If you had $1500 to spend which light would you buy?

[Hypertek99]

Well I'm looking to buy a dive light. Any suggestions? Oh and also recommend a backup light too.

 

[hammer67]

Well it depends on your diving I have the Halcyon 21-Watt HID Explorer Primary Lights | Halcyon Dive Systems I like the light but some times its to bright and the parts are very expensive. My dive buddy bought the dive rite

HID 1000 Slimline Canister Light with 2 heads.http://www.diverite.com/products/catalog/lights/lt6250-hid1000 The LED head & the HID head so he has the best of both worlds. HID for cave & the LED for long battery life & great for travel plus the canister is half the size of mine & half the price with two heads

 

[TSandM]

Where are you doing most of your diving, and what are the conditions there?

For Puget Sound murk, the 21W HIDs are great. The focused 10W are a little anemic. The 12W LED is okay, but definitely doesn't have the punch of the 21W HID. It has other advantages, in terms of burn time and durability, though.

For backup lights, I'm quite fond right now of my Dorcys, which were cheap, but they do tend to turn themselves on at depth. I have to say that the best backup lights I've used (and I've owned a BUNCH of them) are the Halcyon Scouts with an LED module in them. They don't flood, they don't turn themselves on at depth, and with the LED module, they are good and bright and focused. We bought two old halogen Scouts on e-bay and put the modules in them -- they ended up costing about $50 apiece less than new, similar lights.

 

[Hypertek99]

Does the dive rite slimline come with the LED head or do you have to purchase that separate?

 

[hammer67]

You can get it with the HID head or the LED head your choice of one.

 

[Lee Taylor]

An acquaintance of mine black water dives for a living. He has been doing this for many years. He uses this:

GreenForce - Divelights

I have used "Dive Rite" for years. Not sure if they are a leader these days. Opinions are welcomed

 

[SDAnderson]

Hands down the best HID light available: Sandho

As to backup lights, after years of flooding half a dozen different brands, I've settled on: Raider

 

[_Remko_]

I recently had to make that decision and ended buying the new ATON LED light. It's focusable and a little less (blinding) bright than the 21W HID.

In addition I like that I can get plenty of burn time from the smaller 5Ah canister (3,5 hour), the light head is a lot more compact than the Halcyon/Light monkey 21W HID, lifetime waranty on the LED slug, posibility for a future upgrade to the ATON 2 (2000 lumen, seperate slug with E/O cord so swap in seconds).

UTD supplies the complete package in the U.S. The light head and canister are Light monkey, ATON slug is from diving innovations.

http://utdequipment.com/product_info.php?cPath=8&products_id=15

For a backup I use the Heser selected LED. It's the favorite backup amongst EKPP divers. The burn time is amazing (8+ hours) and its great for clear water nightdives:

http://www.heser-backup.de/laden/ca...id=37&osCsid=3fcc3efdd21e20f0c4d07f1ccf8bee24

Not sure about suppliers in the U.S. but for $1500 I am sure they can ship it to your door

 

[rongoodman]

I just finished my Cavern/Intro with a Salvo 21W HID and Halcyon LED backups. Both worked very well. The 21W overpowering my instructors weaker LED primary was a problem from time to time.

 

[AtomicZ]

Light Monkey 21W HID!
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