Compact CampingHeadlamp or lantern: do you need both?
A headlamp handles almost every camp task on its own, which is exactly why a lantern feels optional right up until the first evening you actually want to see the whole table, not just whatever you're looking at.
What a headlamp cannot do
A headlamp's beam points wherever your head points, which is perfect for hands-free tasks — cooking, reading a map, walking a trail — but wrong for lighting a whole tent or a table of people. Whoever wears it blinds anyone they look at, and there is no way for the light to just sit still and fill a space. That single limitation is the entire case for a lantern.
What a lantern adds for not much weight
A small packable lantern like the Ledlenser ML4 (~130 g, 300 lumens) spreads soft, even light around a tent or table without pointing at anyone in particular, which is genuinely nicer for eating, cards, or reading together. Many pack flat or clip to a tent's internal loop, and some — like the Goal Zero Lighthouse Micro Charge — double as a USB power source for topping up a phone. For the weight, it is one of the few "pure comfort" items on this site that consistently earns a place in reviewers' actual pack, not just the spec sheet.
The two-in-one shortcut
Several headlamps solve this without adding a second item at all. The Nitecore NU27 (~56 g, 600 lumens) has a diffused flood mode wide enough to hang in the tent as an improvised lantern, and the Nitecore LR40 is built explicitly as a lantern-and-headlamp combo. If you are trying to keep the kit as small as possible, a headlamp with a genuine flood or lantern mode gets most of the benefit of carrying two lights for the weight of one.
When to skip the lantern entirely
If your trips are mostly solo, mostly moving, or you're asleep not long after dark, a lantern is dead weight — a headlamp on its low setting does the job of lighting a small tent interior well enough. The lantern earns its keep specifically at basecamp evenings, shared meals, and multi-person trips where several people need light in the same space at once, not aimed at each other's faces.
Verdict
Solo, fast-moving, or asleep early: skip it, a good headlamp covers everything. Basecamp evenings or a shared table: a dedicated lantern at ~130 g is cheap insurance for comfort. Trying to keep the kit to one light: buy a headlamp with a genuine flood or lantern mode instead of two separate items — see our full lighting picks for both.