DRIS 1000 Lumen Can Light... thoughts?

[Menk]

^this.
and what charger,hroark?

 

[Lorenzoid]

1000 Lumen Can light - Dive Right in Scuba

My Needs: An entry-level primary light for open water Rec diving, and occasional night dives with a group.

I'm starting out Hog/"DIR" and this seems like a good way to get used to a can light setup i'll be using in GUE.

I know people love their DRIS 1000 lumen lights, but what about in this configuration?

You ask about a primary light for Rec diving, but you also mention GUE training, so I will ask if you are planning to get into Tech diving with GUE, or do you think you will remain Rec for the foreseeable future? I ask this because GUE does not require a light of ANY kind for Fundamentals class at the Rec level (that is, to achieve a "Rec Pass" as it's usually called). However, if you are attempting to achieve a "Tech Pass" in Fundamentals, then you do need a primary light suitable for Tech diving. It is my understanding that GUE does not require the primary light to be a canister light, but a canister is encouraged because it remains the standard for tech diving, and GUE wants you to learn how to manage the cord, etc. (You may want to check the accuracy of that, but that's what I understood my instructor to explain.)

So if you're shooting for technical diving, then by all means go for a good canister light if you can afford it. If you're only going to be doing recreational diving for the foreseeable future, it seems to me there are plenty of suitable, economical non-canister lights.

Also, keep in mind that there may be a limit to "brighter=better" for recreational diving. It all depends what you intend to do with the light. For tropical reef diving, where I don't want to scare the marine life, I use a more subdued light with wider spot size. If you want a light for wrecks and for signaling the way Tech divers use them, then a brighter light would be useful.

 

[hroark2112]

Batteries - 10pcs 3 7V 7200mah UltraFire 26650 Rechargeable Li ion Battery USA | eBay

Charger - Nitecore Intelli I4 Edition Universal Charger for 18650 RCR123 26650 Battery | eBay

 

[MRTdiver]

hroark2112, I highly recommend not buying Ultrafire or any other battery that says ...-fire. These are some of the poorest quality Li-ion batteries. Their stated battery capacity is most likely wrong. There's been many tests on various Li-ion cells which show whose are good.


The mtnelectronics site is a great place for Li-ion batteries. And stateside too - Richard (the owner) is based in Washington state.

 

[Menk]

You ask about a primary light for Rec diving, but you also mention GUE training, so I will ask if you are planning to get into Tech diving with GUE, or do you think you will remain Rec for the foreseeable future? I ask this because GUE does not require a light of ANY kind for Fundamentals class at the Rec level (that is, to achieve a "Rec Pass" as it's usually called). However, if you are attempting to achieve a "Tech Pass" in Fundamentals, then you do need a primary light suitable for Tech diving. It is my understanding that GUE does not require the primary light to be a canister light, but a canister is encouraged because it remains the standard for tech diving, and GUE wants you to learn how to manage the cord, etc. (You may want to check the accuracy of that, but that's what I understood my instructor to explain.)

So if you're shooting for technical diving, then by all means go for a good canister light if you can afford it. If you're only going to be doing recreational diving for the foreseeable future, it seems to me there are plenty of suitable, economical non-canister lights.

Also, keep in mind that there may be a limit to "brighter=better" for recreational diving. It all depends what you intend to do with the light. For tropical reef diving, where I don't want to scare the marine life, I use a more subdued light with wider spot size. If you want a light for wrecks and for signaling the way Tech divers use them, then a brighter light would be useful.

I'll be doing rec diving for now, but have an interest longer term in caves, and most certainly wrecks, penetration or not. I definitely want to keep my options open, and figured even just getting used to a goodman handle and canister might be useful.

I'll be diving exclusively on the California coast, as far south as Point Lobos, with a possible chance to dive Catalina next December when I'll be in LA. The only tropical diving I reasonably expect to do in future is in the Yucatan as I know people on Holbox, though that may be 2 years off.

I went ahead and picked one up along with the 1000lm chest ring flashlights from the same company. At under $200 for both with free shipping, I figure it will be useful as a backup or at the very least a dive toy, even if I need something bigger/better down the line... I figure i'm not risking much since I'm not going to have to stake my life on it.

 

[scubastingray]

Batteries - 10pcs 3 7V 7200mah UltraFire 26650 Rechargeable Li ion Battery USA | eBay

Charger - Nitecore Intelli I4 Edition Universal Charger for 18650 RCR123 26650 Battery | eBay

Oh man, those batteries are terrible! I'd know, I have a few.

Funny enough, mine actually have two labels (the red exterior plastic is double layered)! Underneath it says 7200mah, but I guess they realized that was a bit too ambitious and the outside one says 5000mah. The 7200 is still faintly visible.

I'd be shocked if the real capacity is even 3000mah.


You need an M12 and M16 gland, which can be bought on ebay and probably most online hardware stores with a good selection.

 

[eelnoraa]

I wonder what the gland replace look like. What does it improve? I have this light, I wonder if I should do it.

 

[scubastingray]

It's not anything I've had a problem with, but apparently it's pretty easy for the glands to come unscrewed and flood the light. They are also plastic glands, which are obviously not the most durable. I wonder if even just using some teflon tape on the threads would firm things up.

 

[Menk]

Right, this DRIS "Branded" light is just the brinyte. Look up those models and I'm sure you'll notice the striking similarity. DRIS contracts to have their logo put on them. As mentioned above, DRIS is still a good vendor to purchase from. I certainly wouldn't buy from Alibaba over DRIS. Additionally, the DRIS version has the 3x26650 config, while some are 2x26650. The extended battery life is a good thing.

If you do end up ordering, pick up some quality 26650s and a charger. mtnelectronics comes highly recommended. I ordered from fasttech and regret it. It's going on two months, and the items still don't track in the US. not worth the few bucks i saved.

King Kong 26650 4000 mAh - ICR26650 Battery
These are the cells i ordered from fasttech. They are very highly regarded. There is a recent thread in this subforum regarding chargers also.

I ordered six of these batteries, and can't get the light to work.
Are you sure these are the right batteries?
I saw someone on one of the other pages say that that button tops are needed... these are flat.
Is that true, or is something wrong with the light?

 

[Menk]

Light is good and bright.
solution to flat top batteries,,,
rare earth cheapo magnets at a buck a piece. Seat them in hardware store washers, perfect adapters.