Hello
So we just bought a cottage on Lake Ontario. Will be buying a boat a soon. Wondering what you all think would be the best light to have on a boat. I have a couple of HID Spotlights but they may be a little big…. Need a combo of flood and throw…
Thanks
What I would suggest is that you do an intense search for a Garrity G-Tech Lantern.
It is a 6 Volt lantern that takes a 908 battery, krypton bulb but it also has a pivoting stand and beast of all it floats. I believe it will float with a Carbon Zinc battery, but don’t risk it with an Alkaline battery.
This awesome flashlight casts a long spot beam but and a decent spill as well.
Unfortunately, it has been discontinued, that is why I said do an intense search.
My wife bought me two of the last three of them at my local West Marine, but that was back in 2011.
My next suggestion is also a Garrity 6 Volt lantern of the iBeam series. It also floats (I think) and has a beam similar to the G-Tech models. If there is a Rite Aid near you try there as there are a bunch of them left over at that store. You might be able to score one or even ebay from time to time. Unfortunately, this too is a discontinued model.
Also there are LED upgrades made for Rayovac at Wal*Mart. There is one desinged for 3 D-Cell flashlights and 6-Volt/4 D-cell batteries. This is a dumb idea imho, I believe there should be an upgrade specifically for 6-Volt flashlights, but at least it will make your battery last much longer.
Those are the only ones I can think of…
take a look at post
your not alone
I boat at night a lot and I prefer a bright narrow beam with little spill , because I find the glare off of the white interior of my boat distracting .
For that reason I use a handheld 12 volt corded halogen spotlight .
Thanks all. I have a power on Board 35 watt HID spot that is pretty bright but a bit bulky…. I have a great SP03 that 18sixfifty modded but I am leary of losing it overboard…. Looking for something bright but also replaceable. Or something I can mount….
Ericjohn I will look into the lights you sent… Our Walmart still has some but I was looking for something brighter…
Ronin I checked out the other thread…. I do not think I have the same issues …… I am just looking for something in case time catches up on us when we are having fun and have to find our way back in the dark….I won’t be going fast in the dark or doing anything but getting back to the dock….
HD- 2010 or a Jacob A-60.
anything with a bunch of throw
avoid flood to throw lights since they aren't waterproof
Spotty beam is best IMHO. WRT loosing the spo3, attach it to your wrist or boat with a lanyard/ paracord etc.
The one time I was out on a boat at night, we were running some trotlines in a lake. The best light was my Aspheric Modded Maglite, the tight beam really made it easy to pick out our markers in the dark. Like others said, the spill from other lights messed up our night vision too much. I'd probably go with something like a modded UniqueFire UF-1405. Swap out the emitter with an XP-G2 and you should be set.
maybe getting a light with a warm emitter would help a little as well. Since yellow light is suppose to be better at cutting through fog
12V 100W HID 9” 240mm Handheld Camping Hunting Fishing Super Strong Light Spotlight Off Road
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LUBMYCA/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AZ0OTJU21MVLI
anybody tried one of these?
+1 on the comments about narrow beam pattern and warm tint. Cold tints are great for long distances, but haze will reflect it back at you. I find aspherics (almost focused with no spill) best for long range spotting on water because reflections off the boat kill night vision.
You really need 3 different light (or 2 lights and a good zoomie):
When SWMBO & I had boats, we bought a “10 Million Candlepower” light from Walmart for $10 or so, which had a “normal” spotlight incandescent bulb. Being a pure white incan, it punched out a huge hole in the darkness that would illuminate low-flying aircraft.
There weren’t any White LEDs then, nevermind “powerful” (not that the current crop is all that impressive, no offense), and HID was ludicrously expensive; so this was awesome for the price. It got its “10 Million” claim from having a head the size of a hat that would fit my fat-ass head.
I found that hanging it under the gunwale (obviously hand-held) before turning it on worked the best. I’m sure the other boaters (and a couple of pilots, no doubt) hated it, but it worked amazingly well in clear or fog.
Nowadays, we’re into other things but I’d have to second the suggestion of not trying to make one torch (especially an LED) do all tasks & instead get a monster beamer for when you’re lost or afraid (or feel like punching someone in the eyeballs from 100 yards away!!) & get at least 1 or 2 LEDs for “normal” use.
Do you think this fits the Bill? anybody tried one of these?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LUBMYCA/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&p…
I also used to have those 10 million candlepower incandescent has well…. I actually still have one but the charge won’t stay…… didn’t really want to switch out battery’s…. Cheaper to buy a new one. But I have 100 amazon gift card burning a hole in my wallet…. But want get something worthwhile….
Seems quite expensive for what it is, I’d buy a halogen version, they seem to be around 10 to 15 $ here then get a h1 hid kit for a motorcycle about $15 and fit that inside in place of the halogen
Have not done it on one of the plug in ones, but have done it on a couple of the 10 million+ candlepower rechargeable battery ones and it works well and was a really simple job, so should be an easy mod to do on the handheld plug in ones
We spent long nights traveling & Searching on big lakes with lots of islands and inlets in the past. The trick to boating at night without “blinding” your night vision is not to illuminate the boat with a white light’s flood. We used bowpit mounted HID spot lights for seeing long distances, ( mounting the lights on as forward on the bowpit as possible so no flood what so ever shines on any part of the boat to keep the boat entirely dark) and we used low-power red flashlights to se in the boat when we needed to.
Always use a Brinkman Q beam when on rivers and lakes when the moon isn’t out. Prefer moonlight on lakes when the moon is bright enough.
If your local Wal-Mart still has some Garrity G-Tech lanterns on their shelves, then buy as many of them as you possibly can. It is a miracle that any brick and mortar store would still have some (unless it was some mom and pop hardware store off the well beaten path.) I see them rarely online and there are plenty of other Garrity flashlights that I rarely see online.
On CandlePowerForums, I started a thread about the Garrity Rugged Lite Series (which the G-Tech line was/is the direct descendant of) in search for them. They are even rarer. It is a shame too because Garrity was/is (however you look at it) an AWESOME brand imho. I believe they were/are among the best of the “Budget” flashlights. Garrity was started in the 1960s, became popular in the 1980s-90s, bought out by Duracell in 2006 and discontinued in 2007. They made a comeback in 2012, but never really took off. Their market is near non existent and their website isn’t even online yet. Since then, I have seen a few “new” Garrity flashlights at my local grocer and Rite Aid, but nothing to promising. I did see on ebay an LED Tuff Lite model some time last year, but I cannot remember if it is still up there.
Garrity holds a special place in my heart…
There are some decent 6 Volt incandescent and LED floating lanterns made for/by Rayovac that are sold at WalMart as well. I would imagine the LED models are more rugged and just a dollar or two more…
There is a line of flashlights in Australia (some of which were also American) known as the Dolphin series. They are 6 volt lanterns that are rugged, waterproof and float.
In 2012 the Mark 6 came out and there was also a subsequent LED version which gives off 100 lumens.
Now, VERY recently in The States there is an American version of the Dolphin flashlight known as the Weather Ready. I have only seen it at Wal Mart and NOT even online yet. But the specs state that it gives off 150 lumens and the battery life is 35 hours (don’t know if this is based on use from Alkaline or Carbon Zinc batteries.) I don’t know the truthfulness of those claims, but it still seems like a nice flashlight and I plan to get one soon. It costs right around $10 at Wal Mart, but you will need to buy a battery separately.
I have been reading plenty of about the Australian Dolphin and I have come to the realization that they are the perfect boating flashlight and now its equivalent is available in The States.