Search lights?

[Helirich]

I almost got caught out at night last week. My boat has the required nav lights, but it only has a cheap hand held search light that is not even as powerful as a car headlight. I want to get something better. Not sure if I want hand held, but the installed ones are not so good looking. I definitely want power. I was thinking of an aircraft landing light. Do you guys got any recommendations?

if it makes any difference, the boat is a 25’ Formula that can do close to 60. I don’t care to run into a channel marker.

 

[Dog]

I almost got caught out at night last week. My boat has the required nav lights, but it only has a cheap hand held search light that is not even as powerful as a car headlight. I want to get something better. Not sure if I want hand held, but the installed ones are not so good looking. I definitely want power. I was thinking of an aircraft landing light. Do you guys got any recommendations?

if it makes any difference, the boat is a 25’ Formula that can do close to 60. I don’t care to run into a channel marker.

I would post this is the lounge or ask a mod to move it. You might not get much down here.

 

[17 10 Flat]

I almost got caught out at night last week. My boat has the required nav lights, but it only has a cheap hand held search light that is not even as powerful as a car headlight. I want to get something better. Not sure if I want hand held, but the installed ones are not so good looking. I definitely want power. I was thinking of an aircraft landing light. Do you guys got any recommendations?

if it makes any difference, the boat is a 25’ Formula that can do close to 60. I don’t care to run into a channel marker.

I may be the first but anything over 20 mph at night is crazy

 

[2Driver]

I have the model 1 step below this model and its crazy bright . They are killer. Not sure how you intend to use it but its bright.

Fenix LR60R Search Flashlight

Explore with Fenix LR60R Search Flashlight offering 21000 lumens, 10 modes, OLED display, USB-C fast charge, and hands-free options. Shop now.

www.fenixlighting.com

 

[pwerwagn]

We do a lot of night boating, its sketchy without a good light. Its also REALLY nice to have a reliable GPS of some form, so you can at least follow a previous path that you know you didnt hit anything. The hard part about the GPS is you need one that will dim adequately, otherwise it overpowers your own vision and makes it harder to see.

I keep both the big ryobi spot light in the boat, as well as a cigarette lighter powered one. The cig powered one is a somewhat cheapie off amazon, says "1 million candle power" on the side. Its bright enough. The big ryobi spotlight is a tad brighter, but I'm afraid ill get caught with a dead 18v battery so having a backup makes me feel good.

 

[Helirich]

I have the model 1 step below this model and its crazy bright . They are killer. Not sure how you intend to use it but its bright.

Fenix LR60R Search Flashlight

Explore with Fenix LR60R Search Flashlight offering 21000 lumens, 10 modes, OLED display, USB-C fast charge, and hands-free options. Shop now.

www.fenixlighting.com

that thing is impressive. They are proud of it to.

 

[2Driver]

that thing is impressive. They are proud of it to.

They are all high priced but superior quality.
This is the one I got, a little cheaper.

Fenix LR50R Flashlight - 12000 Lumen Spotlight

The Fenix LR50R Flashlight is the definition of a high-performance spotlight blasting a maximum 12000 lumens over half of a mile.

www.fenixlighting.com

 

[Helirich]

They are all high priced but superior quality.
This is the one I got, a little cheaper.

Fenix LR50R Flashlight - 12000 Lumen Spotlight

The Fenix LR50R Flashlight is the definition of a high-performance spotlight blasting a maximum 12000 lumens over half of a mile.

www.fenixlighting.com

I kind of like that one better. (Shape)

 

[Mikes56]

No flashlight, I don't care how powerful it is, is going to work on the water at night. The water and darkness just absorbs the light. Get a good set of NVG’s or monocular.

It’s terrifying being the passenger, when the driver is hauling ass at night and can see clear as day with his NVG’s on.

When I worked at Pyramid Lake we had night fishing tournaments. We’d be doing 50mph on the water at night, no problem. The passenger was sure we were gonna hit something. Good times…

 

[LHC Kirby]

Get off the water before sunset

The NVG sounds like your best option, a bright light is great, but if you night-blind other boaters, not so good.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Do NVGs become a problem with moonlight or full moons? Or do they work better with moonlight vs none?

 

[Mikes56]

Do NVGs become a problem with moonlight or full moons? Or do they work better with moonlight vs none?

NVG’s apparently gather all available light so moonlight or a full moon isn’t a problem.

The only problem is that they are expensive.

 

[Helirich]

Get off the water before sunset

The NVG sounds like your best option, a bright light is great, but if you night-blind other boaters, not so good.

This is my main plan. I just want a good light if I get caught. Also, I won’t be doing 50 at night.

What I would really like is some kind of “clamp on” light that could be put on the windshield. (I don’t want it on during the day time.)

 

[Mikes56]

This is my main plan. I just want a good light if I get caught. Also, I won’t be doing 50 at night.

What I would really like is some kind of “clamp on” light that could be put on the windshield. (I don’t want it on during the day time.)

We stayed a little too late at The Springs one year and had a terrifying trip coming back to The Nautical at night. The sides of the lake blended into the water and you couldn’t tell where the shoreline was. I had a handheld Q-Beam that plugged into my lighter socket and it was useless.

Don't waste your money, it’s not gonna work.

 

[2Driver]

Get off the water before sunset

The NVG sounds like your best option, a bright light is great, but if you night-blind other boaters, not so good.

best advice

 

[Orange Juice]

I almost got caught out at night last week. My boat has the required nav lights, but it only has a cheap hand held search light that is not even as powerful as a car headlight. I want to get something better. Not sure if I want hand held, but the installed ones are not so good looking. I definitely want power. I was thinking of an aircraft landing light. Do you guys got any recommendations?

if it makes any difference, the boat is a 25’ Formula that can do close to 60. I don’t care to run into a channel marker.

Best to plan your night cruises around full moons.

 

[zhandfull]

Best to plan your night cruises around full moons.

This! Then you still have idiots running dock lights on the water blinding other boaters.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Look at an app called GPS Tracks. You can setup a breadcrumb return route based on going the other direction and then use that to follow it home where you can not be concerned with following shoreline and just keep your eyes peeled forward for any dolts floating in the darkness with no lights on.

 

[Helirich]

Look at an app called GPS Tracks. You can setup a breadcrumb return route based on going the other direction and then use that to follow it home where you can not be concerned with following shoreline and just keep your eyes peeled forward for any dolts floating in the darkness with no lights on.

I have an app from Garmin that will do that. It has water depths and nav markers also.

 

[stephenkatsea]

When traveling Havasu at night use the range lights. They’ll keep you in the middle of the lake. Take a look at a chart. The range lights are clearly marked. If you’re not familiar with range lights, you shouldn’t be on the water at night.

 

[Rbcconst]

Get a spot light that you can put an amber or red lense over. Without that cover there is a major glare and you cant see shit. And get something that plugs into the cig lighter so you don’t have to worry if the battery dies or how charged it is or isnt.

 

[wzuber]

isn't there a speed law at night? I believe 15mph max or something like that? @BoatCop should be able to clarify. To be clear, I don't suggest anybody follow it or anything crazy like that, I didn't in my younger days, but just thought it might be a good idea to mention just in case somebody wanted to do something crazy like that.

 

[joecfd1]

I have one of these. Spendy but extremely bright. I bought 3 of them for a job years ago (2 plus a spare) and at the end of the job I ended up with one.

Maxa Beam Handheld Searchlight Packages

Portable, Handheld Maxa Beam Searchlights are powered by lightweight Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries and are kitted with accessories such as infrared filters, vehicle adapters and spare batteries. Searchlight features include 12,000,000 CandlePower output, 3500 meter range, motorized...

www.peakbeam.com

 

[Desert Whaler]

My $.02 FWIW . . .
My boat sits as low as an upside down frisbee in the water.
So when I navigate around (mostly in the ocean) at night, I keep a small but powerful flashlight right on me. I use it just in case an approaching boat gets really close and appears to be heading at me and not see me.
I could really care less if I flash someone and it pisses them off . . . much better than getting plowed over in the dark.

From my experience, unless you have land near by that you can 'reach' with the beam of whatever light you are using . . . you tend to get a lot of 'bounce back' from either the water, mist, fog, low clouds etc. . It sucks.
It's a pain in the ass on your eyes to use a powerful light for any extended amount of time on the water.
It almost 'seems' that if what you're looking for is not within the 'beam' of your light, you lose all of your peripheral vision and is very disorienting. Almost makes things worse.
Maybe there is a specific 'color' of lens that works better on the water (similar to what amber fog lights do) but I don't know.

I do know that being elevated up in a flying bridge sure makes things much better, I'm assuming because you're not getting 'as much' bounce back of light off the water.

One thing that REALLY helps me is to dim down ANY light source 'inside' the boat when navigating in the dark . . . GPS screens, gauges, deck lights, and ESPECIALLY cell phones, are either off, or dimmed down as low as they'll go.

I bought a couple little American flag decals that are made with that 3M Reflective vinyl and put them just aft of the Whaler emblems above the water line. . . I was blown away how much they 'pop' at night, so much that I put one on the back of my outboard cowling so I don't get rear-ended. LOL.

I guess I'm just tying to be 'seen' at night and not get taken out by someone else . . . but not running into something or someone is on me.