lighting the boat

[Whisker Warrior]

Those lights are the cats meow! i have two installed with (2)HID Hella 500FF's...gonna have a good amount of light...almost wish i had just bought 2 more of the TACO's and went with a spread mount.

[Rollincoal]

I personally think that any decent size lights will work with HID's in them. I can’t find a reason to go get $600 lights when you can get a $40 pair and upgrade them with HID's for no more than $55 as long as you get the HID conversion kits from a certain place i know of. I put HID's (6000) in my truck and noticed a huge difference. They are super bright and easy to set up but a huge difference from anything else is it seems like the light travel's a lot farther and no matter what is in front of you, you are going to see it. The color definition is a lot better also. I plan on converting my 100 Watt cheap off-road lights which are extremely bright already to HID's for less than $50 soon.

[Ed Carlson]

My greatest concerns over the years with boat lighting has been current and amp draw and the longevity and reliability of the lamps. I found Off Road lights suck juice like a 454 Chevy big block and require just as much upkeep and maintenance over the long hall.

More than once I have found myself suddenly cursing into the night after turning the key on the boat only to hear...Tic.Tic..Tic...Tic....T....buzzzz....@#%%^^...@#$...@%%....@#%@%!!!

I have been waiting and watching for cost effective alternatives in the new generation Light Emitting Diode lighting to catch up to the mariners needs. With modern marine sonar/gps electronics placing higher demands on the battery's and the charging system one needs to offset this someplace, or in turn load more battery's in the boat further increasing cost and weight. I like the light and efficient option more.

Fortunately we are seeing a lot of very good options now in the $60 range and up in LED lighting systems that can help to solve this power management issue and also enhance our lighting performance. You can now light an average freshwater fishing vestal with LED-Spotlights and broad spectrum area lighting for $200 to $300.

*LED Lighting benefits*

1 - Low amp draw, less drain on batteries.

2 - Long life LED's with cool running lamps.

3 - High efficiency light penetration with color options (Red, UV, Blue, Bright White, Soft White, combo White and UV).

4 - More compact shock resistant lighting with less weight.

[Rollincoal]

Yeah I hear hid draw less power anyways but I guess for a poor college student that has a good ole trusty fishing boat and doesn't need a pointless three thousand dollar sonar for the river and already has three batteries I would say go with hid but if you have no bills and money laying around I guess spending 300 dollars on lights will work

[Ed Carlson]

In smaller boats you would not need a 4 light spread. 1 light or 2 tops would be sufficient and more than adequate. The economy LED rechargeable hand held units would serve many well too. Fit to your needs is the point.