Guy, I bought one of the rigid knock offs on ebay about 3 years ago. Paid like $80 for a 22 inch led bar. Works perfect. They are even cheaper now. Came with plastic mount, so I upgraded it. I have had no problems. I've used them on my boat in floods, rescues, hunting, rain, sleet, you name it.

Or do you have evidence/proof that cheaper lights are a safety issue?

I have had several sets of the Chinese LEDs, from the pods on vehicles to a couple of different bars on my layout, and everyone of them has had to be sealed, whether it was the harness or the lens. Everyone of them has had condensation creep into them eventually. I have never had a set of Rigid lights get condensation in it.

You can spend your money how you wish, but when the visual/clarity differences between them is obvious, why take a chance on a lake in suboptimal conditions.

I have had several sets of the Chinese LEDs, from the pods on vehicles to a couple of different bars on my layout, and everyone of them has had to be sealed, whether it was the harness or the lens. Everyone of them has had condensation creep into them eventually. I have never had a set of Rigid lights get condensation in it.

You can spend your money how you wish, but when the visual/clarity differences between them is obvious, why take a chance on a lake in suboptimal conditions.

That's a very nice set up your buddy has. He will regret the mounting brackets that came with the 2 on the outside. I had those exact lights and those brackets are made of very cheap, very thin aluminum. Once the front of the boat bounces around, those brackets will bend very easily. They also don't stay tight. Just something I've learned and experienced. Maybe he's smarter than me and found a better way to mount them though.

That's a very nice set up your buddy has. He will regret the mounting brackets that came with the 2 on the outside. I had those exact lights and those brackets are made of very cheap, very thin aluminum. Once the front of the boat bounces around, those brackets will bend very easily. They also don't stay tight. Just something I've learned and experienced. Maybe he's smarter than me and found a better way to mount them though.

Not possible. The cheap ones are just as good as the Rigid.

I never use those lights I currently have, that I posted, those are useless. For the last few years, I use no lights on front of my boat. I got a 12v head lamp with 3 prong plug I use, uses power from boat battery, very bright. All I need really. But it would be nice to have some lights up front as well, and maybe I don't need to mess with the 12v head lamp all the time.

A friend sent me this setup, he said I could post the pic. These are Cree, he has been running this for 4 years and it works great, under $100. I'm going to go the cheap route, I'll make a decision this weekend. I want to put the lights on the gatortrax bracket as shown, comes on and off real easy.

Was that a written permission or verbal? Will it hold up in a court of law?

I think it was a contract signed in blood...why you might ask? Because that's how Guy rolls...unless it's LED's then he's gonna buy the cheap [censored] like me