LED rope lights for interior

Hi all. I'm looking to add some rope lights to the interior of my Fisher flat bottom jon boat. I have the perfect place to mount them but I need some help from all of your expertise.

Should I go with red or blue? I fish mainly at night and I need something that I can turn on with a switch that won't be super bright but bright enough to illuminate the interior for taking fish off, rebaiting, retying etc.

I also plan to run it to a switch directly to the battery. I obsviously don't want want the kind that plug into a regular home outlet.

I'm also not sure where to find them. I know the blue LED sponsor has some nice lights but some of the pictures I've seen almost look too bright.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Happy fishing!

Here are some blue 12v rope lights...

https://www.amazon.com/Lights-Christmas-Lighting-outdoor-lighting/dp/B001PE6O7I

and red ones...

https://www.amazon.com/Volts-Rope-Lights-Lighting-Meters/dp/B004I48BC8

Thanks aeviaanah. Have you used anything like this? I'm just wondering if I should go red or blue for night fishing.

I bought my led blue strip from amazon.com and it works nicely. Here is the picture.

MDFisherman57 said:

I bought my led blue strip from amazon.com and it works nicely. Here is the picture.

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Looks awesome MDFisherman57! You have those running to your battery? Does it provide enough light for taking fish off or retying at night?

It's works fairly well. I use it to help light up the deck. As far as taking fish off as long as its on the deck your fine. I just use the hat clip on leds.

I am really happy with the Bluewater LED kit I installed in mine. Not cheap though.

KRS

A word of caution on using 'indoor rated' rope lights - I've installed a few sets on my last two houses either above or below the kitchen cabinetry for accent lighting. They look/work great at first, but quickly have one or two lights out, and pretty soon the whole rope goes out...and that's in an indoor installation. I can't imagine how they'd hold up to the elements, let alone the bouncing around that our boats get while trailer-ed.

I'd strongly suggest something either rated for outdoor use, or something that someone here has used before and swears by.

Let us know how it goes.

Don't get the indoor! My led strips are the waterproof strips used for automobiles. Def get waterproof and you will be fine!

KRS62 said:

I am really happy with the Bluewater LED kit I installed in mine. Not cheap though.

KRS

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I agree!!! I love my GREEN Bluewater LEDS

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'll definitely be getting the outdoor lights but after some research I'm wondering if green may be better. I'll post pics once they're done.

Happy fishing.

I didn't want to swing for the Bluewater kits because of the price, but if you can they look amazing. I went the cheap route and found an ebay vendor that other users had bought from, and I was pretty happy with the product. I went with green, but my next choice was blue. I felt like red was harder on my eyes.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160497086578&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The strips are not very long, but they are bright. Just make sure you seal the end wires well, they are pretty thin gauge.

HOUSE said:

I didn't want to swing for the Bluewater kits because of the price, but if you can they look amazing. I went the cheap route and found an ebay vendor that other users had bought from, and I was pretty happy with the product. I went with green, but my next choice was blue. I felt like red was harder on my eyes.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160497086578&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The strips are not very long, but they are bright. Just make sure you seal the end wires well, they are pretty thin gauge.

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Thanks! I'm thinking green is my best bet now because red does seem a little harsh on my eyes. I'll check out the ones on eBay because of the budget. I just need to be able to run them to a switch and battery. Thanks for the tip in sealing the wires too!

I'm going to do this, on my tin boat.

I've got some of those same ones from Ebay and they work very well. Order more than you think you'll need because it takes 3-4 weeks for them to come in. You can always find a use for any extras. 12v makes them very bright. I ran a bunch for Halloween on regular 9v batteries and they did fine.

As far as color goes, red is actually easier on the eyes at night. I used to work outside at night and we all had to work by flashlight. Everybody tried different color lens and we all ended up changing to red. It was easy to spot the new guys on the crew because they didn't have red lights.

spotco2 said:

I've got some of those same ones from Ebay and they work very well. Order more than you think you'll need because it takes 3-4 weeks for them to come in. You can always find a use for any extras. 12v makes them very bright. I ran a bunch for Halloween on regular 9v batteries and they did fine.

As far as color goes, red is actually easier on the eyes at night. I used to work outside at night and we all had to work by flashlight. Everybody tried different color lens and we all ended up changing to red. It was easy to spot the new guys on the crew because they didn't have red lights.

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Thanks spotco2. I've read too much about eyes and night vision in the last week so its very nice to hear about your experience with red lights.

Dybber here are a few pictures of my Bluewater LEDS and they are easy on the eyes. I have three sets with indivual switches so I can only turn on the ones I need at the time.

fool4fish1226 said:

Dybber here are a few pictures of my Bluewater LEDS and they are easy on the eyes. I have three sets with indivual switches so I can only turn on the ones I need at the time.

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That looks incredible! Looks like you can really see well at night. Thanks for sending the pics!

I have green installed as well and like it. I have some white strips to put in the storage compartment and back battery compartment. I have a different switch for those.

KRS

LonLB said:

I'm going to do this, on my tin boat.

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Totally AWESOME idea! I've been eying a really cool LED red/green navigation light from my local marine store...but their $255 price is ridiculous!

https://www.westmarine.com/webapp/w...toreNum=50523&subdeptNum=50580&classNum=50581