England Ireland Find Havens
England Ireland Find Routes
Boat
Maintenance
Comfort
Operations
Safety
Other



Next Previous

Personal portable light for close hand work in the dark



1 comment

What is the issue?
When working on decks during hours of darkness the old sea maxim of ‘one hand for the boat, one hand for your life’ becomes most strained when it is most needed, there is no free hand to hold a torchlight. This forces most people to hold a small penlight in their mouth to provide some directional illumination.

Why address this?
Unfortunately, holding a torchlight in one's mouth is not comfortable for anything longer than a few minutes work and becomes a problem if you need to communicate with a colleague. It is also less than hygienic and could be very dangerous should you have a fall and land on it.

How to address this?
A useful solution for these occasional illumination needs is a headlamp, or forehead light, instead of a standard torch. Powerful new ‘Light Emitting Diode’ based (LED) models are light, offer a bright coverage light with sustained battery life.

Powerful LED Headlamp
Photo: Pavel Ševela via CC ASA 3.0

If you’re doing anything above decks at night, a high-output white light will kill your night vision faster than anything and you’ll benefit from a different spectrum, provided it’s low-light. Specially designed marine versions that contain tailored seagoing functions such as a red light to preserve night vision will help with this. They also have white floodlights to illuminate large sail areas and an ultra-powerful distance light shining out up to 80 metres and beyond when you need to just pour on the light regardless. These marine-based products support waterproofing of up to and exceeding IPX6 Experience which can withstand heavy splashing and powerful jets of rain.

Navisafe red light option to preserve night vision
Photo: Courtesy of Navisafe


With thanks to:
Michael Harpur, Yacht Obsession, with thanks to Lee Gunter of New World.
A photograph is worth a thousand words. We are always looking for bright sunny photographs that illustrate this experience. If you have some images that we could use please upload them here. All we need to know is how you would like to be credited for your work and a brief description of the image if it is not readily apparent. If you would like us to add a hyperlink from the image that goes back to your site please include the desired link and we will be delighted to that for you.



Add your review or comment:

Lee Gunter wrote this review on Dec 13th 2006:
I still prefer a small (no longer than 2.5" or 63.5 mm) with O-ring single 1.5 battery to put in my mouth. It is automatically squezzed when in stress and can not be knocked off the head like a head mounted LED - by an errant line. However inside working on the engine the headlamp is superior. Lee Gunter

Average Rating: Unrated

Please log in to leave a review of this tip.

eOceanic makes no guarantee of the validity of this information, you must read our legal page. However, we ask you to help us increase accuracy. If you spot an inaccuracy or an omission on this page please contact us and we will be delighted to rectify it. Don't forget to help us by sharing your own experience.