Dive Gear Express (DGX) 600 vs Dive Right In Scuba (DRIS) 450 or 1000

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TinFins

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Location
San Francisco
# of dives
100 - 199
Does anyone have an opinion on these two lights? Mostly in regards to reliability and quality. I hope these are nicer than the amazon/Ali express models I was thinking about buying.

I dive mostly northern California. I was thinking about the 1000 for primary and the 450 or 600 as a backup for night diving.

Thanks for any input.
 
I have a can light by hog that I love it makes a great primary light and I get about 5 hours of burn time on the battery however the DGX 600 is just as bright. The smaller battery of the dgx is self contained and a lot cheaper, although it is technically not a primary light due to the burn time, it sure functions like one. I find that i use the 600 as a primary light and have no problem with any dive under 90 minutes. After about 70 minutes you will see it start to scale back. So if you need a primary light for 60 to 70 minute dives go with 2 of the dgx 600 one for a primary and one for a secondary. Search the many battery retailers and buy a second set of batteries for 5.95 each and you are all set. I am a light Junky and have every one of the versions that DRS has come out with except the newest one, and I like the DGX one best, simply on price. They all shine about the same in our Dark Green Alaska water.
Herb
 
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The DGX600 absolutely kicks butt. I have that one, and the DRIS 1000 , 3 C cell lite. They are identical in brightness. I believe it's probably the same LED element in both.
 
I had both the DGX600 and DRIS 1000 (Impact rechargeable stubby with spot light). To my uncalibrated eyes, the DRIS was brighter and slightly tighter. Both were excellent and couldn't tell difference unless side by side. Still have the DRIS and love it. Frankly continuing to search for an even tighter beam for the muck we get in the Columbia River.
 
Do you have any specific questions I can answer about the 450 or 1000?
 
I purchased one of each.
I assume the greatest difference between the dgx600 and the dirs1000 is the 5x battery life?
 
@Aaron:

The Impact Stubby says it uses a rechargeable battery, but it doesn't say what kind. What does it use?

It also says it uses a Cree XML U2. Looking at Cree's website, I don't see that specific LED listed anywhere. I do see an XM-L and an XM-L2. Is it one of those?

I note that the XM-L puts out up to 1040 lumens and the XM-L2 is up to 1052 lumens.

Cree XLamp XM-L2 LEDs

I also note that the XM-L2 is the LED used in the DGX 600, as well.
 
XML2-U2 does NOT product 1000 lumen at all. If you look at the data sheet on page 3, U2 driven at 2A is only outputting about 728 lumen. I have DGX600 myself. While I don't have the instrument to measure lumen, I do have proper equipment to measure current accurately at work. DGX600 with flash charge battery is consuming about 1.1A only. Given the lost in the driver, my guess is the actual current into the U2 is like 900mA, which makes about 400 Lumen by my estimation.

I also have DRIS 1000 (3C) and DRIS 1K shorty (3AA). From brightness point of view, it is really hard to tell them apart. I would say 3C ~=> DGX > 1K (3AA), but difference is slight. My estimation based on current measurement is 3C is 400-450. 1K is 300. From beam angle point of view, DGX is very similar to 1000 (3C). 1K (3AA) is slightly wider. In all practical purpose, they are the same

I would choose base on your usage, not brightness or beam angle. 3C has much better run time than the other two. So if I need a backup for cave diving, 3C is my choice. If you want to put the light on soft good man, DGX's size is the best of them. It will go for about 2 hour in full brighness with 2500mAh cell, it is perfect for a 2 tank rec charter. Overall, I like them all.

I have no experience with the 450 focusable

DGX goes for about 2 hour with 2500mAh cell.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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