Light Bar for Jet

[cannonball]

Im thinking of having a light bar put on my NW jet. Will mounting lights allow me to run fast and still see? Please relay your experiences and if possible ideas for a design and what type of equipment to use. thanks :smile:

[crabbait]

I had a 23' Fish Rite sled with a light bar and four lights (two spot, two flood)on it. Looked great but was not very practical because it lit up the front of the boat so much.

Lights mounted as far forward as possible would work better and the installation would be simpler and cheaper, too.

Lights tend to reflect off the water but do show pilings and shore very well.

Blinded the truck backer when loading at night. Had to wait until he got the trailer in the water before turning them on.

[jet]

Cannonball

Looking at the topic starter,I thought you were buying me a light bar and radar arch for my boat..

Jet~~~

[cannonball]

Give that man,(or Jet in this case) a cigar :grin:

[Hoosier Daddy]

Worked on a boat with a light bar above my head. Couldn't see squat because it lit up the front of the boat and blinded you. As far forward as possible, or at least rig up some blinders to keep the light off the boat.

[Thick-N-Thin]

Like everyone has mention mounting the lights on a light bar do not work for you when running the boat. Your better choice would be hull lights that are mounted in the bow of the boat. These aluminate below the deck and do not blind you. Still problems with reflection from the water.

[Mojo]

A buddy has a light bar that hangs 2 lights below the deck in the very front of his sled. He uses filters on them to cut the glare of the water. I've given some thought to building something like that myself.

[STGRule]

Put the lights as far forward as possible as stated above. However, and this is a big however, it doesn't mean you can go full-tilt-boogy at night. Having worked at night on boats for years on the Columbia, the light is more likely to give you a false sense of security than anything else. It helps you get there a very little faster, and a very little safer, but it will not replace daylight or common sense. Your sense of speed is corrupted by the lack of light. Things will just appear in the light very close to the boat and scare the **** out of you. You could just be better off with a hand held spotlight and your sense of mortality. Slow and easy wins the day.

[casteal]

I found a low magnification night scope to be just as good. High speed is for IDIOTS! I'll wave when I go by!

[ 04-20-2002, 08:05 AM: Message edited by: casteal ]

[cannonball]

so I guess your tring to tell me to save the $$$ and go home a bit earlier. Or maybee night vision goggles :grin:

[jet]

Cannonball

Get the light bar and use it for a radar arch. I bet radar might come in handy. If and I say if, I need a light I use the hand held million bazillion candle power. It works great and it can be mounted to the boat.

Jet~~~

[STGRule]

Not saying you shouldn't do it, just don't think your going to be up on a plane and safe.

[FishCatcher]

I have a 16ft sled with lights mounted in front of the center console. They come in handy when launching the boat because they can be spun around so not to blind me when lauching. I have used them when running to fishing spots in saltwater and they do help. I knew the water well enough and it is alot different than running on a river. I have not run a river in the dark. There are too many things that can go wrong. I don't use them very often but they are nice to have in case I do have to come back in the dark. They were already on the boat when I bought it. I would suggest getting a hand held spot light and trying it first in an open water area to see if it is what you want. That is what I used on my previos boat. You can see pictures of my boat on my website. Just click on my boats.

http://www.geocities.com/fshnjohn1/F...her_s_Web.html