Small as primary

[chocolate]

Hi,

To save on money as well as luggage space, I am looking to buy a small light that can work as a primary as I dive mostly in the tropical. I am looking at the followings,

UK Q40 mini eLED
PT Impact XL
Aquastar 3 LED Torch
Scubapro Nova

Does anyone have any experience with these? I'm mainly looking for brightness and width of the beam (the wider the better). I guess as long as the burn is ok, I'm fine as I seldom do consecutive night dives anyway.

Thanks.

 

[HenrikBP]

I have the UK Q40 eLED and like it. That said, it's not very bright considering other LED offerings out there. Not quite enough light for looking under ledges during the day, and not quite enough light to be a primary for night dives - IMO.

Of small lights at reasonable prices (to me at least), the new Oxycheq back-up lights seem like a nice choice:

OxyCheq 3 Watt LED Backup Light, Dive Lights, OxyCheq, OxyCheq 3 Watt LED Backup Light

If you mention you're a scubaboard member, you get 10% off the listed price.

Henrik

 

[Rev. Blade]

Hi,

To save on money as well as luggage space, I am looking to buy a small light that can work as a primary as I dive mostly in the tropical. I am looking at the followings,

UK Q40 mini eLED
PT Impact XL
Aquastar 3 LED Torch
Scubapro Nova

Does anyone have any experience with these? I'm mainly looking for brightness and width of the beam (the wider the better). I guess as long as the burn is ok, I'm fine as I seldom do consecutive night dives anyway.

Thanks.

I have a PT Impact, and like it quite well for night dives in Tropical clear water. If you want a small light that is bright enough to be an adequate light for daytime dives (looking under ledges, etc.), consider an Ikelight PC-A. It uses up 6 AA batteries in a few hours. It has a rather tight beam which is better if you're trying to light up a shaddowed area, during a daylight dive. I haven't owned an Ikelight, but noticed all the dive masters at B&B SCUBA (on Maui) used them to point things out on daytime dives. The only light I had along that was brighter was my UK Light Canon.

I noticed the dive masters changing batteries at least once each during my week in Maui, so bring spare AAs, or plan to buy more during your vacation. I've read several posts advising not to use rechargable batteries in the Ikelights.