Boat Flashlights

[MrG]

Well True to his word he sent me 2 new lights no questions asked. They look exactly the same to me. I will try them out.


one person had asked what the semi clear plastic tube that comes with the light is its listed a 18650 Plastic Tube. It's a spacer for the 18650 Lithium battery that you can run. You can either use 3 AAA batteries or 1 18650 Lithium. I wonder if and when you run the Lithium battery if the light is brighter??. I was tempted to buy a a few but then I ran across a few more lights on my battery quest that made me say Humm I should buy that light. LOL.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XG4JRYX/ref=aw_pd_cart_vw_1_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PRCRKYMHHBSE296AYPYD


O well this one is $24 + you need 3 Lithium batterys $8 says it's 3800 Lumens. That's like 4x as bright as the Orignal ones I posted. I will let you know how it works out. 

 

[MrG]

I have always heard that flash lights can be a addiction. I always thought guys with a bunch of flashlights were a bit strange. So I find myself being hypocritical.  I got a new light in today. $25 one I posted a link of and as expected it like 4times as bright. But the way it works is a bummer. you have the traditional switch at the bottom of the flash light. You click that Nothing happens. Then at the head of the flashlight they have. 2nd switch that selects MODE you need to hit that as well to get the flash light to turn on 2 thumbs down. O well the quest continues 

 

[SEMPERFI8387]

It's good to know I'm not the only one with an addiction. I have a ton of different ones. Goes all the way back to original mag lites with AA to the triple D cell club ....    Amazon LEDs, RYOBI, and some other brand I grabbed at HD. My wife questioned why I have so many ..... never had an answer, but when the power goes out, she understands ..... 

 

[MrG]

Fortunately I have had good luck this year and have spent many nights out past dark. That's when using these lights to navigate makes them worth their $. The small zoomable pocket lights work great for in and around the house. You don't need long distance when trying to see what went bump in the night. But it sure is nice to be able to reach out across the water and pick out potential dangers when moving across the water at night. I'm looking forward to doing a $25 3 cell flashlight shoot out with the 2 different ones I have. 1 is a 4led 4000 Lumen light and the other is a 12led 10000 Lumen  light. I should see a pretty good difference. I can say with out a doubt that their is quite a noticeable difference between the $10 zoomable 1 led 1000 lumen cheep o and the 4led 4000 3cell light. I'm hopeful that the 12led 10000 lumen light will be just as impressive. Stay tuned. BTW I did a quick look onncraigs list for flashlights OMG these cheepo's have destroyed the market for high end lights. Guys selling $200 surefires on Craig's list. You know how many cheepo's I can buy for $25 that are good for the average user.  Disclaimer, if my life depends on a light. Then by all means Elezetta or Surefire all the way no expence spaired. But for camping and boating and letting people you don't trust handle a $200 light over the water, ummm the cheepo's are just fine

 

[MrG]

So after playing with a few different  flashlights, this is what I have to report back. 


The 3 different ones I played with are 


#1 "El Cheepo" this is the single led Zoomable $10 Flashlight with a claimed output of 1000 Lumens 


#2  "Glarbeam $25 claimed "4000 Lumen" 4 Led, 3 cell light 


#3 "Glarbeam $28 claimed "10,000 Lumen" 12 Led light. 


Right off the bat I can tell you that the $10 El Cheepo is the winner.  It's because when focused the light does Not blind the driver. The light is able to leave the boat with minimal impact on effecting the driver. The other larger More powerful lights are a bit more cumbersome to handle and drive the boat, the worst part about them is when driving the boat and you turn on the light it FILLS the interior of the boat with light and blinds you. Yes they are lots brighter but unless you have someone at the very front of the boat shining the light out your gonna be blinded by the flashlights wide beam. In short I'm testing a mini spot light against powerful large flood lights. So the test is not real fair.  If you were using these larger lights while walking down a trail, The larger ones would BLOW away Elcheepo" 


In our situation (boating) we need a adjustable beam. The "el Cheepo" is hard to beat. I'm now on the Hunt for a Larger more powerful version of the "el Cheepo" 


i wanted these bigger badder flashlights to work out but unfortunately they didn't work out any better for navagation like I hoped they would. I'm sure you can blame it entirely on not being able to focus the light. 

 

[azray007]

So after playing with a few different  flashlights, this is what I have to report back. 


The 3 different ones I played with are 


#1 "El Cheepo" this is the single led Zoomable $10 Flashlight with a claimed output of 1000 Lumens 


#2  "Glarbeam $25 claimed "4000 Lumen" 4 Led, 3 cell light 


#3 "Glarbeam $28 claimed "10,000 Lumen" 12 Led light. 


Right off the bat I can tell you that the $10 El Cheepo is the winner.  It's because when focused the light does Not blind the driver. The light is able to leave the boat with minimal impact on effecting the driver. The other larger More powerful lights are a bit more cumbersome to handle and drive the boat, the worst part about them is when driving the boat and you turn on the light it FILLS the interior of the boat with light and blinds you. Yes they are lots brighter but unless you have someone at the very front of the boat shining the light out your gonna be blinded by the flashlights wide beam. In short I'm testing a mini spot light against powerful large flood lights. So the test is not real fair.  If you were using these larger lights while walking down a trail, The larger ones would BLOW away Elcheepo" 


In our situation (boating) we need a adjustable beam. The "el Cheepo" is hard to beat. I'm now on the Hunt for a Larger more powerful version of the "el Cheepo" 


i wanted these bigger badder flashlights to work out but unfortunately they didn't work out any better for navagation like I hoped they would. I'm sure you can blame it entirely on not being able to focus the light. 

Flashlight addiction...been there myself!!

 

[MrG]

Yes I'm gonna return the BigBad ones I got, it's not that I can't afford the $50 just don't want something sitting around that I don't use. And the fact that you have to use the special lithium battery's that require a special charger bla bla just more crap I don't wanna see or mess with. Now if it worked that's another thing. Would be a great camping light

 

[Dennis T.]

I have two. the first is not adjustable, but is LED and floats!, this company has a lower lumes model (55) but I got the 150 lumes version:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZHASJS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

then i got this one. kinda a spot lite but a little smaller. LED, bright, rechargable by USB (think about that, nice for the Benny), and you can even pull some juice off of the USB port for your phone, good for camping on islands etc.......
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071VD4TNT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MrG]

Hey Everyone:
So I have to say after trying out a few lights the Cheep $10 Zoomable T-6 flash lights are pretty hard to beat for boating.

So on my quest I found a bigger brighter version of the T-6. It’s just a larger more powerful more expensive version. With Christmas’s around the corner you might wanna put one of these on your list. I took a side by side photo so you can see the size difference between the $10 T-6 and the $30 larger version of the T-6

 

[MrG]

The light was $39 to be accurate BUT it comes with the 3 Lithium Battery’s and a Charger. Everything you need to make it work. You can find the Raw light (no Battery’s) for as low as $15

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N...ntainDrive&dpPl=1&dpID=51gJq0d9e3L&ref=plSrch

 

[MrG]

Here is a look at the Optics just like it’s smaller brother it uses a fish eye or projector lense to focus the light.

 

[MrG]

Ok I will Update: Its been more then a Year. My El Cheep'os are still working I would recommend the Updated ed version, Here is a link to the $10 Lights You can get one with a Magnetic Base Bottle Opener. I went with the Magnet base its awesome
https://www.amazon.com/Hausbell-HAUSBELL-flashlights-T6CD/dp/B017R6D3L2?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_6895395011

Ok with the El cheep o's Out of the way I wanted a Bad A$$ Mo Fo. So I got whats Arguably the worlds Brightest Longest Throw Single LED flashlight, This thing is a BEAST . It's close to $400 for Light Battery's & charger, This thing is just Awesome on the water for navigation almost 2 mile beam. 2 Down side's #1 its super heavy & hard to drive & hold. #2 Did I mention its $400?
https://www.amazon.com/LUMINTOP-Fla...ie=UTF8&qid=1547252336&sr=1-1&keywords=BLF+GT


Ok with that said, I have found what I think is "THE BEST boating Navigation light" #1 It's Small & Light & Super easy to hold
#2 It's only $50 #3 it run's on a single "18650 Lithium battery" (very common on Amazon) #4 It's a Shrunken down Exact copy of the $400 light above. I LOVE THIS LIGHT. 5 Stars
Downsides: the Mini GT light has MANY MANY options & modes, Just like its $400 big brother the BLF GT, You need to know how to toggle it on & off but once you know how to use it, It's a breeze but a complete new-bee might find the light frustrating cause the on & off button does so much. but once you learn its a breeze. Just felt I needed to add the disclamer
https://www.amazon.com/LUMINTOP-Fla...e=UTF8&qid=1547252782&sr=1-1&keywords=Mini+GT

Here is a SIDE by SIDE photo of the ($50 MINI on the Left and the $400 BLF GT on the right)
The Beam shots are the Same (MINI on the Left and BLF GT on the Right)

 

[Shmily]

I have several SureFires, but bang for buck, Streamlights are unbeatable.

 

[MrG]

My Brother was nice enough to 3D print me this Flashlight holder for the Mini GT let me know if you get a Mini GT I can have him make one for ya. I had him make up a few. 1 for the car 1 for each of the boats. It’s nice to have a flash light handy and store away real close. I even had him make some holders for my old el Cheep-0 lights to mount right at the front door

 

[MrG]

Here is my Light & mount @ the front door of the house, What’s funny is @ first the wife was like Hell No that’s ugly I don’t want that flash light on the wall like that. I was like “just leave it give it a try and see if you like it” She is converted. Grabs it on her way out the door to go grab mail across the street

 

[Spoiledrotten]

I just received this one. You don’t want to make the mistake of looking at the light. You won’t see anything for a little while. Super bright!

 

[Spoiledrotten]

I have always heard that flash lights can be a addiction. I always thought guys with a bunch of flashlights were a bit strange. So I find myself being hypocritical. I got a new light in today. $25 one I posted a link of and as expected it like 4times as bright. But the way it works is a bummer. you have the traditional switch at the bottom of the flash light. You click that Nothing happens. Then at the head of the flashlight they have. 2nd switch that selects MODE you need to hit that as well to get the flash light to turn on 2 thumbs down. O well the quest continues

I’ve got that addition you talk about.

 

[thornylennert]

Well, I recommend you get a decent flashlight on the form of your boat so you will have good vision during nighttime.

 

[Jack M]

Well, I recommend you get a decent flashlight on the form of your boat so you will have good vision during nighttime.

That is not legal in most states .

 

[LaurencetheAdventurer]

Just plug one of these into the Simrad! Oh wait, it's really pricey!!! With or Without lights, crossing the lake with no moon requires a bit of fortitude. Of course in my prior days, I recall a group of us would take off at 10pm when Lake Mead would be as flat as glass - on Stand Up Jet Ski's - full throttle into the abyss..crazy kids.