Arsinek

The first thing I need is some kind of light to run so I can see where I'm going before the sun comes up. I was thinking something I could mount to the top of the grab bar on my console.

After that I would like to replace the courtesy lights that are on the sides of my console with LED courtesy lights.

I have no idea what company makes good lights for boats.

DarcizzleOffshore

I think that's illegal bc you'd be blinding everyone else on the water. Better check.
Lumitec, OceanLED and Scandvik are some leading names in LED's

Stickbo

1breakinit

what is it with people wanting headlights on boats ????.

if you dim all your cabin lighting you can see just fine at night when on the water , yea , you do need lighting for docking etc, but when running dimming all other lights and allowing your night vision to adjust accordingly, you should be able to see quite well,

having bright running lighting affects others on the water . .

Rundeep

If you need that much light, only boat on nights with near or full moon

Freeportchris

Use your GPS and learn to understand the position and heading of other boats by observing their navigation lights when navigating in the dark. “Headlights” are a big no no. With that being said . I installed Lumitec LED lighting on my t-top earlier in the season , They are great and only use them while fishing at night not for navigation purposes.

Playn Hooky

Get radar if you travel in the dark. It's not that expensive when it comes to how much boat electronics cost. I won't own another boat without it. Please don't add a light bar on your boat and run with it at night.

jamesbfishin

The number of people wanting/needing these LED light bars for navigation is disturbing. When your eyes adjust to the conditions you'll be surprised at what you can see unaided

Flying_Norseman

Come on guys, is there anything more fun than turning on your 5 LED bars just as you’re approaching another boater? It’s almost as fun as turning on the high beam on my Hummer when I approach idiots thinking the blue light on their dash means the lights are on (yeah it will take them a while before they can see any road again...) I just mounted the ACR LED so I can get them stupid boaters real good, and move it so that it will always light up their face. Good times for sure..... I never start it though, but I always finish......

Arsinek

Come on guys, I certainly wouldnt want one to avoid running into things like rocks, poles and other hazards in the water.

Fine Catch

If you put a light bar on the grab rail of your console, it will light the bow area of your boat up and you won't be able to see anything except your boat. As others will tell you, headlights on boats are a bad idea, they ruin your night vision and blind other boaters. Radar and the judicial use of a hand held spotlight are your best bets. You need to spend some time with someone who's experienced running a boat at night, because your original question and follow up post show that you don't have much sea time after dark.

Arsinek

Radar to find a post in the water?

Flying_Norseman

What a concept.......

83 t craft

I can tell you from experience you'll see more with no lights in open water then with lights. There nothing for the light to reflect off of and the dark seems to eat it up. I run airboats and if your running in grass along the banks lights work fine as soon as you hit open water you see more with lights off.

First Light

Yes, and lot's of other things.

bigjimmie

Flir

ucf_motorcycle

You are the problem everyone else just posted about. If you are not comfortable running your boat at night without some sort of headlight then don’t boat at night. Everyone else is somehow capable of doing it. But it only takes a few idiots with headlight glaring to screw it up for everyone around them.

Dim you console lights, slow down, stay in the channels and watch your radar and gps. No headlight needed and it is actually illegal, though not enforced enough.

bills106

There may be circumstances where "lighting up the world" is both prudent and a safe option. To the OP's question which seems to have been long forgotten, I have been using Lumitec lights for a while now and have been very happy with their performance and service on the few occasions we've had failures.

We're trying out their new Razor light bars on our 41 to augment the ACR directional spotlight and in this case it makes sense to me. There are zero other power boats in a 50 mile area that would be encountered. The bar mouth is unimproved, unlit, shallow and shifts constantly, eyeball navigation is required and radar or previous tracks of no use. To make it even more fun there are often single man dugout canoes fishing small nets out to five miles and inside the bar, not very good radar targets! Decent FLIR units arent allowed to be exported there realistically.

This is a unique situation but IMHO one that is justifiable to use "headlights".

WPBTH

[QUOTE=bills106;13151216]There may be circumstances where "lighting up the world" is both prudent and a safe option. To the OP's question which seems to have been long forgotten, I have been using Lumitec lights for a while now and have been very happy with their performance and service on the few occasions we've had failures.

I am going to add some new lights, but those guys have new owners, new manufacturing facility, I stayed away

GetReel

How do you expect the OP to drive at 50 mph in the dark without giant headlights? - I mean really people. There are rocks and poles out there