Searchlight vs Spotlight

[kwerges]

Okay, another dumb question, but I've researched both this site and the web the best I could, still with no answer. Is there a difference between a vessel-mounted searchlight and a spotlight? Is there a difference in beam focus, lighting strength, lumens? In researching the past forums, I noticed that most people advised on using handheld spots, which I have and use. But I would still like a hard-mounted light as well. As always, any advice or info is greatly appreciated...

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

Both have their place on a boat.....

I have two one million cp handhelds plus the mounted one. Plus at last count I have 12 other flashlights of different size and shapes. The new LED lights are worth the money.

I use the hardmounted light mostly when cruising the St Johns River at night due to those pesky crab traps that are all over the place.

The hand held ones are great when you are busy with the boat and the crew can use these and cover a lot more area than a mounted one can do.

To me, the difference between a spotlight and a search light is the beam

 

[Will]

Basically the difference is that a spot light is focused and concentrates all of the light in a small area and a flood light spreads all of the light over a larger area. A 1,000 watt spot light might have a very bright 10' diameter circle at 100 ft and a 1,000 watt flood light might have a 40' circle but less bright at 100 ft. If you are looking for something you might use a flood light because it covers a larger area. If you know something is there but are having a difficult time identifying it, you would probably prefer a spot light.

So, the best option is to have one of each otherwise, you have to compromise.

Will

 

[kwerges]

Okay...if I'm reading this right, the term "searchlight" is equivalent to floodlight. What about the dual mode lights that have a spotlight and a floodlight built into the same head, with two separate bulbs in them? I would assume that there is a compromise in the brightness of each, even though the advertisements for those lights state otherwise. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

[Will]

In the "old days" some search-spot-flood lights had focus adjustments. You could change from wide to narrow beams on the fly. They were really great but I haven't seen any in recent years. Probably because of expense and you can't do it with a sealed beam lights.
Will

 

[Nonchalant1]

Nah..."searchlight", like the hard mounted kind, frequently can be adjusted from spot to flood, so it's both, like my original 1978 Ray-Line. IMHO a "spotlight" is a narrow focus beam only and a "searchlight" is a hard mounted moveable light. But who cares? It's just semantics.

It's nice to have a handheld night blaster and also the roof mounted type. Hard mounted searchlights are expensive and handhelds are really cheap for big power, but they run out of battery power in 20 minutes or require a long cord for 12V power.

Doug

 

[Boss Lady]

www.golight.com