How to Hang Lights in a Tent That Doesn't Have a Center Hanging Loop

When we bought our camping tent, hanging camping lanterns from the ceiling of a tent were not a thing like it is now. At night, we’d light a LED camping lantern similar to this one and put it on a bedside table (that is actually a folding stool like this one ) to light the inside of the tent. There was plenty of light but there were also plenty of dark corners, that we’d supplement by wearing a headlamp (I have this rechargeable LED headlamp. It’s nice because I can recharge it using a phone battery bank if needed.) (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

It's not practical to buy a new tent just for a hanging loop. Especially since we got a killer end of summer deal on a tent that is bigger, nicer, and cheaper than what we originally planned to buy at the time. It stays.

 

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I accidentally came up with my tent lighting hack the night I was searching for something in our semi lit tent. In frustration I took off my headlamp, held it above my head, and was surprised by how well that tiny light lit the entire tent by changing its placement.

I still needed two hands to continue my search and grabbed the beach towel clamp (a beach towel clamp looks like this ) I use secure our trash bag to a camp table and used it to carefully clip the headlight by its strap to the area where the seams meet in the center ceiling of our tent. It worked!

The next day I clipped one of these handheld LED work lights that we like to use instead of traditional flashlights to the ceiling seams by its hanging hook to test if it was light enough to hang without falling down. It worked and it was easier to leave it hanging during the trip than a headlamp.

It’s not a cheesy looking quick fix I made on the fly with duct tape and twine when the hanging hook broke. It is a rustic glamping tent chandelier. *smirk*

Later that summer, I handed sewed a loop of bias tape to ceiling seams I use to clip the handheld work light and applied this exact tent seam sealer both side of the seams and loop to keep it water tight. Sewing a hanging loop to the ceiling of the tent now gives me more options on what light weight items I can hang.

Happy camping!

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