Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm looking for the worlds brightest stern light that will fit into a standard socket. I also need one that will flood the INSIDE of the boat with light. My last catfish hooked me as much as I hooked him getting it off my line!

Here's a website to try: https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/led-boat-lights/

Leave your stern light alone and get a deck light
Your stern light is a navigation identification light. Keep it standard. If you need light inside the boat then you want a deck light.

OR.... get yourself a good head lamp. They're nice because they shine light where you're looking and you're not having to worry about blocking the light with your body. 'Cause it's on your forehead!

I buy cheap lights that clip onto the bill of my hat.

They'll also clip onto the brim of my Tilly hat.

Bright little LED lights that cost about a buck a piece on sale.

They go bad I toss em.

Some of them have a red light and a white light to help keep the glare down and my night vision more intact.

[quote="NonHyphenAmerican"]I buy cheap lights that clip onto the bill of my hat.

They'll also clip onto the brim of my Tilly hat.

Bright little LED lights that cost about a buck a piece on sale.

They go bad I toss em.

Some of them have a red light and a white light to help keep the glare down and my night vision more intact.[/quote]

I love my Tilly hat!
And yes regarding the red light. I doesn't SOUND like it would illuminate very well, but it does and it does keep your night vision intact. I had red light flashlights for in the cockpit when I was flying at night. A regular flashlight would have been downright dangerous.

I bought 2 4' long LED tape strips and stuck them to the 2 inside Bimini bows. The strips came with both white and red leds so I have the best of both worlds. The white offers plenty of light to flood the deck at the dock and red works great for fishing. With them up in the bimini they are hidden from other boaters so they don't confuse them with navigation lights.

I heard an interview on a news radio show (forget which one) that coast guard was cracking down on after market LED's for navigation. More so on the manufacturers, but they were "educating" the public when necessary.

I wonder why the Coast Guard would care. Led's are brighter, last longer, and are usually sealed to prevent corrosion.

When we had our cruiser we use to boat after dark all the time at the lake. It was a PITA to unscrew the covers and replace the regular bulbs in the dark just to get back to the dock. I'm sure the rough water at the lake shortened their life expectancy. I switched them to Led's and never had another issue for the rest of the time we had that boat.

[quote="OCBray"]I wonder why the Coast Guard would care. Led's are brighter, last longer, and are usually sealed to prevent corrosion.

When we had our cruiser we use to boat after dark all the time at the lake. It was a PITA to unscrew the covers and replace the regular bulbs in the dark just to get back to the dock. I'm sure the rough water at the lake shortened their life expectancy. I switched them to Led's and never had another issue for the rest of the time we had that boat.[/quote]

The USCG could care less if you use LED or incandescent bulbs... What they do care about is that while underway that you are displaying the correctly configured running lights, that meet the required minimum distance in viability. Can you go brighter? Sure but there becomes a point when all BRIGHT does is blind and rob you of your night vision. My green & red running lights are LED but my stern/anchor light was a regular bulb. I replaced that bulb with a slightly higher output LED as it is above the bimini top so I can't see it while in use and thus it does not hurt my night vision. BUT as my stern light is on a short stick I can swing it upside down and under the bimini and it shines a lot of light for when we need to light up the playpen and see what we are doing...

The current trend of lighting your boat up like a christmas tree at night is what the USCG would like to curtail...

Yeah, Just to clarify, It's not all LED's that are the problem, There are different shades available that are being sold after market, Even for navigation, and some were just way to bright. They just want to reel the industry in a little.

govnt over reach too many regulations

[quote="Wreck Tangle"]govnt over reach too many regulations[/quote]

And due to a lack of common sense anymore there are boats running around at night light with more lights than the Times Square Christmas Tree blinding other operators... While I don't mind augmenting the lighting a little within reason but if you want mood lighting and a disco ball take it shoreside...

[quote="teecro"][quote="Wreck Tangle"]govnt over reach too many regulations[/quote]

And due to a lack of common sense anymore there are boats running around at night light with more lights than the Times Square Christmas Tree blinding other operators... While I don't mind augmenting the lighting a little within reason but if you want mood lighting and a disco ball take it shoreside...[/quote]
Exactly! sometimes, unfortunately, Gov has to regulate because people are complete idiots.