane provide a lot of light. Fuel for these lamps comes in a disposable canister you simply screw into the wick. Problems include short-term use, cost, bulk and heaviness of the canister and these lamps generate a lot of heat.

  Kerosene lamps are efficient, but produce a lot of heat, are highly flammable and dangerous. Kerosene lamps are best suited to outdoor use because of toxic fumes.

Candle Lamps

• Candles lamps provide an alternative to electric lamps because they are inexpensive, waterproof, lightweight and easy to use. Also relatively safe compared to fuel lamps, these lamps are wind resistant and offer heat in emergency situations. Candle lamps are also more environmentally-friendly than fuel and battery lamps. It is easy to find candles that burn up to 40 hours. If you plan to use a candle lamp indoors, consider beeswax; it burns cleaner that standard candles.

Crank Lamps

• Wind-up and crank lanterns use an inexpensive source of energy: you. Simply turn the knob or crank the handle a few times. This produces energy via a spring generator and stores it in a rechargeable battery or capacitor. With good models, a few cranks or turns produces a lot of light. Be careful not to over crank these models, as this can damage the battery. These lamps often come with built-in radios, alarm clocks and chargers, which allow you to charge other devices.

Solar Lamps

• Solar lamps harness the free power of the sun and store that energy in rechargeable batteries. These lamps are especially popular because they are environmentally friendly. Solar lamps also last a long time, making them a wise economical choice. Many brands include features like a car charger and direct current 6-volt outputs, which can charge other devices such as cell phones.