Recommend Me a Tunnel Light

[IanD]

16 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

Much better to put on all the interior lights, assuming you have windows and not port holes. They light up the sides of the tunnel nicely.

Of course neither this or an upward-pointing light will help you spot a floating log ahead which results in you being wedged deep inside a Birmingham tunnel for several hours... ?

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, IanD said:

Of course neither this or an upward-pointing light will help you spot a floating log ahead which results in you being wedged deep inside a Birmingham tunnel for several hours... ?

Sounds like a Gosty incident. Not entirely an isolated one either, iirc.

[IanD]

Just now, Sea Dog said:

Sounds like a Gosty incident. Not entirely an isolated one either, iirc.

It was Gosty, and somebody on this forum IIRC...

[Keeping Up]

Our Gosty incident was for the engine to stop with fuel problems in the middle of the tunnel, so I had to pole our way out. Our log-in-the-prop incident was in Husbands Bosworth tunnel.

[David Schweizer]

7 hours ago, IanD said:

Of course neither this or an upward-pointing light will help you spot a floating log ahead which results in you being wedged deep inside a Birmingham tunnel for several hours... ?

The tunnel lamp on Helvetia, although low powered and pointing upwards, reflected sufficiently off the wet roof to be able to see any objects floating on the water.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, IanD said:

Of course neither this or an upward-pointing light will help you spot a floating log ahead which results in you being wedged deep inside a Birmingham tunnel for several hours... ?

Which of course the suggestion is not intended to mitigate.

 

Using cabin lights helps light the tunnel walls to assist with gauging distance from them whilst traversing a tunnel.

 

They can hardly be expected to illuminate ahead of the boat in order to highlight a floating obstruction forward of the boat.

[Graham Davis]

On 27/12/2020 at 14:09, BWM said:

Car manufacturers seem less inclined to follow law over fashion, i'm not aware of the law requiring amber indicator lense covers being repealed but you have to try hard to find a car fitted with them now - you had your collar felt when i was a youngster.  Another would be the many vehicles on which all other lights extinguish on one side when the direction indicator is used, there has been no change in the law to allow only one head or tail light on a four wheeled vehicle - albeit temporarily. 

 

The law for indicator lights states that after a certain date they have to wait an orange light, not that the lens has to be orange.

Ref: Vehicle Lighting Regulations.

[Richard T]

21 hours ago, IanD said:

It was Gosty, and somebody on this forum IIRC...

We were stuck in Gosty with a railway sleeper between the boat and the tunnel wall. It was 20or more years ago. We freed it by using the gang plank to force the sleeper down - we then retrieved it and disposed by putting in the back of a BW truck. It was a frightening experience especially for the kids. I did at one point think that I was going to have to walk out and call the emergency services.

[Hudds Lad]

we have one of these, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0030VQJGA , pointed upwards (other retailers are available)

also tend to turn all cabin lights on and open all curtains in longer tunnels. 

[IanD]

15 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

The tunnel lamp on Helvetia, although low powered and pointing upwards, reflected sufficiently off the wet roof to be able to see any objects floating on the water.

And in a dry tunnel, or one with a rough non-reflective roof?

 

I think we're all agreed that pointing up or down (both work) is far better than pointing straight ahead, and that bright lights with no beam cutoff are a menace in tunnels -- which means most of the LED ones on sale today, looking through online marketplaces.

 

There are a few "proper LED foglights" available but mainly in the USA (look for "LED fog light DOT approved") and funnily enough they're not cheap either...

 

https://www.nightriderleds.com/street-legal-led-fog-lights-are-here/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vouke-Approved-Wrangler-Projector-Headlight/dp/B0792J4CVM/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=LED+Fog+Lights+DOT+approved&qid=1609248260&sr=8-4

6 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

we have one of these, https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0030VQJGA , pointed upwards (other retailers are available)

also tend to turn all cabin lights on and open all curtains in longer tunnels. 

Driving lamps like these have a narrow beam with no real "dark area" cutoff because (unlike fog lights) there's nothing blocking the filamant from direct view from the front -- they will direct most of the light down the beam but are still worse for glare/dazzle than a foglight.

[David Schweizer]

We managed to navigate tunnels in the 1960's on a 70ft ex-working boat with only a reflector Tilley lamp to illuminate our way before we eventually fitted a low wattage round fog lamp.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by David Schweizer

[Guest]

On 27/12/2020 at 13:53, IanD said:

Ooh, you might be correct -- the rules say that anything over 2000 lumens and all LED headlights must have self-levelling and washers fitted, I thought I'd also seen an upper limit for brightness (3200 lumens?) but now can't find one...

 

So a lot of (most of? all of?) the cars where the drivers have fitted super-bright LED bulbs into what were halogen headlights will be illegal, and cause a lot of glare -- I've certainly noticed that it's often cars like this that are the worst culprits on the road, and the complaints against these are 100% justified.

 

With new cars fitted with them problem doesn't seem to be as bad, but the fact that there's no maximum height limit means you go blind when a tall SUV is behind you, and glare is worse for oncoming traffic. Blame the SUV plague for this, not the headlights...

 

[and before somebody pipes up to justify driving one -- yes there are some people like farmers and towers who *need* a big 4x4, but statistics show that the vast majority of them are simply a lifestyle choice, IIRC >95% have never been off-road and 90% hardly ever leave town]

Can you link to the statistics please?

 

Lots of people choose an SUV because they prefer the high driving position which affords a better view of the road and importantly because of the ease of access and egress. I personally particularly appreciate the latter as does my wife. Dodgy knees dictate the seat height.

 

I find dismissive comments about people's choices and why they make them a bit silly and judgemental when you might not always be in posession of all the facts.

 

You also seem to be assuming all SUV's  are 4 wheel drive and therefore wasting their ability on 'normal' roads. This of course is not correct, lots of vehicles that can be categorised as an 'suv' are not 4x4 at all.

 

Mine isn't but as it happens it was also available as a 4x4, I just decided I didnt need haat. I simply have one for the reasons already stated.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by The Happy Nomad

[David Schweizer]

9 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

Can you link to the statistics please?

 

Lots of people choose an SUV because they prefer the high driving position which affords a better view of the road and importantly because of the ease of access and egress. I personally particularly appreciate the latter as does my wife. Dodgy knees dictate the seat height.

 

I find dismissive comments about people's choices and why they make them a bit silly and judgemental when you might not always be in posession of all the facts.

 

You also seem to be assuming all SUV's  are 4 wheel drive and therefore wasting their ability on 'normal' roads. This of course is not correct, lots of vehicles that can be categorised as an 'suv' are not 4x4 at all.

 

Mine isn't but as it happens it was also available as a 4x4, I just decided I didnt need haat. I simply have one for the reasons already stated.

 

 

Having owned and driven all sorts of vehicles over my XXX? years of driving, including many vans and minibusses, I agree about the visibility observation. However, there is a downside, which is awareness of speed. Just as sitting in a low  sports car gives you a greater impression of speed, the higher up from the road you are sitting the less aware you can be of higher speed, which probably explains why so many people around here drive their SUV's too fast around the country lanes.