Is a 35w HID obnoxious?

[battles2a5]

So, I'm thinking about upgrading from my DR MR11 10w and have my eye on the Salvo 35w. It's only a couple of hundred more than the 21w and both are ridiculously expensive anyway so why not go for the big guy? My only concern is that the 35w will cause more problems than it solves. Is it too bright in some environments? Will I blind my dive buddy? Will it obscure a signal from a lesser dive light? Will I just look like a jerk in general for offending everyone w/ a bagillion lumens of light saber? Opinions from people who own the light or have been in the water with someone who had the light would be appreciated.

FWIW, I do a lot of wreck diving in NC and will be cave diving in the near future. And it will get plenty of use in the quarry.

Thanks in advance!

 

[OneBrightGator]

That depends... if it's my light, absolutely not! If it's my buddy's, of course, what a tool

You may have backscatter issues in the quarry, but you'll have those to some extent with any light and you will have to be conscious of the overpowering-ness of it. Have you compared the burntimes to see if one is a better fit? It would be ridiculously nice if you could use one battery for a day's worth of ocean diving and avoid fiddling with two batteries.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Absolutely not! It is an awesome light and you can never have too much light when diving in and around wrecks or deep in a quarry. But then, that is the light I use so I might be a bit biased.

 

[battles2a5]

Divin' Hoosier- what do your buddies use? Any issues w/ communicating? To Gator's point, what kind of burn times are you seeing w/ the 35? The salvo site says 4 hours so that should be good for a day's diving.

 

[Rick Inman]

My two main buddies both have Salvo 35w HID's and I can tell you I never saw a worse light. What a piece of trash.

My light is the awesome Salvo 21w.


(I'm kidding about their lights, of course.)

 

[lamont]

i took a salvo 21W and did a night dive on a reef in akumal and it might have been too much there. it was kind of funny because i always had a swarm of fish going berzerk *right* in front of the light but as the dive went on the fish got bigger and bigger. when the dive started they were about 5mm long and when the dive ended i had a school of about 2 inch/5cm long fish swimming around in the HID like moths around a flame...

anywhere the viz is less than 60 feet i'd definitely go with the largest HID you can find... they light up the insides of caverns better as well...

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Divin' Hoosier- what do your buddies use? Any issues w/ communicating? To Gator's point, what kind of burn times are you seeing w/ the 35? The salvo site says 4 hours so that should be good for a day's diving.

Most of my buddies don't have HIDs, so we don't do alot of light signaling. The ones that do have 10s and we've been able to signal fine. With the 15.6 Amp Li-Ion, the burn time is a solid 4 hrs. I have never burned it all the way down, but I have gotten 3 hrs without any difficulty.

 

[Rick Inman]

i took a salvo 21W and did a night dive on a reef in akumal and it might have been too much there. it was kind of funny because i always had a swarm of fish going berzerk *right* in front of the light but as the dive went on the fish got bigger and bigger. when the dive started they were about 5mm long and when the dive ended i had a school of about 2 inch/5cm long fish swimming around in the HID like moths around a flame...

Shoot, I couldn't hold still for one min in Hawaii during my night dive with my 21w. I was quickly swarmed by a cloud of white plankton so thick I couldn't see, buzzing into my ears... It was creepy.

 

[battles2a5]

Heck, my 10w was overkill on Bonaire night dives. I was with a group of recreational divers and aside from some major light envy, I almost felt bad for blasting the place w/ light. At least I didn't lose anyone

Thanks for the advice. Anyone else w/ a 35 want to chime in?

 

[rookers]

In many dive teams, in an overhead, the guy with the biggest light has to suck hind *** so that everyone can maintain visual contact. Its not always an advantage to own the brightest, but it would be be comforting in diddled vis.