Hand held spot light

[bottleinamessage]

I'm looking for a good quality, waterproof, battery powered, hand held spotlight. Something in the 3 Million CP range. Any suggestions??

[Hud3]

I bought two of them from West Marine marked "Made in China". I'm a slow learner! Used each of them once or twice before they quit. Go for quality.

[bottleinamessage]

Like you, I've had two from WM. Both failed. I meant to add to my post that the ones WM sells are junk!

[svHyLyte]

Given the poor quality of virtually everything made in China, why do people buy the stuff? I, for one, am sick of it and at this point, we don't. If we have to pay a little more for "Made in America" or England or even France or Italy we do so. China? Not a chance. India? Not likely.

If you want a good, reliable, light--made in Texas--see www.MagnaLight.com Spotlights and Flashlights - HID Light - 15 Million Candlepower - Handheld with Coil Cord and Cig Plug

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Given the poor quality of virtually everything made in China, why do people buy the stuff? I, for one, am sick of it and at this point, we don't. If we have to pay a little more for "Made in America" or England or even France or Italy we do so. China? Not a chance. India? Not likely.

If you want a good, reliable, light--made in Texas--see www.MagnaLight.com Spotlights and Flashlights - HID Light - 15 Million Candlepower - Handheld with Coil Cord and Cig Plug

Let me share a funny one with you.

I saw a great, cheap $12 analog clock in WalMart last year. It told the temperature and the humidity, two great things to know about your air living in a boat or confined space in the outdoors.

So we got the clock and I could see the approx temp and humidity. Looked great in the RV I made.

HOWEVER, it lost about 6-10 hours each week and couldn't tell accurate time! When is the last time you have ever heard of a clock not being able to tell time??

When we attempted to return it, we didn't have the reciept, so they refused. We did see a pile of other clocks in the return basket though.

The moral of it, if you are talking lights or outboards is:

If you need to rely on it and want it to last, make sure you buy quality. If it's disposable (tupperware, paper towels, etc....) buy junk.

[ronbo1]

Golight® Profiler™ II :: Military Grade Rechargeable Hand-Held Searchlights & Spotlights

Check out the Golight Profiler, the company is based in Nebraska.
Light output is good. They claim 60 min run time, 2 hr recharge. I've found it's best to be plugged into 12v or AC to keep the lithium-polymer battery fully charged -- good idea to have a spare battery on hand.
High quality.

Ronbo

[bottleinamessage]

All good suggestions, thanks.
Hylyte.....must be cordless
RonBo.... too pricey for me

[Alan Wheeler]

Yeup, all been there with the cheap Chinese ones. I was a slow learner too with buying two of them. However, it is not the Made in China part you have to be aware of. Good quality comes from there as well. Just ensure you pay a bit and buy a reputable brand. Eveready is also manufactured in China. But it is a good product. One I saw the other day was a rechargable Eveready LED handheld spot. Looked great, but I decided against it as the use was 3hrs before charging and then 12hrs to recharge. I thought that was odd for an LED spotlight.

[hellosailor]

Wheels-
"as the use was 3hrs before charging and then 12hrs to recharge." That's probably based on the battery type (NiMh or NiCd) rather than what kind of bulbs it uses. Commercial grade NiCd and NiMh cells are usually designed for a 10-12 hour recharge time, that charging RATE also allows them to be left on the charger for days on end without any damage--as the typical home user will plug it in and forget about it.
The alternative are cells that are 2x-3x more expensive, and maybe 5x the expense for the charger to become "smarter" too. Which makes the whole light way more expensive--and Eveready are, after all, mass marketers.

[bottleinamessage]

Happened to stop at the Loew's in Beaufort, NC today. On the way out I saw a Black & Decker 2 million CP handheld w/ a built in 120V charger and a cord to charge at 12V for $29.95.

Too cheap to pass up.

[GordMay]

I’ve always (and still do) advocated “quality” products.
But, I have to admit:
I’ve used cheap ($15 - $25) no-name H.P. (1,000,000 cp & up) handheld lights for years. They don’t last as long as the higher-quality lights ($100 +), and most aren’t very water-resistant.
Notwithstanding, I’d purchase 3 new ones ($50 – $60) prior to each six-month cruise, and never ran out of light. In fact, I still have a couple of these (working) “cheapies”, left over from the 1990’s around the house.

For small pocket flashlights, I‘ve always liked Pelican & Rayovac products. I’ve probably got a collection of two dozen of these, scattered around tool bags, jacket pockets, etc:
Pelican Mitylite (2 x ‘AAA’) ($10)
Pelican Mitylite Mini-System (2 x ‘AAA’) ($15)
MityLite Hi-Intensity LED (3 x ‘AAA’) ($20)
Rayovac “Roughneck” series (from 2 x ‘AAA’ thru’ 3 x ‘D’) ($5 - $15)

[harryrezz]

FWIW, I just checked the WM website, and they (or "we" ... I'm a part-time associate in one of the stores) carry a huge variety of rechargable hand-held spotlights including units from Garrity, Black and Decker, Streamlight and Optronics to name some. They range in price, and, of course, quality all the way from the WM branded 1 million CP item which is currently on sale for $9.99 (no, I don't know where it is made or by whom) up to the top-of-the-line Golight Profiler listed at $299. Geez, guys, just because an item is at WM doesn't mean it is junk! The folks at Wichard, Harken, 3M, Jabsco, etc., etc., would be real upset to hear y'all say that!
Bottom line - ya get what ya pay for no matter where you happen to buy it. Keep in mind one of my favorite quotes: "There is nothing which someone can't make a little bit cheaper and a little bit worse, and those who consider price alone are that man's lawful prey."

[bottleinamessage]

Harry:

The item I referred to as junk is the WM brand. I find that alot of the stuff that is WM brand is of inferior quality. They do carry, and I willing buy, some very good equipment, ie /Wichard, Fortress, etc.

[JiffyLube]

The problem with this global economy thing is, you have to hunt for items made in the U.S. They might be assembled in the U.S., but the materials came from China. The materials might be from the U.S., but it's assembled in China. The company might be a U.S. company, but the product is made somewhere else. It's hard to get around it, but almost everything made has a tie to China in some way. You can find somethings made and assembled in the U.S., but they are few and far between. This not to say that the other counties in the world are not making things, but they're not doing it on the scale that China is.

It's interesting how a Communist country that didn't believe in Capitalism, sure got with the program!...they must have come to the conclusion that the way to be Democracy is through Capitalism.

[GordMay]

Gentlemen:
We seem to drifting away from our mission.
Let's not ...