How far will this light take me in caving?

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Thanks for answering everyone. I had seen the reports on the agency's website, and noticed it did seem very vague. I am still a broke college kid for the time, but plan to get the rest of my gear needed for cave diving by the summer, and hopefully start my cave class on my way to Miami in July for a liveaboard. Really thought a 10W would do. Glad to hear it sounds like it will.
 
Another idea... I suggest new cavern students get a UK D8 with a lantern grip. This is adequate for cavern diving and can be picked up very cheaply (I bought mine used but in mint condition for $30). If you decide to upgrade to an HID, keep the UK and it will save the day should your HID doesn't fire up before a cave dive and also save some wear and tear on your HID on boat dives. My full cave instructor carries one of these on every dive as a "backup primary", he unclipped and handed it to me after my HID died 5 minutes into my second dive of full cave, saved the dive.
 
For what it's worth, I just finished the first part of cave training.

The Light Cannon is a great light, but as has been stated, not appropriate for caves. Although it will get you through cavern, becaue of its configuration and size, isn't really the right light for a backup; so ultimately, buying one would not serve your purpose.

Before deciding on my canister light, I did quite a bit of research. The one I finally chose is the Salvo 21 HID. http://www.salvodiving.com/inc/pdetail?v=1&pid=2428

I also like the Green Force lights, which I have had occasion to use. I ultimately chose the Salvo lights (which I had some experience with as well) because my instructor also recommended them.

A big issue for me is quality. I'm certainly not going to mention qualms about specific companies' lights, but suffice to say I heard the most positive and least negatives about the Salvo and Green Force lights.

One final point, the canister light is critically important in a cave. For me, at least, saving a few hundred bucks but maybe winding up with something inferior is just not worth it. There is usually a reason one light costs twice with another lights costs.
As a simple example, the Salvo light can be lighted on shore and then turned off after it comes to full brightness. Some lights, as I understand it, are not capable of being ignited out of water. With others, striking them out of water means you have to let them burn for several minutes before turning them off. They get hot, and when you are gearing up, that extra few minutes can be annoying.

Jeff
 
don't hesitate to look into HID lights from Sartek--they have a variety of lights (mine is a 10 watt HID with about a 4 hour burn time) available--they are expensive, but very much worth the price--
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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