Bow Light
Submitted by Jackfrost80 on Mon, 2016-01-18 10:13
Looking for some feedback on a bow light for picking up cray pots, navigation markers etc at night time. My two options are a spotlight or a bar light and I am looking at installing a NARVA 72736W www.ebay.com.au/itm/140862585641 which is about $200 more expensive than a spotlight.
What do you guys run with and what are the pros and cons of a strong bar light vs a spotlight?
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Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Comrad
Posts: 109
Date Joined: 17/07/14
I've not yet fitted lights to
I've not yet fitted lights to my boat, so, I can't give a 100% recommendation, but, I have both a 42" light bar and 9" halogen spot lights on my ute, and they both serve seperate purposes. The light bar is fantastic up close, producing a huge amount of light, spread over a great area, but only a little distance. its good for lighting up the side of the road, etc... The spotlights are good for distance, but don't alway give a fantastic spread up close.
It's less so about the power of the lights, and more about the reflector behind the light. Light bars come in either flood, spot, or combination of the two variations. But, they're tiny little reflectors so you don't get the straighest beam, and then the light quickly dissipates due to the inverse square law.
I would imagine for your purposes, you'd mostly want to really illuminate the area immediately around you, where a light bar would be better. But if you wanted to pick up things in the distance, then a spotty is the way to go. Also have to consider if you want to pivot or adjust the beam of light, its much easier with a spot light or worklight since it usually only has a single point of attachment rather than two feet like a light bar may have.
dodgy
Posts: 4588
Date Joined: 01/02/10
Head lights on boats are
Head lights on boats are nearly useless without a reference point. Close up is the only time they work.
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Rob H
Posts: 5905
Date Joined: 18/01/12
have an Ebay 120W lightbar on
have an Ebay 120W lightbar on mine.
As said you can really see the water with it but can see something ON the water such as a float etc
$75 or so.
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scottnofish
Posts: 1621
Date Joined: 28/08/07
just make sure you mount it
Right at the front otherwise any light on the deck will give you lots of glare and no vision
Madmerv
Posts: 672
Date Joined: 24/01/15
Lighting
I mounted a 24v 500w spotty with an electric pivot control on my mates boat for exactly the same reason. IMO it is next to useless. The movement of the boat, up,down,left and right, make the spotty go everywhere but where you want it to be. A hand held one would be much more usefull for picking up what is a little way off or a light bar and a slower speed.
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Jackfrost80
Posts: 8157
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Cheers for the feedback
Cheers for the feedback guys. Might install a gigarette plug in the dash for a hand held and a fixed bar light on the bow so I've got the best of both worlds
Officially off the Pies bandwagon