High Power LED torches

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Sandy said:
I struggle to understand why anybody needs a bright torch to illuminate their sails, unless they have not been keeping watch properly.
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I was sailing W to E outside the IoW when I saw a car ferry approaching on a constant bearing. When it was a mile away and the bearing still wasn't changing, a powerful light to shine at it was a significant comfort. I don't know if it made any real difference, but it certainly made me feel better.
 
Gixer said:
The most dependable torch I’ve ever used is the Lenser P7. Comes with a nice belt pouch, small enough to fit in your pocket, light enough to hold in your mouth, never felt I need more power. I have two and one did a three story dive onto concrete, couldn’t tell you which one that was.
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Just looked at those, seems a good general purpose torch.... thanks.
 
I have a led lenser m7r. Old but but by far the best ever torch I've come across. The usb charger is magnetic and just hooks up to the end of the torch to charge it's lithium battery via USB. It does a huge amount of different things controled by the end button which is programmable so you can have it to light how you want.
Some dark moonless cloudy nights in portsmouth harbour are so dark that you cannot see the swinging moorings and I have great night vision. The torch is very helpfull
 

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There are led torches that can burn paper due to their intensity and the illumination they give is unbelievable. How long will they last though ?
Mine is well used and over 10 years old. You get what you pay for.
Be very wary about the amount of claimed lumens of many torches.
 
Rappey said:
There are led torches that can burn paper due to their intensity and the illumination they give is unbelievable. How long will they last though ?
Be very wary about the amount of claimed lumens of many torches.
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I live in the New Forest (no street lighting) and have been using the (above) Slyde King torch for dog walking it lasts a week on a single change, whilst simultaneously lighting up Hampshire, so far I'm pretty happy with it.
 
I was not referring to the runtime on its battery , but about how long a torch will last until its fit for the bin.
 
Sandy said:
Remind me what area you sail in as I don't want my night vision ruined for 20 minutes! Accidents happen that way.

We leave the anchor light on to guide us over the water back from the pub.
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Best you tell the rnli. Helicopters. Harbour masters navy. And any one else with a ounce of common sense that then
 
G12 said:
It's to replace my searchlight.
I have normal torches and small red led head torches for the night vision sensitive stuff but if I'm picking my way into an unlit river and dodging moorings I require something with some grunt and range.
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IME a good dedicated long range searchlight with focused narrow beam and no side spill is a bit of a unicorn, unfortunately.
There was a thread a little while back, where I tried to explain why a generic torch or a torch made for different purpose is not the best for this task: Recommended torch
Unfortunately, I haven't got a light I would recommend, but of mine these 2 are the closest:
* Manker U22 III:
+ side switch, great UI*, reasonably compact, very good beam;
- expensive, a bit too much side spill (but not too bad)
* Convoy Z1:
+ zoomable so is useful for other tasks too, tight beam, very little side spill
- tailcap switch is a bit difficult to use, especially with gloves, not conviced of the waterproofness of the zoom mechanism

*) UI is for "user interface", it's what the light does in response to button presses and in between them.
 
I think i have a thing for torches. Bought a "police tactical" led lenser (100 lumens) many years ago as it came with gun mount and remote switch which made it perfect for playing airsoft in the ww2 tunnels under portsdown hill.
I collected a car and found a £140 led lenser under the bonnet. 2012 torch and still going strong (220 lumens) it has an easy 300m range.
Got a head torch one xmas, 180 lumens , usefull but not so great on its batteries.
I then saw the daddy of the led lenser range on fb market place, very very cheap as not working. Took a gamble and it did only need a new battery (@ £100 :oops: ) but i think its way to powerfull. 3200 lumens. Its far to bright for anything within 50 metres as you dazzle yourself. It easily lights up boats half a mile away in the harbour.
Beautiful piece of engineering but an insane price for a torch.20230423_170115.jpg
 
Thrunite have a reputation for producing torches with great “throw”. This is what is needed for for a spotlight. There current version is TN42 V2. I have an earlier version purchased around 7 years ago and has been excellent.

However, they are expensive.

TN42 V2 (Batteries Included)
 
noelex said:
Thrunite have a reputation for producing torches with great “throw”. This is what is needed for for a spotlight. There current version is TN42 V2. I have an earlier version purchased around 7 years ago and has been excellent.

However, they are expensive.

TN42 V2 (Batteries Included)
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I‘ve got the cheaper Catapult V6. It works well as a spotlight. It has a very focussed beam. Note it has about half the lumens, but that doesn’t mean half the perceived power. To get a large increase in illumination you need a huge increase in lumens, like X5 or X10.That’s the funny way the eye works. I also have the TC10 model for general use. Both I recommend. I’ve also got a huge and mega lumen torch, but it has a wide spread beam and it isn’t that great.
 
trbt said:
IME a good dedicated long range searchlight with focused narrow beam and no side spill is a bit of a unicorn, unfortunately.
There was a thread a little while back, where I tried to explain why a generic torch or a torch made for different purpose is not the best for this task: Recommended torch
Unfortunately, I haven't got a light I would recommend, but of mine these 2 are the closest:
* Manker U22 III:
+ side switch, great UI*, reasonably compact, very good beam;
- expensive, a bit too much side spill (but not too bad)
* Convoy Z1:
+ zoomable so is useful for other tasks too, tight beam, very little side spill
- tailcap switch is a bit difficult to use, especially with gloves, not conviced of the waterproofness of the zoom mechanism

*) UI is for "user interface", it's what the light does in response to button presses and in between them.
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I did a lot of night hours in pilotage waters last year including one fairly challenging night entry into a port where the single lit buoy had broken off its station. The torch mentioned in the link served me well. Not perfect, your comment about no side spill is valid. Having a spot lamp aboard is a sensible piece of safety gear, imho, and after a full season I remain satisfied with my choice.
 
I think that head worn torches are the work of the devil. Not so bad if one is on one's own. In which case one can only blame one's self when one looks at the white surface of the cabin etc & gets dazzled by the reflection. But when with a crew, as soon as the wearer turns to look at them- which they will- the crew gets the full monty & is immediately blinded for the next 20 mins.

With a hand held torch one can apply a level of constraint & use common sense as to where they direct the beam.

However, that does not stop one's wife, when entering Bradwell creek at night, standing on the bow then turning to say " can you see the b..y thing . I have been shinning the torch at it & you are not taking any notice",whilst illuminating my eyes with one million candle watts of power.
Leads to a slight domestic, whereby she goes below telling me to do it my b..y self then & I run aground because I can see SFA. Of course it was totally my fault for comparing her to a silly !! 🐮🐮

But there was not enough water anyway so it was always a hopeless task. :oops:
:rolleyes: I normally sail SH
 
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I am amazed at the power of cheap LED torches in local supermarket and low enough price - I can accept them failing after a year or so.

Last summer I bought two flashlights ... charge from mains 240v or 12v ... they are compact .. smaller than the old lantern battery flashlights of years ago ... the LED lights up really bright - far better than any normal bulb version we had before ... cost ? 10 euros each.

They say splashproof / weather resistant on the box .....

No good me linking to them for OP as its Latvia .. but I'm sure similar is in Lidl or whatever ...
 
My head torch can be and normally is turned to red. I have a small led torch with both beam and general lighting, and a big one usb charged that I used on my sails to help both an overtaking ship and simultaneously at the 2 ships coming from the opposite direction in the Dowsing channel, 2 nights ago. Helped even with AIS in force. Tere were 14 ships within 5 miles at the time and alongside the wind farm.
My night vision was kept.
 
The less than £20 (several different models at different powers) LED headtorches from Decathlon are excellent on a boat. They have a single switch that goes Off/Red/Low power/High power.

It's the fact that they always turn on with a red light first that makes them good on a boat. And they're cheap so loss or other problems isn't the end of the world.
 
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