This is a posting/review about an addition to my diving lights, The GEN-5 UD-35 dive light & clip-less tall (160) battery pack. I already own a UD-35 GEN-4 light/battery & have had/used various light monkey lights also & other HID models in the past.
Upon the GEN-5 model arriving & opening it up, I was very much impressed by the new battery design.
The new battery is slightly taller than the previous (GEN-4) tall battery pack. However what is packed in-side in my humble opinion is worth the extra little bit of size.
The new panasonic lithium-ion batteries provide more burn time (10%) due to the better batteries, also a gain in redundancy with the new GEN-5 design over the GEN-4 model
The new battery can support multiple light heads!
This info is posted on UWLD web site, but figured if someone is considering the light they might want to know the dive time:
Dive time the new batteries will give:
HIGH - 300 Minutes (5 HRS)
MEDIUM - 600 Minutes (10 HRS)
LOW - 1800 Minutes (30 HRS)
I've attached a few pics below:
New (160) battery & light head:
Top of the battery pack:
Bottom where it sits on the charger base:
The charging system design is definitely sexy in that the light dude provided us w/ options for how to charge it up!
Can charge it up by sitting it on the base:
Or you can connect the pack w/ out the base even needed directly to the top of the pack:
What I like about the charging options is that when I travel I dont have to haul the charging base w/ me. While the base itself isn't that heavy and can be packed away easy enough, taking as few things w/ me when I travel makes my life easier, so carrying just the charger is easy enough, and I can charge it through the TOP which I like.
I also like the fact that I can mount the light head onto the battery and leave it on, and not have to worry about disconnecting it to charge it up when I am diving locally, so to me this means when I am done w/ the dive, and head back home, I just have to drop it on the charger, and check it via the LED's on the side of charging pack to check when its charged up fully.
Also I like the switch protector that is now included w/ the light head. This easily moves over the switch and prevents it from accidentally being turned on/off, so this is a nice enhancement to the light head.
The battery pack still fits fine on the back of my modified SMS 100, and I dont even really notice the slightly larger size @ all.
Overall I must say I am VERY impressed by the craftsman-ship of this new GEN-5 battery pack. In my book the new design gets 2 THUMBS UP! What I like about the charging options is that when I travel I dont have to haul the charging base w/ me. While the base itself isn't that heavy and can be packed away easy enough, taking as few things w/ me when I travel makes my life easier, so carrying just the charger is easy enough, and I can charge it through the TOP which I like.
I also like the fact that I can mount the light head onto the battery and leave it on, and not have to worry about disconnecting it to charge it up when I am diving locally, so to me this means when I am done w/ the dive, and head back home, I just have to drop it on the charger, and check it via the LED's on the side of charging pack to check when its charged up fully.
Also I like the switch protector that is now included w/ the light head. This easily moves over the switch and prevents it from accidentally being turned on/off, so this is a nice enhancement to the light head.
The battery pack still fits fine on the back of my modified SMS 100, and I dont even really notice the slightly larger size @ all.
Overall I must say I am VERY impressed by the craftsman-ship of this new GEN-5 battery pack. In my book the new design gets 2 THUMBS UP!
The fact that there are no more clips on the battery pack that could get snagged on line, or accidentally being opened up under water are a thing of the past now. As far as the light is concerned...... it's bright!! Way brighter than other lights I've used in the past, I was diving w/ a buddy in JB and he had an older style light, and he said when he was diving w/ me with the LD-35 light, that his light output seemed like a candle blowing in the wind. In fact he said when he turned it off, he didn't notice any difference!!
Thought that was funny so I included it here....
I am excited to take it cave diving when I head down to Dominican Republic in FEB!
So to wrap up this post, if you are considering a new dive light for cave diving/wreck diving, etc. and looking for high output light, and top quality design that is tough & works well, this is the light to purchase!
Upon the GEN-5 model arriving & opening it up, I was very much impressed by the new battery design.
The new battery is slightly taller than the previous (GEN-4) tall battery pack. However what is packed in-side in my humble opinion is worth the extra little bit of size.
The new panasonic lithium-ion batteries provide more burn time (10%) due to the better batteries, also a gain in redundancy with the new GEN-5 design over the GEN-4 model
The new battery can support multiple light heads!
This info is posted on UWLD web site, but figured if someone is considering the light they might want to know the dive time:
Dive time the new batteries will give:
HIGH - 300 Minutes (5 HRS)
MEDIUM - 600 Minutes (10 HRS)
LOW - 1800 Minutes (30 HRS)
I've attached a few pics below:
New (160) battery & light head:
Top of the battery pack:
Bottom where it sits on the charger base:
The charging system design is definitely sexy in that the light dude provided us w/ options for how to charge it up!
Can charge it up by sitting it on the base:
Or you can connect the pack w/ out the base even needed directly to the top of the pack:
What I like about the charging options is that when I travel I dont have to haul the charging base w/ me. While the base itself isn't that heavy and can be packed away easy enough, taking as few things w/ me when I travel makes my life easier, so carrying just the charger is easy enough, and I can charge it through the TOP which I like.
I also like the fact that I can mount the light head onto the battery and leave it on, and not have to worry about disconnecting it to charge it up when I am diving locally, so to me this means when I am done w/ the dive, and head back home, I just have to drop it on the charger, and check it via the LED's on the side of charging pack to check when its charged up fully.
Also I like the switch protector that is now included w/ the light head. This easily moves over the switch and prevents it from accidentally being turned on/off, so this is a nice enhancement to the light head.
The battery pack still fits fine on the back of my modified SMS 100, and I dont even really notice the slightly larger size @ all.
Overall I must say I am VERY impressed by the craftsman-ship of this new GEN-5 battery pack. In my book the new design gets 2 THUMBS UP! What I like about the charging options is that when I travel I dont have to haul the charging base w/ me. While the base itself isn't that heavy and can be packed away easy enough, taking as few things w/ me when I travel makes my life easier, so carrying just the charger is easy enough, and I can charge it through the TOP which I like.
I also like the fact that I can mount the light head onto the battery and leave it on, and not have to worry about disconnecting it to charge it up when I am diving locally, so to me this means when I am done w/ the dive, and head back home, I just have to drop it on the charger, and check it via the LED's on the side of charging pack to check when its charged up fully.
Also I like the switch protector that is now included w/ the light head. This easily moves over the switch and prevents it from accidentally being turned on/off, so this is a nice enhancement to the light head.
The battery pack still fits fine on the back of my modified SMS 100, and I dont even really notice the slightly larger size @ all.
Overall I must say I am VERY impressed by the craftsman-ship of this new GEN-5 battery pack. In my book the new design gets 2 THUMBS UP!
The fact that there are no more clips on the battery pack that could get snagged on line, or accidentally being opened up under water are a thing of the past now. As far as the light is concerned...... it's bright!! Way brighter than other lights I've used in the past, I was diving w/ a buddy in JB and he had an older style light, and he said when he was diving w/ me with the LD-35 light, that his light output seemed like a candle blowing in the wind. In fact he said when he turned it off, he didn't notice any difference!!
Thought that was funny so I included it here....
I am excited to take it cave diving when I head down to Dominican Republic in FEB!
So to wrap up this post, if you are considering a new dive light for cave diving/wreck diving, etc. and looking for high output light, and top quality design that is tough & works well, this is the light to purchase!
