I had laser surgery done on my eyes over 15 years ago now. It has made a world of difference in my ability to see a distance. I used to be 20/400+ now 20/20 in both eyes even 15 years after the surgery. The only downfall to the surgery is my night vision is not nearly as good as it used to be so I rely heavily on artificial light on the water at night for navigation. I have used a standard corded handheld 12 V spotlight for years but mine finally bit the dust a few years ago. With the major advances in LED flashlights I started just using one of these. Major downfall from the LED flashlight is it’s not bright enough when spread to a broad flood and if you focus the light pattern down to a small beam for brighter light it’s only showing a very small area of the bank. I think I really need to go back to a 12 V light and hoping someone here can speed up my research time. While cordless units are apealing I worry about them not holding a charge for long enough? Some of the areas I run are extremely dark, no streetlights, no dock lights etc. so the spotlight could get as much as a solid hour of usage in a night. Recommendations???
If you run a small generator that would allow you to use a lot more lights.
You can go to junk yard & get old type car headlights & rig up on something.
No generator on board, even when I am gigging I use all LED so I run 12v only for those as well. From my experience fixed mounted lights don’t work well for running the creeks at night as you typically need to constantly move the light to spotlight the banks for positioning.
Q-Beam
So, several years ago I bought a cheap Chinese knock off “coon” hunting hard hat with LED light. It is awesome, has four levels of brightness and although I don’t use it constantly, will last over six hours even how. It recharges off a USB charger I keep in the truck.
JT
Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.
I went to Walmart in the automotive section and picked up two 15" light bars for gigging. I mount these on the rail with band clamps and use them in conjunction with my sea striker. I can’t remember the name, but they are the Walmart brand and are made mainly for 4x4s. Each light was $30 and took me about 10 minutes to wire for a 12V. Last weekend I went back and for $20 got the 3" spot light. This light comes with a battery pack for “demo” purposes. I quickly got rid of that and rewired it in about 5 minutes. It doesn’t have a handle, but I’ll probably rig one up for it. Worked great for a 5 mile run back to the landing. Obviously you have to have a 12V, but if you need sustained light, works far better than a Q beam.
Real test is going to be when I take it gator hunting this year.
Narcosis
We use to fiberglass a car headlight to a 4 or 5 ft piece of conduit. Run the wires up through the conduit and use clamps to hook up to a lawn tractor battery
automotive led flood lights, 12v… awesome! tons of them on amazon
Capt. Garry Coats
Folly Beach & CHS
@DolphinChartersSC
https://www.harborfreight.com/3-watt-led-rechargeable-cordless-spotlight-61777.html
Rob
Triumph 17
Honda 75
Set two of these up for gator hunting. Great alligator clips on the adapter make it super easy if you don’t have a cigarette lighter plug. Not having to rely on batteries was very handy using it hours at a time, and I, like you, don’t like the LED for a broad light.
Wadmalaw native
16’ Bentz-Craft Flats Boat