PT Shock Wave vs. UK D8 eLED

[alo100]

I've heard a lot of good things about this two lights, and asked some people, just want to get more feedback, esp. on users who have both lights.
I noticed both sides have a lot of supporters, so, I wanted to say, in spite of all the comments, all of you are having great lights already and I am not looking for trouble by starting an argument.
The UK D8 eLED is using Luxeon V and the Shock Wave is using 3 x Luxeon III.
Thanks in advance!

 

[ronbeau]

I've heard a lot of good things about this two lights, and asked some people, just want to get more feedback, esp. on users who have both lights.
I noticed both sides have a lot of supporters, so, I wanted to say, in spite of all the comments, all of you are having great lights already and I am not looking for trouble by starting an argument.
The UK D8 eLED is using Luxeon V and the Shock Wave is using 3 x Luxeon III.
Thanks in advance!

I used the Princeton Tec Shockwave eLED and the UK Q40 Plus eLED on the night dive during my Advance Open Water checkout dives last weekend and had not problems with either light.

I realize this is not the exact comparison you were looking for. All of my other light are UK lights. There was a review of dive light in a recent issue of one of the dive magazine. The review rated the Shockwave slightly better than the UK light since the intensity was much better 1 foot out from the center of the beam on the Shockwave than it was on the UK light.

The Shock wave is slightly more expensive than the UK eLED.

 

[Pam_In_Paradise]

I have several and all have flooded (some more than once). Their customer service is very quick to replace them under the lifetime warranty however it is time consuming and quite a pain to have to mail them back each time they flood. I have decided not to buy any more PTs. I have not had a flooding problem with other manufacturers so I don't think it is me. YMMV

 

[alo100]

I used the Princeton Tec Shockwave eLED and the UK Q40 Plus eLED on the night dive during my Advance Open Water checkout dives last weekend and had not problems with either light.

I realize this is not the exact comparison you were looking for. All of my other light are UK lights. There was a review of dive light in a recent issue of one of the dive magazine. The review rated the Shockwave slightly better than the UK light since the intensity was much better 1 foot out from the center of the beam on the Shockwave than it was on the UK light.

The Shock wave is slightly more expensive than the UK eLED.

First let me correct something, what I mean was C8, not D8...

In terms of illumination and bulb they are within the same category. The C8 has a better throw (at the center, brighter) and the Shock Wave has a slightly brighter overall (average within the beam area). One of the online rating has C8 half point better than Shock Wave, that's way I am wondering why they are giving it half point higher... and now you're telling me that Shock Wave has a bit better rate than the C8.... I think it's a tide game.

One more, is the battery change easy for the Shock Wave?

 

[alo100]

I have several and all have flooded (some more than once). Their customer service is very quick to replace them under the lifetime warranty however it is time consuming and quite a pain to have to mail them back each time they flood. I have decided not to buy any more PTs. I have not had a flooding problem with other manufacturers so I don't think it is me. YMMV

It seems to me that many of us have that light flooded at certain point.
Is it about the design, or a particular company, or in general, it just happen a lot in common.

 

[Rev. Blade]

I've flooded more than my share of lights. Underwater Kinetics has been good about repairing my Light Canon when it floods (twice in 3 years), but I get the impression that if I answer questions wrong when calling in the problem ...the warranty may be invalid (i.e. my fault).

Princeton Tec has never questioned where I bought the lights, or how they stopped working. They say mail the light (or lights) in, and they'll replace it (them). I have more Princeton Tec lights (than other brands), so more failures of theirs. I have a PT Tec20 and a small PT strobe that have been on all of my 115 dives with no failures. I have an UK SL4 that has been on about 40 dives without failure (and only one battery change so far). A shockwave LED that's been on perhaps 20 -30 dives (no floods yet). ...and my Light Canon that seems to flood every third dive or so ...then sits on a shelf until I call UK (and they fix it as soon as I ship it to them.)

I agree that flooded lights are a bother, even if the manufacturer will fix them for free (less the cost of shipping them the light). If I beleived that a $500 canister light (or even a $1500 canister light) were absolutely NEVER going to flood, I think it would be worthwhile to buy one. Since it seems that even the best lights sometimes flood, I'll continue to travel with a bag full of lights that cost under $100. (for now)