Little Book Lights Make a Great Travel Accessory

Little bitty book lights are a great travel accessory -- they can be used to read maps in a darkened train, check guidebooks on a dimly lit bus or clipped to a journal for late night writing in a room with sleeping folks. The My Light latch light (last light on the page) works as a mini desk lamp, too. Your local book store probably has at least one variety of little book lights, as do superstores like Walmart.

Compare Little Book Lights

"My Light" Clip On Task Light

The spring clip on the My Light booklight is fierce -- keeps the swiveling, pivoting little task light in place, always a plus with a hard cover book -- wiggly book lights are the worst. And My Light small lights are the best travel lights -- check out the carabiner-latch light below, too.

Lithium cell batteries. About $10.

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Zelco Itty Bitty Book Light

Zelco made the original Itty Bitty book light, and this is an updated version: maller, lighter, brighter and with a more techie look than the original. About $30.

Deluxe Verilux Book Light

This light is sumpin -- just like a real, but miniature, light. Kinda cool and makes a great looking gift, one worth adding to this list as the luxury pick, but we do like the carabiner light (below) a bit better in the long run...

"My Light" Carabiner-Latch Travel Light

"My Light" makes a couple of very cool travel lights -- a super sturdy clip-on reading light, above, and a carabiner clip light that I love (click the clip-on booklight pictured at right to see a photo of the carabiner light). I've hung it over the rung of an hostel bunk for general illumination, and slide it into a book, bending the bendy head over the page, or set it flat like a desktop lamp, head bent up and out to light up an area. I hang it in my tent and my VW van when a lantern is too much. The light that the two LED bulbs puts out is really pretty amazing -- I clipped the carabiner to a chair to light a late dusk London shot -- check it out here to see what powerful candlepower it packs.

And the carabiner latch light has two lighting choices -- I've used the red LED bulbs to light up a night when walking; the carabiner clip hooks it on a belt loop (it's small, doesn't bang around your body much and is like a hands-free flashlight). The My Light clip-on booklight (above at top, andpictured at right) is meant more for reading and writing and it's lighter (as in weight) than the latch, but when carrying just one, I choose the carabiner latch light as an all purpose darkness dispelling tool.

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Lastly, know that cheapie clamshell booklights can often be found at superstores for about $3.

The Bottom Line

Tuck a little booklight into an outer pocket of your backpack and be enlightened. Lots easier to use a book light than to clamp a mini flashlight in your teeth. And there's something comforting about a warm, personal pool of light in an unfamiliar place.

"Weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning."
--George Carlin