Lights for OW diver

[Subcooled]

Simply:

One light is enough if the light is reliable enough. If it fails, your dive might be ruined but you can always surface. If you really really need that light and the dive is unique, then carry a spare.

Two possible uses exist:
- communication with lights: a bright light sabre preferred. The Heser Backup, from Germany, is the best you can get. It has a price tag but nothing excessive.
- sightseeing/video lights: these are expensive. Underwater kinetics has some nice ones but at $$$. If you want a cheap one, then the UW Kinetics SL4 with a diffuser is really nice.

You either want a video/sightseeing light or a communication light. Now choose.

How much?

A lot. You do not want to carry/pay for a canister light. This restricts your light choices to 3C batteries or less. So get one with 3 C batteries. Your next choice is between wide and short or narrow and long. The former is better for video and watching. The latter is better for communication. These alternative may offer the same amount (lumen) of ligt, but the other is more focused (high brightness, spot) and the latter is wider (and dim). You choose.

 

[stuartv]

see the https://www.divegearexpress.com/dgx-max-handheld-light for an 18650 light, with plenty of light, from a quality supplier, with a rotating ring switch (one hand!)

So you have not actually tried one? I had one and could not reliably turn the switch with one hand. Too stiff. Especially with a wet reef glove on.

 

[tursiops]

So you have not actually tried one? I had one and could not reliably turn the switch with one hand. Too stiff. Especially with a wet reef glove on.

No, I've not tried one. If yours is that hard to turn on, I'd ask DGX for a replacement. It is supposed to be a switch, not a challenge.

 

[stuartv]

No, I've not tried one. If yours is that hard to turn on, I'd ask DGX for a replacement. It is supposed to be a switch, not a challenge.

Mine died for no apparent reason after only 2 months. DGX replaced it, but, at my request, with a DGX 600.

The switch on the Max was not hard to turn at all - on the surface, with bare, dry hands. But, underwater, with a reef glove (or bare hand), with 3 fingers around the light and thumb and one finger trying to turn the ring, then it was hard enough.

At this point, I'm quite happy with my 2 DGX 600s. Using two hands to turn on is not ideal. But, not a huge drawback, either. Especially considering if it's a dive where using two hands to turn on the light has any potential to be a problem, I would likely just turn the light on at the start and leave it on. The batteries easily last long enough to just leave it on for a whole dive. Especially the Sanyo 18650BF batteries I got that test at 3300 - 3400 mAh.

Eventually, I will (probably) get a can light and the turn-on for the 600s will be even less of an issue since they'll be pure backups. And, I will actually be glad they work the way they do because, if I'm deploying a backup, that means I may not have any viz at all and the 600 is much easier to turn on in zero viz than the Max. It's very hard to tell the Max switch ring by feel. Or at least, it was for me. At least once, maybe twice, I tried to turn the Max on without looking at it and started to turn the light head instead of the On/Off ring.

 

[tursiops]

Eventually, I will (probably) get a can light

Get it now: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/de...0-canister-light-post7551467.html#post7551467
You'll not beat this deal.

 

[Keith.M]

With it mounted in the mount that I use I only use a single hand to turn my light on. Left hand grabs turny thing and TA DA, light come on..

That has not been my experience at all!

How does the light body stay fixed while you turn the head? For me, the whole light just turns in the sock. It needs some way to keep it rigid.

---------- Post added November 17th, 2015 at 01:14 PM ----------

Nevermind... I went back and looked at the light you had posted. I actually have that light and have yet to use it. I will have to get the battery for it and give it a try!

 

[Doby45]

That has not been my experience at all!

How does the light body stay fixed while you turn the head? For me, the whole light just turns in the sock. It needs some way to keep it rigid.

---------- Post added November 17th, 2015 at 01:14 PM ----------

Nevermind... I went back and looked at the light you had posted. I actually have that light and have yet to use it. I will have to get the battery for it and give it a try!

Yhea, the head does not turn on the light anyway, only the little ring behind the head. My holder holds the barrel of the light tight enough that it is easy to simply spin the ring. I actually had been using the 18650 battery in the light with a 3/4" piece of PVC pipe as a spacer (because I had those batteries) and it worked perfectly fine but I did just order the correct batteries for it so I can take the spacer out.

 

[dmaziuk]

I actually had been using the 18650 battery in the light with a 3/4" piece of PVC pipe as a spacer (because I had those batteries) and it worked perfectly fine but I did just order the correct batteries for it so I can take the spacer out.

What's the burn time on a 18650? I get about 90 minutes to noticeable loss of brightness from a single-LED T6 XM-L, makes me wonder if the 3-LED version runs out of juice before I run out of air. Let's ignore battery capacity: mAh ratings printed on half the rechargeables out there are about as meaningful as lumen ratings on those flashlights.

 

[stuartv]

What's the burn time on a 18650? I get about 90 minutes to noticeable loss of brightness from a single-LED T6 XM-L, makes me wonder if the 3-LED version runs out of juice before I run out of air. Let's ignore battery capacity: mAh ratings printed on half the rechargeables out there are about as meaningful as lumen ratings on those flashlights.

The Sanyos I got off eBay, and the generics and the Tenergys I got from Dive Gear Express all test out right at their specified capacity.

Anyway, I think you've nailed the tradeoff. If you want a light that is compact enough to be comfortable on the back of your hand (with no can), then a single LED and a single 18650 are going to give the best burn time and most comfort. More LEDs or more/bigger batteries are going to be less burn time or less comfortable. Maybe a single LED and a single 26650 would be equally comfortable and would obviously give longer burn time. But, I haven't really looked for anything with those specs. I have settled on 18650 batteries 'cause they are slim and it's easy to charge 4 at a time.

---------- Post added November 17th, 2015 at 06:16 PM ----------

Get it now: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/de...0-canister-light-post7551467.html#post7551467
You'll not beat this deal.

Thanks, but $1200 ain't in my budget any time soon.

Plus, I notice that light head is a 4 LED and I thought I had read a few posts in the Lights forum and/or maybe on CPF or somewhere that 4 reflector heads were sub-optimal for some reason and 3 LED lights are the way to go.

Regardless, maybe when I to get the point where I actually need a can light then I will understand why I would want to spend $1200 over spending $300-ish on something like the Ano CL2300X or Brinyte DIV10 or similar. In the meantime, I will hold off on buying any more lights.

 

[dmaziuk]

The Sanyos I got off eBay, and the generics and the Tenergys I got from Dive Gear Express all test out right at their specified capacity.

Anyway, I think you've nailed the tradeoff. If you want a light that is compact enough to be comfortable on the back of your hand (with no can), then a single LED and a single 18650 are going to give the best burn time and most comfort. More LEDs or more/bigger batteries are going to be less burn time or less comfortable. Maybe a single LED and a single 26650 would be equally comfortable and would obviously give longer burn time.

A single LED with a cheap 26650 does 2hrs+ before loss of brightness here. On the more expensive "PCB protected stabilized" xxFire 26650's I got 3 out of 4 DOA and the one that wasn't barely fit in the charger. Like I said upthread, 26650s are about the worst batteries to buy right now... I haven't seen Sanyo or Tenergy 26650s anywhere and I'm pretty sure if you find some they'll be counterfeit.