Good (Search and rescue) flashlight for sailing?

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hi,

New to the forum, so please correct me if this is in the wrong section. I tried searching, but didn’t come up with anything conclusive. Also new to flashlights!

I’m going long distance sailing with my girlfriend, far away from any land, helicopters or search parties. This means we have to solve most situations by ourselves, for example, someone going into the water in bad weather in the middle of the night. Of course, we will try to avoid all these situations, but it’s always good to plan for the unexpected.

So, this is the uses we would like to handle with a flashlight:

1. Search and rescue, man over board.
2. Lookout for fishing equipment, logs, growlers(bigger pieces of ice, small icebergs).
3. Navigation aid, being able to see navigation aids both on land and on sea, both reflecting and not, from far away as well as close.
4. Signalling to other boats, airplanes etc.

Not being an expert, I’ve tried thinking of what I would like it to handle. See this list as a wishlist, I understand everything won’t be available, but I’m looking for the best compromise / all around light for my needs.

1. Both range and good spread.
2. Water protected – Should be able to withstands heavy rain and temporary salt water splashes.
3. Easy to charge to always have it ready.

Price: You can’t put a price on safety, but this is just one of many things that’s needed, so ideally not more than $100/€100/£100, but could go higher if there is a good reason for it.

All the best,

Kris

2

Hi Kris
Welcome to the forum!

Are you open to more than one light? Could your search for a light actually be a light “kit” of multiple lights.

It might be difficult to find a single light that meets all of your needs (but not impossible). I don’t know how critical space/weight is on your boat. Redundancies probably aren’t a bad thing far from land.

It might sound silly but many of us probably take 3 or more lights with us just to walk to the grocery store. On a boat I think I’d need at least 10 :smiley:

3

I have to agree with Nooner, something like a Acebeam K75 would be great for “Signalling to other boats, airplanes”. But…you’ll need something with more spill for a searchlight.

Another thing to think about is charging and run times.

4

I understand, let’s remove that from the equation if that’s causing trouble. If there is a way to find the best “all round” light, what would it be?

I get what you are saying, and i understand. But as I figure, on a boat, I need a flashlight that’s mounted so it could be grabbed in a split second and do most things good, although I understand it wouldn’t be all things great.

I read somewhere here that a Convoy M3 or Mateminco MT70 could be good for this purpose, but are there other alternatives?

5

A Fenix RC 40 for its brute output and power bank capability plus a Fenix LD 75 C for multiple power/circuit design-don’t know if these or any led flashlights need pure sine power .

Regrettably way way outside of the mentioned budget.

6

Don’t forget a couple of spare batteries for the RC40 a few dozen cr 123a’s / 18650’s plus chargers……as the op posts one cannot put a price on safety.

How much Zywiec are you bringing?

7

well one things for sure it needs to be properly salt waterproof, Perhaps take a look at the Marine beam

8

Two sofirn Sp36 including bats for that price? You get redundancy

Built in charging so you never had to take it apart … just clove hitch (or double clove hitch) some stretchy cord as a lanyard

Ans buy a liito kala 402 or other such charger and keep it in a sealed pouch as a backup as well for 10$ USD

Or a dive light … sofirn makes a few and you can get 2 with bats and charger for your budget

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/DDScuCY0

Or one of each since they use the same bats

9

A flashlight is a tool. Are you taking one single wrench to fix everything? Do you rely on one single size and length of rope to do all jobs? I understand why you want to have one mounted or located somewhere to grab quickly but one light is not going to be the proper tool for all jobs. The fairly new Acebeam W30 4000K for punching small holes in the fog, for reaching out farther than almost anything else available would seem worth its weight in gold at times. General duty Convoy S2+ sst20 2700K. And a handful of other lights and headlights. Probably all warm colors and stick to 18650 for everything. The W30 comes with an adapter 4 using an 18650

10

You’ll probably find some useful infos in this thread from a few months ago.

11

Because he mentioned Flooder + Searching + Sealed

Acebeam X70 without the fan probably is a good option.

A more dedicated searching is the Acebeam K75 but it does not flood much.

12

I like the thought of multiple lights rather than one light to rule them all .It kills the mindset that one maker or more expensive light will have a greater ability to withstand the elements etc . So is "one light " more reliable than two ?

First thought is I'd want a thrower since you can always make a thrower floody by simple diffusion ..and can never make a flooder throwy .A flood to throw light or aspheric lens light would be the worst type of light under these circumstances .

I wouldn't rule out a simple cheap buoyant plastic dive light as something to throw overboard if needed either .

I'd personally want a light with a real beacon instead of silly sos or strobe BS . Maybe think about the Sofirn SF11

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0JOKITzdxg

and use 4 lithium primary cells

https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Lithium-Batteries-Ultimate-Battery/dp/B01C4PP8FK/ref=sr_1_1?hvadid=22966116&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=energizer+lithium&qid=1571841541&sr=8-1

Has lots of throw and equally a very nice low ,low moon mode . at about 20$ it's a light worth having .

Maybe a convoy C8 ? BLF Q8...& maybe a decent Headlamp like a Skillhunt h03 or a panda isn't the worst idea either .

I'm a flashaholic and it sounds like there's a boat involved not like someone is carrying one light into a cave or something .I'd have a AAAaround my neck on an elastic string ...a few handy on deck ....and 400 stowed away with 4000 batteries as ballast :)

13

So this isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but it’s the one I have…

When I go sailing, I generally am expecting the yacht to already be equipped with a waterproof flashlight (it’s usually part of the standard emergency kit on-board), however, I also take three other lights;

  1. Something floody with high output for harbour/marina operations; currently using the Astrolux EC01. The EC01 has an excellent benefit in that it uses the Andurii UI, which has lots of beacon options, should you need it.
  2. Something throwy for spotting things at distance (man-over-board, or perhaps an iceberg in your case), for this I used the FT03 as it’s a great balance of power and size. You could also use the MF04 for a super long range light, but at a much greater cost and not as convenient!
  3. A head-torch with a red led and a normal beam. Because many operations on deck require full dexterity of your hands. Currently I’m using an (oldish) Petzl Tikka-R which has “Reactiv” technology and is excellent. This lamp is also pretty robust in terms of waterproofing, excellent for messing about with the tender at night and those times when you inevitably get a bit wet.

For the most part, I’ve not felt the need for higher colour rendition or anything like that, just whichever LED is cheapest with the highest output.

I wouldn’t treat any of the mentioned lights as waterproof, for our purposes. I’d equip them all with a floaty and a lanyard is a must.

All mentioned lights (apart from the MF04) can be charged by USB, albeit with different cables.

And no, I’m not sponsored or affiliated with Astrolux, I just seem to have a lot of their lights and they seem to be my most used…

Last thought; you can never have too many lights, sailing just gives you more excuses to use them :slight_smile:

14

I would suggest Thrunite TN40S, neutral white. My favourite light due to long range and usable spill. Those neutral white XPL HI LEDs have great tint even on lower output levels. Beam profile is much more useful than those pencil beam throwers. Currently on sale for 139 USD at HKE.

15

There’s no single do-it-all light, just get the right tools for the various jobs you need.

For a thrower, you don’t want to light up the immediate foreground (foam, whitecaps, etc.), blinding you and keeping you from what’s waaaaaaaay out where you’re shining. The W30 should be great for that.

A little closer-in, a P30 or GTmini would be great.

On deck, you’d want a flooder. People seem to be most familiar with (and get used to, or at least tolerate) hotspot+spill for even just around the house, but once you go wide-angle, you never want to go back.

And needless to say, lanyards, lanyards, lanyards. Ordinarily, I hate ’em, but on a boat where it’s too easy to lose one, like, forever, I’d make sure each’n’every one would have one, and would be used religiously.

Oh yeh, “compromise” generally means it sucks at most things equally and does nothing exceptionally well.

16

Longdistancesailor

I think Siftah is giving you great advice.

When you find that “best all round light”, wear it on your waste.

The difference between an “all around light” and a dedicated thrower as a signaling device could be literally miles.

17

Lightbringer

I couldn’t say it better! :+1:

18

Say it with a French accent? :laughing:

19

I like the SP36 more than any sane person should, but the primary challenge is that it has no lanyard mounting holes.

Given a decent sized pocket, I also like the EC01 as a general purpose light, but I can’t recall if it has any lanyard holes either.

20

In my humble opinion, each of you should have an inexpensive but rugged headlamp. How often at sea when you are working at night do you have a free hand? It wouldn’t hurt if the headlamp had a magnetic base. I would guess that iron surfaces are rare, but it adds little weight and can be useful if you can find a place to stick the light.

Others have made suggestions about your specific uses. I’d also suggest that the headlamps have a very low or firefly mode < 1 lumen. It’s great for moving around in the dark without disturbing others or losing night vision.