T-H Marine Clamp-On Bow & Stern LED Nav Light

If your boat doesn't have wired navigation lights, or you just want a backup set that lives in the console for the night a fuse finally blows, this T-H Marine combo has you covered. It's really two lights in one kit. A red and green combination light for the bow, and a white all-round light for the stern. Both clamp on. Both run on AAA batteries. And both come off in seconds when you're back at the dock. No wiring, no drilling, no fuss.

The bow light shows the standard red-to-port, green-to-starboard pattern that tells other boats which way you're pointed after dark. The stern light throws a clean white glow behind you. Put together, they're the basic lighting picture a small boat needs to be seen on the water at night. The housings are gray, round, and compact enough to toss in a dry bag or a glovebox between trips.

Mounting is the whole point of a portable set like this. Each light rides on its own durable clamp, so you snug it onto a rail, a transom edge, a seat back, or a gunwale lip and you're lit. On polished stainless or thin aluminum, a slick rail can let any clamp creep a little under vibration. A wrap of grip tape or a strip of rubber under the jaw sorts that out and keeps the light aimed right where you set it. And because the whole thing is clamp-on, you can move a light from bow to stern, or from one boat to another, without a single tool.

Power comes from three AAA batteries, and they're sold separately, so grab a pack before your first trip out. LEDs sip current, which is why a portable light like this can run through a season of evening returns on just a handful of battery swaps. Salt air is the real enemy here. AAA contacts can corrode fast in a marine setting, so a small dab of dielectric grease on the terminals keeps them clean and the light reliable. Pull the batteries out if the light is going to sit in the boat for weeks at a time. And always keep a spare set aboard. It's cheap insurance for a dark run home.

This is the right call for tenders, dinghies, jon boats, inflatables, small tiller skiffs, and just about any hull that gets used after sunset without a permanent electrical system. It's also a smart backup on a bigger boat, because a dead running light at the ramp is a night you simply don't launch. Kayak and canoe anglers clamp the white stern light to a seat rail for the paddle back in. The combo earns its keep anywhere you need to be seen and don't want to run wire to do it.

A couple of honest notes before you buy. This is a portable light built for spray and the odd splash, not a sealed unit rated to take a green-water pounding, so store it dry and don't count on it to shrug off a full dunking. On a humid night you might spot a little condensation inside the lens. That's normal for a battery light, and it usually clears as things warm up. Store it dry with the batteries out and you'll see less of it. And remember it's sized for small craft. If you're running a bigger powerboat that needs longer-range visibility to stay legal, treat a portable clamp light as a backup, not your primary system. You're always the one responsible for meeting the visibility rules for your boat's size and how you're using it.

Bottom line? It's a simple, grab-and-go way to stay visible after dark on a small boat. Clamp it on, drop in three AAAs, and go. When the season winds down, pull the batteries, wipe it down, and stash it for next spring.