EEEk! What is outside our van?PIC: Pexels
Okay, you’ve found the perfect bush camping spot. You’ve had a lovely evening. You’ve extinguished the campfire and you’re now safely tucked up in bed. Perfect … except; “What was that?”
Once you’ve convinced yourself that a deranged bikie is prowling around outside, or a pack of dingoes is eating your campchair, there is no way you will be getting a wink of sleep. The solution. Simple. As well as working as a basic lantern, the CampGuard lantern offers a proximity sensor light and a high-decibel campsite alarm system. Finally, you can sleep in peace.
The CampGuard is an LED lantern with 100- and 300-lumen settings. However, it also has a proximity sensor setting that automatically turns on the 300-lumen light when it detects motion. It will shut itself off after 15 seconds if it doesn’t detect any more movement.
While this motion sensor might be welcomed by grey nomads getting up in the middle of the night to go to the loo, it is the 360-degree perimeter alarm mode which puts the CampGuard on the nervous bush camper’s musthave list. The lantern sets up a perimeter up to 11 metres away and, if it detects motion, an alarm goes off and the lights go on.
The American startup company behind the lantern, Bright Path LED, says the alarm has been tested and tuned specifically for scaring off dangerous animals and predators. However, it is not clear whether it was tested on crocodiles and dingoes, as well as on bears and cougars. It sounds like a cracking idea to give extra peace of mind to those who do get nervous camping out in the bush on their own, but there are a few niggling questions.
Most people would agree that it will be very nice to send that deranged bikie running for cover when the CampGuard does its thing, but it might be less pleasant to be jolted out of your slumber by extremely loud alarm noises and bright lights … all because a curious possum was poking around. Any camping neighbours might feel similarly annoyed by a false alarm.
The CampGuard sells for US$79.99.
