Light recommendations

[doublea]

Hi all! Just started some coursework for cavern / intro to cave and realizing my sola lights are insufficient burn time and have limited mounting options so am thinking about getting some more serious lights, but wanted to get some advice.

My setup is sidemount.

I am guessing I want a canister light for primary and 1-2 backup LEDs I can operate with one hand because:
-Head can mount on helmet
-Can easily change hands with it to check gauges or play with
-Long burn times at full power (especially so we're able to do two 60-90 min dives a day without recharging)

From some initial research on primaries it seems the brands I should look at are:

Big Blue (e.g. 4800-PCLIM), UWLD, Dive Rite (e.g. LX25, HP50) and Light Monkey. I would love to hear any experience or recommendations with these, thoughts on beam width, sufficient lumens/lux/watts for cave diving, etc.

I'm also looking for advice on backup lights if anyone has any they like.

Thanks!

 

[joe10540]

I am probably in the minority and will probably catch some grief for not recommending one of the big name lights. I have had great success/luck with some cheap Chinese lights. This primary goes for $80 and has replaceable batteries. Sure it’s not the best light on the market but for the price it can’t be beat. This backup I have been using for almost two years without any trouble. It burns for 90+ min with good batteries and they are replaceable between dives if necessary.

Ultimately it will come down to what you want out of a light and more importantly what your instructor is ok with you using for your class. To me the ability to just throw away and replace a light if it breaks beyond repair is a big plus. To others a big name brand with great customer service is worth paying 10x as much for a light.

 

[karstdvr]

You mention some great lights as far as your choices, and if you have the budget go for it. If you have the option use what you have now and get certified, because that light is more than adequate while in the learning and getting experience phase. Once you have gotten certified and made some dives, then take the time to go to shops that will let you test those lights for yourself in the cave environment, and make your own comparison of what you like. You will get a lot of advice on this and other forums of what light is the best,but ideally you are the best person to make this decision firsthand.

 

[kensuf]

Two weeks ago I had a Basic Cave student that had one of those $80 lights. We called it "Angry Cricket" because it was surprisingly bright for such a small light. He had previous issues with Angry Cricket flooding, and mentioned at least three times he hoped the O-rings would be OK. Angry Cricket failed on him in his class, but that gave him the opportunity to practice deploying his backup light. Thankfully we had completed all of the dives and skills necessary, otherwise he would have been SOL.

He is one of those guys that likes to tinker with things, but in a water filled cave, your light is a piece of life support equipment. And while all lights will fail, some seem to fail more frequently than others. I don't want to have to call dives because my cheap light failed.

BTW - this past weekend he posted that Angry Cricket died and he was looking for suggestions.

$80 may sound inexpensive up front, but sometimes you do get what you pay for and those things really are cheap. Be prepared to view that $80 primary light as disposable.

 

[kensuf]

BTW, there was a really hot deal on a used 21W HID light here in the Scubaboard classifieds section recently. You don't have to spend a ton of money on a new light to get something completely usable and safe.

 

[Doby45]

This little badboy is still for sale..

For Sale - DiveRite Slimline Canlight - LED Upgraded

 

[macado]

Agree with others. I wouldn't skimp on a primary. I'm a big fan of Light Monkey and Dive Rite. My primary light that I use is a Light Monkey 35W HID. I honestly still think HIDs are superior for signaling and murky water. I really like my HID for a primary but 90% of my dives are in murky / low viz.

Having said that, if I were in the market for another primary I'd go with the Underwater Light Dude (UWLD). For the record, I don't own one but it will be my next light when I'm ready to buy. I have several dive buddies with the UWLD LD-35 and I really like them. When they are behind me in cave I don't even need to use my primary

For backups lights I really think small/compact LEDs are the way to go. I really like the DGX 600 Lumens Handheld Lights.
DGX 600 Handheld Light Kit

I own 4 of them and have had no issues. I use them quite frequently on recreational dives. They are compact and bright. When I cave dive I have at least 3 of them on me. I don't expect them to fail but the downside to them is they don't have a very long advertised runtime.

It does go against the old adage of not using rechargeable batteries in your backup lights. With good quality 18650 batteries I get burntimes closer to 90+ minutes. The advertised runtime is 60 minutes and obviously this is quite a low burn time for cave diving so I only recommend them with that caveat.

I also own a couple DRIS 1000 Lumens that I also use as backups. Longer runtimes.

 

[PfcAJ]

Save your money and get a halcyon focus 2. Its seriously good.

Buy two halcyon or heser backup lights and put them on your harness clipped to your chest d rings. Putting lights on a helmet (that you don’t need) will only serve to blind your buddy when you look at him.

 

[bamafan]

I really like the 4500 lumen Big Blue handheld. You should be able to get one for $400 or less. You will get over 2 hours on high. You can bump it down to a lower setting and get several hours. If you want just get an extra battery and change it out between dives. I have had a 3500 lumen UWLD light and have a 4000 lumen Light Monkey led light. Honestly the Big Blue is just as good or better than the LM light for sub 2 hour dives. You can certainly spend more money but I don't think you will gain much except burn time and honestly you won't need that for a long time.

 

[bamafan]

Oh as to backup just get some 1k lumen rechargeable battery lights. There are numerous brands that are made in China / Tiawan. Big Blue makes one that is good and can be bought for $120 or less but honestly there are cheaper ones out there that are just as good. As far as mounting them I am not a helmet fan but in sidemount mounting them on your harness GUE style sort of sucks. It isn't real bad till you start carrying stages or deco bottles but they are a pain. I personally just stick them in my pocket. Some people put them in a butt purse or on a helmet. These last 2 options are my favorite but lots of good sidemount divers do prefer a helmet or butt pouch.