While leaving in Germany, I had the fortune of going camping in the black forest. I found out quickly why they call it the black forest. When the sun goes down it is pitch black and you can barely see your hand in front of your face.
We had just finished setting up camp and I had to run back out to the car to grab my backpack, which was about a mile away. As soon as I started to trek back to the campsite the sun went down and before I knew it I had no idea which way was what. I was lost. After a small panic attack, I calmed myself and started to walk very slowly in the direction of where I thought camp and my friends were at. Just a few moments later I noticed a very small light peering out into the dark. It was like a lighthouse for me. I set my course to walk directly toward the light. The closer I got the brighter the light, and before I knew it I walked back into the campground to see that my friends had set a large lantern in a large tree that covered our tents.
That lantern not only expelled the darkness from where we were in the forest, but it also gave us safety from the dark and a lighthouse to find our way back.
I will never go camping without a lantern again.