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.Sail with the Instincts of a Local Pro
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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
which can withstand heavy splashing and powerful jets of rain. 
Navisafe red light option to preserve night visionPhoto: Courtesy of Navisafe
With thanks to:
Michael Harpur, Yacht Obsession, with thanks to Lee Gunter of New World.
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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
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