Help me pick a flashlight?

rgranger · Mar 16, 2017

Gene Neill said:
It's got one helluva beam, but I hate it.

I'll give you $20 for it...

Jackdaw · Mar 16, 2017

Gene Neill said:
Got my Marinebeam light. Sadly, it works exactly like I was afraid it would.

You cannot turn it off in one mode, and turn it back on in the same mode. It always comes back on in the next mode in the rotation. You have to scroll through all three modes, including the damn STROBE, to get back to where you were.

It's got one helluva beam, but I hate it.

Yea you're right.... I went out and dug mine up..... the Anker light I have works that way, but not the LRT.

But I'm having fun lighting up the nabe from the 6th floor of our building!

SFS · Mar 17, 2017

Gene Neill said:
Got my Marinebeam light. Sadly, it works exactly like I was afraid it would.

You cannot turn it off in one mode, and turn it back on in the same mode. It always comes back on in the next mode in the rotation. You have to scroll through all three modes, including the damn STROBE, to get back to where you were.

It's got one helluva beam, but I hate it.

If you like the beam, send it back to Marinebeam and get the smaller version. It has only one mode, IIRC. I haven't had mine in my hand in a while, but I was really confused when you guys started talking about the modes of operation. Mine comes on, goes off. That's it.

Call the guys at Marinebeam and confirm my memory. Their customer service is really great, and they know their products. They will be able to tell you.

JRacer · Mar 17, 2017

Got mine on Thursday. Awesome. Will be great for those night sails coming into the cove and dodging moorings.

Captain Larry-DH · Mar 18, 2017

Some us us just might have a "flashlight problem"

When navigating I'm more likely to use 7x50 binoculars than a spotlight, when trying to figure out what's what around me. But I acknowledge it's helpful to have a beam to pick out a mooring or light up the reflectors on a nav buoy, or light up the sails to make our own boat more visible.

As much as it might be nice to be able to light up the world, I just can't justify $100 or even more for a flashlight when there are so many super bright "adequate" ones for much less. As a practical matter my old fashioned Q-beam sealed beam incandescent light has seen very little use, and I've retired it. The newer XM-L2 T6 LED lights using 18650 Lithium Ion batteries can be had for under $20 and they're much brighter, lightweight, and compact enough to be comfortable to carry in a jeans or sweatshirt pocket. Incredibly bright (blindingly) and can easily light up the reflectors on on buoy 2 miles away, or a hull a half mile away (which would also be rude to do). So what's the point in a more powerful light that can only produce a pencil focused beam?

I have a few of the lower cost lights such as this one in my link, for redundancy, and they also have a low power setting and zoom for a flood focus which is much more practical than a focused beam when you need a work light or walking light on a dark path.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IDOH886/

It comes with 2 batteries but frankly the AC/DC charger it come with is cheap, I'd recommend this better quality charger as an add on: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LCHICAU/

sailme88 · Mar 18, 2017

Sometimes a great solution comes from other fields. I carry a Survivor LED right angle and rechargeable light. These lights are tough. Made for firefighting. It can stand on it's own or be clipped to you. Not sure of how deep they are waterproof, but they are steam proof. Very, very bright. I've owned several interations over the years. You can find them from $40. And up.

SFS · Mar 18, 2017

Gene Neill said:
I could definitely make do with a light that gave up some of that awesome ultra long range capability, while still maintaining the beam tightness. But when I went back to marinebeam.com, I didn't see any other light with the same "RLT" lens technology.

@Gene Neill - I put the links to the two lights in post 17:

The large one is on the second generation:
https://store.marinebeam.com/marinebeam-ultra-long-range-illuminator-rlt/

I bought the featherlight model, which is $30 cheaper. It's rechargeable instead of using regular D cells.
https://store.marinebeam.com/featherlight-long-range-illuminator/

Edit: The second link appears not to work now. You still might want to call MarineBeam to see if they have any left. Great light, and AFAIK the technology is not available anywhere else.

centerline · Mar 18, 2017

Gene Neill said:
I could definitely make do with a light that gave up some of that awesome ultra long range capability, while still maintaining the beam tightness.

"I could definitely make do with a light that gave up some of that awesome ultra long range capability, while still maintaining the beam tightness".

in your original post, you mentioned that you wanted to search the waters for crab buoys, channel markers and such.... a tight beam is not the answer for this.
a wider beam is much more useful on the water than a narrow pinpoint beam, because there is nothing for the "scattered" light to reflect off of anyway, UNLESS there is a crab buoy, marker buoy or other object out in the periphials that the light can bounce off of, which IS desirable... a tight narrow beam can easily miss the very thing you are looking for unless you make a direct hit on it.

using a light with a tight beam on the water at night makes about as much sense as looking thru a long tube and trying to search the waters in full daylight.... it can be done, but a much wider field of view is a lot more effective for the task.

Daveinet · Mar 18, 2017

Centerline, I tend to agree with you. Judging space and distance is difficult at night to say the least. At night you tend to imagine things in the shadows that aren't there. a wider perspective is really helpful. When I sail at Carlyle Reserviour, I can light up the shore line two miles away, but the beam is more narrow than I would like coming into port. The entry to where be beach the boat is about 25 feet wide. Big rocks spill down into the water on either side, so you try to hit the center, so you don't drag the centerboard. As you get close, you loose perspective of center, because you can't see both sides at once. One also needs to turn as soon as you enter, to clear another rock pile. Easy to do in the day, but at night, it is difficult to judge distances. The more you can see, the better off you are. You really need something about the width and brightness as a car headlight.

Captain Larry-DH · Mar 18, 2017

Gene Neill said:
I'll be the first to admit I may be chasing a unicorn. My night sailing experience is very limited. All I know is, the lights I have used thus far always blind me when I use them, due to fog/haze/whatever, reflecting stray light back at me. I have to send the Admiral to the bow with the flashlight in order for me to see anything at all, due to the light being reflected back. She in turn is blinded, and I have to call out where to point the light. Not an ideal situation, even under the most benign of conditions.

Is not a narrow beam better than outright blindness?

Perhaps in low humidity/inland lake/extremely clear conditions, this would not be the case, and I've just been unlucky thus far?

And, @Larry -- DH ... how the deuce are you seeing anything at all through binoculars in total darkness?? You must eat a lot of carrots, or spend more on your binocs than my boat is worth!

Much to be learned here. I'm listening. Thanks, everyone.

Gene -
I have done a bit of night sailing. I was very specific when I wrote 7x50 binoculars. The lower magnification of 7x gives a wider field of view, and the larger objective lens diameter of 50mm (roughly 2 inches) has tremendous light gathering power, about 10 times compared with the naked eye. I admit that 7x50 binoculars won't help much on a cloudy night with a new moon, but they do help. Especially if you spend more you get better glass and coatings, but even moderate priced name-brand binos (around $150+) can be very effective.
I searched for a write up on this... http://www.ebay.com/gds/THINGS-YOU-SHOULD-KNOW-BEFORE-YOU-BUY-BINOCULARS-/10000000007973565/g.html
Some info from that page:

D. LENS DIAMETER
The second number in the formula (i.e. 7X50) indicates the front lens diameter in mm
The larger the objective lens the more light enters the binocular and the brighter the image.

On a 6 – 8 magnification 20-32 mm is normal
On a 7 – 9 magnification 35 – 50mm is normal
On a 10 – 36 magnification 50 – 70mm is normal

Doubling the size of objective diameters quadruples the light gathering ability
But in reality the size of the lens must be considered along with the exit pupil and intended usage.

E. LIGHT TRANSMISSION
This refers to the quality of the optics or its ability to deliver a maximum of light
The greater the objective diameter the more light enters, but the heavier and bigger the binocular are.

F. BRIGHTNESS
The brightness of an image depends upon several factors:
Magnification applied to the image at the eyepiece;
Intensity of the light coming from the object being viewed
Diameter size of the objective as a light gathering lens.
The type and quality of glass used for the objective lens.
Transmission and reflection loss of light in passing through the instrument.

RELATIVE BRIGHTNESS INDEX (RBI)
Relative brightness index or RBI is used as a comparison of image brightness but it does have severe limitations as discussed below. It is determined by square root of the exit pupil. An RBI of 25 or more is considered useful in low light conditions. In bright light conditions an RBI of 9 would have no brightness advantage over one of 50.

RBI = Diameter / Power = exit pupil x square root.
Example : 7x50 binocular 50/7 = 7.14 x 7.14 = 50.98 = relative brightness.

TWILIGHT FACTOR
Twilight factor is a measurement of viewing sharpness and image detail in low light conditions. The larger the twilight factor, the more efficient the low light performance. This indication has some limitations. To calculate the twilight factor, take the square root of the power multiplied by the objective lens diameter.
Example on a 7X42 binocular.
TWILIGHT FACTOR 7x42 = 294 (square root) = 17.14 = twilight factor
This formula takes magnifications more into account than the relative brightness index and is a better indication for the quality of brightness. When observing in greater detail a distant object you will seek to obtain a higher contrast and therefore will have to compromise between the magnification and the objective lens diameter.

G. FIELD OF VIEW
This is the side to side measurement of the circular viewing field.
It is defined by the width in feet or meters of the area visible at 1000 yards or 1000 meters. The higher the magnification, the narrower the field of view.
A wide field of view is recommended to follow action ( i.e. sport)
Binoculars with a wide field of view usually have a magnification between 2 and 6. Some binoculars offer wide angle eyepieces which increase the field of view compared to the normal eyepieces.
This explains it better than I could.

weinie · Mar 19, 2017

I got this guy when it was on sale a couple of months ago to replace. I had a Stanely one with about 1000 lumens but it wasn't waterproof. I figure if in a SHTF scenario on the boat where one needs a light, it's usually going to involve water. Plus, there are times I've raced at night in the rain and need to see the sail. Didn't want to have to worry about babying the light.

Haven't used this on the boat yet, but it's really sturdy... The front grey is all rubber so I think this could take a beating.
IT has high (1300 lumens), low, and SOS flashing.
Downside is you have to cycle through all 3 to turn it off. That's annoying especially if you just want the low beam on to see stuff on the boat around you (like the sail) at night.
It has a 12 volt cigarette lighter recharger or AC charger.
Plus, like anything WM, if it breaks, even years later, they replace it!

Parsons · Mar 19, 2017

Perhaps it depends on the night sailing you do, and where. Two uses for a boat light implies two different types of lights - inside and outside the boat. I check sail trim or deck work either with my little LED hung from a lanyard around my neck ($5 from Home Depot), or my head lamp. I don't want to spend $100 on a light that WILL wander overboard to join its cousins at he bottom of the lake. For me, I don't have to worry about crab pots, so my main "outside the boat" use is picking out private marks or snags. I have never illuminated another boat. I'm with Larry, I'd rather keep night vision that turn on a light. Piercing the dark with a spot light looks cool, but you can't see for the next 15 minutes.

weinie · Mar 19, 2017

sometimes you need to find that next mark a quarter mile away in the dark and a good beam is helpful for sure.

ETA: or more often then not, to see the marking on the buoy mark to make sure your even at the right mark!

Jackdaw · Mar 19, 2017

Binocs and spotlights. Both tools in the toolbox. It's smart to use the right tool for the job at hand.

Captain Larry-DH · Mar 19, 2017

Parsons said:
snip

I'd rather keep night vision that turn on a light. Piercing the dark with a spot light looks cool, but you can't see for the next 15 minutes.

Yup! The light is a last resort. I try not to look at the beam when I use it, and to take it beyond the rail (to avoid reflected stray light from the deck) when I use it to see something on the water.

Gunni · Mar 19, 2017

I found my night sailing toolkit woefully short a few years ago and took it to the next level:
http://www.flir.com/marine/oceanscout/

Turns night into day, contrasts a MOB in red and preserves your night vision. It will cost you 8-10 flashlight-equivalents but combines the long range vision of a binocular.