Glow-in-the-Dark Cornhole Bags: They Used to Suck — Here’s What’s Changed
If you’ve been reading The Cornhole for a while, you might remember our original take on glow-in-the-dark cornhole bags. The verdict was simple: they suck. Save your money.
That was 2018. We stand by that assessment — for the products that existed at the time. The options were glow stick inserts that barely produced light, glow-in-the-dark fabric that faded in minutes, and LED inserts that fell out after a few throws. They were gimmicks, not gaming equipment.
But the category has improved. Today’s LED cornhole bags use sealed internal LED modules, remote-controlled color options, and all-weather construction that actually holds up to real gameplay. Are they as good as your favorite Pro bags? No. Will they win you an ACL tournament? Also no. But for night play at backyard parties, camping trips, and evening cookouts? The new generation actually works.
Here’s what’s worth buying now — and what to skip.
What’s Changed Since 2018
Then: Glow sticks shoved into bag pockets. Dim, single-use, bags felt wrong. Now: Sealed LED modules built into the bag construction. Bright, reusable, remote-controlled.
Then: Glow-in-the-dark fabric that needed 30 minutes of sunlight charging and faded in 10 minutes. Now: Battery-powered LEDs that produce consistent brightness for 6-8+ hours.
Then: Bags that felt like novelty items — wrong weight, wrong shape, wrong slide. Now: All-weather bags that approach regulation weight and feel. Not tournament-quality, but genuinely playable.
The bottom line: if you tried glow bags years ago and hated them, the current products deserve a fresh look.
Best Glow-in-the-Dark Cornhole Bags
1. Fiber Optic LED Cornhole Bags (Rechargeable)
Best Overall LED Bags
This is what we’ve been waiting for — LED cornhole bags that actually feel like real bags. These fiber optic bags weave light-emitting fibers directly into the fabric, creating a full-surface glow effect instead of a single LED puck hidden inside. The result is a bag that glows evenly across its entire face, making it visible in flight, on the board, and from the full 27-foot throwing distance.
The microsuede construction is a huge upgrade over the cheap duck cloth used on most LED bags. Microsuede is the same fabric used on the slick side of dual-sided pro bags, which means these actually slide and feel like real cornhole bags — not like a novelty product with a light shoved inside.
Best of all, they’re rechargeable via USB. No swapping tiny button batteries mid-party. Charge them up before your event and you’re set for the evening. Multiple color options and light modes let you customize the look.
These represent a genuine leap forward in the LED bag category. The fiber optic approach solves the two biggest complaints about older LED bags: uneven lighting (the old single-LED-puck problem) and cheap bag construction. These look good, play well, and glow beautifully.
What’s Included: Set of LED fiber optic cornhole bags, USB charging cable Construction: Microsuede fabric with integrated fiber optic lighting Power: Rechargeable via USB (no disposable batteries) Best For: Night parties, camping, anyone who wants LED bags that actually play like real bags What to Know: The microsuede fabric gives these a slick-side feel — if you prefer a sticky/duck cloth feel, these play differently than standard casual bags. For night play purposes, the trade-off is absolutely worth it. The rechargeable design means no scrambling for batteries.
2. Brightz BagBrightz LED Cornhole Bags (4-Pack)
Best from a Trusted Brand
Brightz makes the most popular LED cornhole lights (TossBrightz and BoardBrightz), and their BagBrightz bags complete the full night cornhole ecosystem. The internal LED activates on impact and glows brightly, making each bag visible in flight and on the board.
If you’re already using Brightz lights on your boards, these bags are the natural companion. The brand consistency means the colors and brightness levels complement each other for a cohesive night play setup.
What’s Included: 4 LED bags Best For: Players already using Brightz board lights, brand consistency What to Know: Single-color LED (no remote control like the Cipton). Simpler but reliable.
3. DIY Approach: LED Inserts + Standard Bags
Best if You Love Your Existing Bags
If you don’t want to buy a whole new set of bags just for night play, you can buy small LED puck lights or flat LED inserts and place them under or alongside your regular bags on the board. This doesn’t light up the bags in flight, but it does illuminate where bags land on the board.
Alternatively, small adhesive LED clip lights attached to the outside of your bags work in a pinch. Not elegant, but functional and cheap.
This approach works best when combined with LED board lights — the board lights handle visibility while you play with your preferred bags.
Best For: Players who want to keep using their favorite bags, budget-conscious, DIYers What to Know: This isn’t as good as purpose-built LED bags, but it’s much cheaper and lets you play with bags you already know and love.
What We Still Don’t Recommend
Glow stick insert bags. These are the products we trashed in 2018, and they haven’t improved. A plastic glow stick shoved into a pocket on a cheap bag produces minimal light and changes the bag’s weight and feel. Skip these entirely.
Glow-in-the-dark fabric bags. Fabric treated with phosphorescent material needs sunlight to charge and fades quickly in the dark. The glow is too dim to actually see from 27 feet away. Not worth it.
Any bag under $15 for a set of 4. At that price point, you’re getting the same gimmicky products that existed in 2018. Quality LED bags cost more because the LED components, batteries, and construction are genuinely more expensive to produce.
The Better Strategy: Light Up Your Boards Instead
Here’s what we’ve always recommended and still believe: the biggest impact for night cornhole comes from lighting up your boards, not your bags.
LED hole lights (like the Brightz TossBrightz) give you a glowing target that’s visible from anywhere in your yard. Board edge lights illuminate the entire playing surface so you can see where bags land. Together, these two accessories cost $25-$40 and transform any cornhole set into a night-play setup.
LED bags are the cherry on top — fun, impressive, and genuinely useful for seeing bags in flight. But if you’re only going to spend money on one thing for night cornhole, spend it on board lights. They make a bigger difference.
The ultimate night cornhole setup (in order of priority):
- LED hole lights (~$15-$20) — see your target
- LED board edge lights (~$15-$20) — see where bags land
- LED bags (~$25-$40) — see bags in flight
For all our cornhole accessory picks, check our complete accessories guide. For a full breakdown of every LED and glow game beyond cornhole, see our Best Glow-in-the-Dark Outdoor Games guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are LED cornhole bags regulation? No — LED cornhole bags are not regulation weight or construction. They’re designed for casual night play, not tournament use. The LED components change the bag’s weight distribution slightly. For competitive play, use standard regulation bags with LED board lights instead.
How long do LED cornhole bags last on a charge? The best LED bags last up to 8 hours on a single set of batteries. Most LED bags last 4-8 hours depending on the mode (solid uses more battery than flash). Standard replaceable batteries (CR2032 or similar) are easy to swap.
Can you see LED cornhole bags from 27 feet away? Yes — modern LED bags are bright enough to see in flight and on the board from the full regulation distance. This was the main problem with older glow products — they weren’t bright enough. Current LED technology has solved this.
What’s better — LED bags or LED board lights? LED board lights have more impact on actual gameplay because they illuminate your target and the playing surface. LED bags are more visually impressive and help you see bags in flight. The ideal setup uses both, but if you’re choosing one, start with board lights.
Do glow-in-the-dark cornhole bags still suck? The old ones? Yes. Glow stick inserts and phosphorescent fabric bags are still terrible. But modern LED bags with sealed internal lights, remote controls, and all-weather construction are a genuine improvement. They’re not tournament bags, but for night play they actually work now.
Last updated: June 2026
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I love everything which glows in the dark. And if these things are used to elongate our cornhole experience, then they’re definitely attracting my interest!!
The board lights that run the perimeter are kind of an interesting solution to the problem!! I would definitely buy these bags the next time I play cornhole at night!!
Hi there Tyler!
These glowing (glow in the dark) and illuminated (glow sticks) cornhole (bean bag toss) bags definitely add a new twist to the game. But as I mention in the post, they are more of a novelty.
If you wanted to throw a really fun party, I recommend black lights and glow paint! You can paint the bags, boards, your body…go crazy!
For a long term solution…if you plan on playing a lot at night…there is no substitute for LED board lighting.
Thanks for stopping by The Cornhole!
Gosh this looks a fun game I have never seen it before and it would make a good game for all ages, like that you could be play this game inside or out, think it would be something the kids would enjoy especially in the evening with the lightening effect or glow in the dark paint. Very novel will be looking into this more, it also looks like a game you could put together yourself if you were the creative type
Katie…cornhole is a fun game! You have to try it!
The kids will love the game. It is so easy to setup and learn…and unlike horseshoes or lawn darts, cornhole (bean bag toss) is safe! 😉
I’m mentioned to another reader that a fun twist on night time play is to add black lights and glow paint! You can paint the bags, boards and more. The kids would have a great time putting paint on their hands and faces as well. I think this would make for a really fun birthday party game!
If you are just starting out with the game, I recommend purchasing a set that is ready to go – here are some of the most affordable options for cornhole sets. The only exception would be if you have the tools and lumber laying around…then just build a set in an afternoon and get playing.
I hope you are able to get a cornhole set for this summer! You’ll never regret it.
Ilike the bags that glows at night that awould make the game to be more exciting. Especially if you are in the are where their is no lights electric that. Bring us to the board that’s have lights that enable night vision to be possible .all said and done this a good game worthy trying.
Hello Charles. From the sound of your English, it looks like boarddecals.com is getting some international attention. That is awesome! We are all about spreading the game around the world.
Cornhole is a game worth trying! If you don’t want to spend a lot of money to try out the game, go with a cheap set and then upgrade to something nicer down the road. You can also look for Find Cornhole Leagues in Your Area as an opportunity to experience and learn the game.
Where ever you are in the world, I hope you get a chance to play cornhole!
Have fun out there!
Thank you for this, I feel adding light to the hole and perimeter board light is still the safest means for cornhole in the dark, is there anyway the glow in the dark paint charging process be extended for more than 30 minutes.Which type of night visions you can recommend to see clearly the flying bags at night?
Yes! Adding lights to the board is by far the better way to go. In the long run you’ll thank yourself.
Any of the night vision googles are going to work. The cheapest one will be those that use a bunch of infrared LEDs to illuminate the view. The have a CCD camera and an LCD display. (I know, all kinds of acronyms!) If you have money to blow, pick up a couple of these for your next party! 🙂
Actually, a night vision cornhole tournament could be really really cool. I might have to plan something like that!
Thanks for stoping byThe Cornhole!
Thanks for sharing this amazing information! The glow-in-the-dark bags are so cool! I have never thought that before. And you also introduce other things such as glow in the dark paint, which is really a good idea for people to be attractive or seeking novelty. I would love to try some after the reading and watching your videos, though you just mentioned: “I recommend you save your money and don’t bother purchasing any of the products we review here.” at the beginning. lol By the way, this is really interesting. Thank you!
No problem James.
So yeah, the idea of glow in the dark bags are pretty cool…but I still think they are more of a novelty.
You can have a lot of fun with glow in the dark paint or black light paint! I can imagine a pretty wild party full of glowing bodies and fling bags!
If you get a chance to try any of these ideas out, please come back and sure with the rest of us.
Hi,I really impressed with this corn bags. Very creative ideas. I think, its not only for fun games, but also a great decoration ideas for kids room. I can already imagine how excited my kids. I also love your ideas to flood the backyard with these glow in the dark bean bags. Its just perfect to plan the birthday party during the nighttime. Thanks for the Great ideas.
Yep, these glow in the dark bags are pretty crazy. Again, they are more of a novelty, you don’t want to hold your next tournament with them, but still a lot of fun.
And yes, what a great idea! Kids would love to have these in their room. They could almost be like night lights, sending kids off to dream about dropping four cornholes in a row!
These glow in the dark bags could even be used for playing catch outside at night!
I think you guys are doing really great by being creative and thinking out of the box. Your idea of glow in the dark bags is not different from all other great ideas making waves in the world today, they are born out of thesame creative mindset .Its a great idea for a nite time party with family and friends.
Zuchii!
You can get super creative with cornhole my friend! You can decorate your board – Cornhole Board Decals – Create the most talked about cornhole boards! Or have a wild party with glow in the dark bags, booze and body paint…now that sounds like fun!
If you end up having a night time cornhole party, be sure to come back and share some pictures! 😉
Have a great time out there my friend!
Glad to know that radio luminescent paint can produce light energy on its own. This is possible because of the present of radioactive elements in it. Phosphorescent paint on the other hand needs to be charged for so times before it receive light energy to glow.
I will want to know which is better between radio luminescent paint and phosphorescent paint.
You learn something new ever day right? 😉
Radio luminescent paint shouldn’t be used for anything like cornhole. It’s not a lot of radiation, but you’d have to use a lot of paint…and it is expensive…and why risk it?
You are better off going with a paint that needs to be “charged” before it glows…..OR…..get some black lights and neon paints. That can be just as fun! It’s like cosmic bowling.
Hey there Michael,
thanks for the informative review, I’ve found it to be very helpful and I’ve also enjoyed reading it and learning about a completely new and unheard of product. As far as Light Up Bags go, well I won’t lie- at first when I’ve heard the whole concept and idea behind them I though- damn, that sounds pretty cool. However, after reading Your review and discovering that this is just a gimmick that doesn’t really deliver on its promises made all of the hype and excitement behind this glowing bags quickly disappear and vanish, haha! One of the biggest issue that I have with the LED inserts is, like You’ve mentioned the fact that the creators had to use less plastic filling for LED to come on consistently, which in the end results in these LED bags filling much differently in hand, compared to the original ones. Which is a huge downside for me personally as it kills the overall experience I guess, as You have to get used to the feel of game all over again (well, for some it may not- I guess it depends on personal preference, right?). Although I have to say that I really like Yours idea of just using glow in the dark paint s to paint the original bags Yourself instead of using these LED bag- I honestly think this is a fantastic solution to this problem, great job!
All in all Michael, thanks for such awesome review and keep up the great work 😉
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by The Cornhole.
I’m like you…I play my cornhole with my favorite bags. Playing with anything different messes up my game. Now, if it is just a friendly night game I don’t mind. But most of our games are pretty competitive so I’m not going to risk it! 😉
Around our house, the glow in the dark bags end up getting used in a game of tag…people running around in the dark, getting glowing bags tossed at them. You get hit…you it!
If you end up getting any of these “lit” bags, drop back and let us know how they worked out for you!