Good words on NGT VFR so far, especially the 2 Mag torches and spare batteries.
Some more tricks:
1. Get a torch holder that securely attaches a torch to the bow of your headset. Turn on and ignore, when it all goes black (it will..).
Holding a torch in a spare hand or your mouth for an hour after a total electrics failure solo while doing radio, nav, drills, etc. without any ground reference is not an option. 95% of commercial pilots try once, and it doesn't work. Lots of saliva, disorientation and check pilot with arms folded. (No, I DON'T want to hold your frigging slimey torch !)
As soon as you get night VMC right, your instructor should turn off all your lights and cover your electric insts at about 200' feet on climb and leave them that way until you land - good fun !
2. Lights at night are misleading. Night VFR is really a form of IFR, so use navaid info plus DR backup as for IFR, outside the circuit.
Using primary visual info for fixes on a nav unless its Buckingham Palace or something unique is not good, because low cloud, new lights, timed power saving, etc., can change the appearance of what you are used to. Grid failures especially.
I once saw a 12000 hour pilot confuse electric train cable sparks with visual lane strobe markers ! Its easy to do, so nav like it's IFR.
The only lights I refer to at night are threshold lights when abeam on downwind, and rwy lights for lining up on. And taxiway lights. That's all !
For short distances, eg., OCTA in the terminal area, count the time in seconds for DR nav as this will be more accurate than needles and a lot safer than twisting around looking for lights over your shoulder.
Eg., its 040M from the Severn Bridges back to the airfield, but how many minutes/seconds ? And how long is too far ?? What then ?
3. Study up on visual illusions and human factors, and "blackhole" approaches, and fly some of the latter during a night navex.
4. Expect to be without any ground lights at all in some places on cross country navs, which really means its true IFR, for quite a few miles, with all the attendant illusions. (One good one - flying over a fishing fleet under a black sky; all the pin pricks of light are like stars underneath you !) Under these circumstances you won't see clouds until you are in them, so have your cloud plan ready.
Also, landing lights wont show any cloud until, like Ski Guru, you arrive in one.
5. Your torch's should have red filters because this colour causes the least loss of night vision. However, night vision is a lot less useful than illumination. You DO want to see everything on the panel and its better to have a bright torch than a dull one, since you are not really going to rely on night vision to see Heinkels in the moonlight. (sorry, Krauts)
Red light means no red pen marks.
6. Vision ? You need a clean windscreen. Clean it with soap and water at each stop (carry it, the hose is too far), in case the next one is an approach in heavy rain, which combined with dust and bugs will cause you to see not too much at 200' !
7. Engine failures and unable to maintain height - aim for the lights so as you get closer you can see something, if not much. The black areas could be anything. At least lights might mean people. Don't fixate and hit a 18" thick steel light pole though.
8. When you get airborne and everything has settled down; same as for day, check fuel/oil caps for leaks (torch).
9. Oh yeah, you MUST eat 2 large carrots (washed but unpeeled, with salt) immediately before takeoff.