Light recommendation?

[lavachickie]

I've read a lot of threads talking about specific lights. I would like to hear suggestions that might fit my needs. As I've only been diving since the beginning of the year, this lovely summer is my first intro to the reality of what happens to viz in the PNW during the summer months. It's not going to keep me out of the water, though! My lights are very much UNDER powered for what I've seen lately. I just have a hand held Intova torch and another on backup. What should I get to solve that problem?

I realize in bad viz, a good light isn't going to clear it up and make it any better. But I'd like to at least have something powerful enough to cut through it so my buddy could locate me.

As for price, I'm a sliding scale kind of gal. I'd like to spend as little as possible. But... if there's like THE BEST THING EVER out there for $300, well... that's what money's for, right?

EDIT: Okay, let's say $500...

I know there won't be consensus, so tell me what you like and why you like it. About lights, that is.

[cardiver]

I've read a lot of threads talking about specific lights. I would like to hear suggestions that might fit my needs. As I've only been diving since the beginning of the year, this lovely summer is my first intro to the reality of what happens to viz in the PNW during the summer months. It's not going to keep me out of the water, though! My lights are very much UNDER powered for what I've seen lately. I just have a hand held Intova torch and another on backup. What should I get to solve that problem?

I realize in bad viz, a good light isn't going to clear it up and make it any better. But I'd like to at least have something powerful enough to cut through it so my buddy could locate me.

As for price, I'm a sliding scale kind of gal. I'd like to spend as little as possible. But... if there's like THE BEST THING EVER out there for $300, well... that's what money's for, right?

I know there won't be consensus, so tell me what you like and why you like it. About lights, that is.

There are a few good choices in the 500.00 range. If you want a hand held light you can look at the UK led lights or the Dark Buster hid hand held lights. You should be able to pick one of them up for under 300.00.
http://www.luxhid.com.au/index.cfm/deta ... 0Torch%20/
http://www.uwkinetics.com/product/121

[spatman]

EDIT: Okay, let's say $500...

if you're interested in a canister light, a 9w Light Monkey LED might be a contender:

http://northeastscubasupply.com/store/L ... _2969.html

[ljjames]

if you want to try a few canister lights to see if you like the style, i have a handful you can try as well... Some Halcyon, some Diverite....

then you can scan the forums for something nice that comes up in your price range and have a better idea of what yer getting yourself into

[Dashrynn]

What kind of light is it? I don't know what will fit your needs but I have a 10watt hid by Halcyon that focuses and I like the hell out of it but, I bought mine used...so it was only 250 Halcyon name doesn't come cheap......

[LCF]

If your budget extends to $500, keep a close watch on the Deco Stop classifieds. I've seen a number of 21W HID lights sell for less than that -- I picked one up last year with the small LiIon battery, and it works great.

[no excuses]

Dive rite has a real nice LED can light on sale for $500



http://www.divegearexpress.com/lights/ledlux.shtml

[cardiver]

Dive rite has a real nice LED can light on sale for $500



http://www.divegearexpress.com/lights/ledlux.shtml

I know of a few people that are using this light and they love it. Definitely the most bang for the buck!

[Penopolypants]

I'll reiterate pretty much what everyone else said. You can pick up some nice new and used can lights for your budget. For used I would too cruise the Deco Stop (you'll need to create an account with them but it's free - I bought my light used off of TDS and I couldn't be happier). For new there are some good recommendations above.

Light Monkey would be my first choice but Dive Rite has come out with some nice, reasonably priced lights too.

I really underestimated the value of a really good light until I started diving with people that had them. Now I tell everyone to buy the bestest and brightestest light they can find and afford, and while I have both pistol grip and can light options, I prefer the can light. It's an incredibly good way for you and your buddy to communicate in our murky waters. My light is hands-down my favorite piece of gear, and I feel really weird diving without it.

[ljjames]

i'll mention (although i know it's come up time and time again in other threads)

with regards to HID's bigger than 10w

Focusable with a good shroud is something to take into consideration.

If you come out and dive with my Diverite frankenlight, you'll be impressed by the beam, but if you dove it (or dove next to it) before it was modified you'd likely have sooner or later found it irritating.

When the mfg. doesn't put a long enough shroud on the light, two things can happen. You get 'spill' (the light going out sideways from the test tube) and also as you come up next to your buddy or are slightly ahead of, the bit of the light test tube/filament sticking out ahead of the reflector will actually be visible to them and mess with their night vision. So i took a piece of PVC some glue and duct tape and made my diverite 24 into franken-light. In fact, it's beam is quite impressive now that it's been made 'better'

The nice thing about an adjustable is that you can get either a pinpoint (around a 6 degree beam) for 'cutting through the murk' or widen it out a bit (to around 10-12 degrees, some more) so you can paint more area with light, increasing what you can see. (nice on a wall with good vis or in a cave with clear water)

regarding 10w HID's

Some fixed beam lights are quite narrow (Welch allen 10w HID claimed a 6 degree beam). Some have an 8 or 9 degree fixed beam.

the Halcyon EOS LED has approx an 8 degree beam, which is close to the spread on an adjustable HID on about 'middle' focus.

the best thing to do is try some lights before you make the jump. That way you don't end up replacing/upgrading in a year.
you'll also be able to make a better decision regarding the lights you see pop up on the used market. I know there are lots of people on this list in addition to me that would likely be happy to let you try lights out.

With regard to used lights, 3 of my Halcyon's were purchased used. they are all upwards to 8 or 9 years old now with the old welch allen bulbs. The light heads and the batteries have been rock solid with hundreds of cycles. The only thing I've had done is the cord upgrade to the new style of strain relief, and a new reflector/shroud for my primary.

[Nwbrewer]

I'll reiterate pretty much what everyone else said. You can pick up some nice new and used can lights for your budget. For used I would too cruise the Deco Stop (you'll need to create an account with them but it's free - I bought my light used off of TDS and I couldn't be happier). For new there are some good recommendations above.

Light Monkey would be my first choice but Dive Rite has come out with some nice, reasonably priced lights too.

I really underestimated the value of a really good light until I started diving with people that had them. Now I tell everyone to buy the bestest and brightestest light they can find and afford, and while I have both pistol grip and can light options, I prefer the can light. It's an incredibly good way for you and your buddy to communicate in our murky waters. My light is hands-down my favorite piece of gear, and I feel really weird diving without it.

It's important to note for somebody new to diving that LightMonkey is a fairly new company, if you see a Salvo light, it's the same light, and any work it would need could be done by LightMonkey. I haven't owned one (I make my own) but from what I've seen of my buddies lights, these or the Halcyon is probably the way to go as far as major manufacturers. The DiveRite lights I've seen both LED and HID always seemed to have too much spill for diving in the Puget Goo. That's just me though, others may disagree.

[LCF]

Another point is that canister lights are designed to be worn on webbing harnesses. If you are using a traditional BC of some kind, it may be challenging to figure out how to mount one, depending on how the BC is put together.

[ljjames]

in that case, if its a small canister, put the canister on a weight belt under your BC or on a cam strap on the tank. Keeping in mind that on the tank will make it harder to turn on and off unless you put it upside down (but not so low as to crush your cord every time you sit down)

yes, i know this isn't the prescribed method, but if someones trying to find a bridge to get them through till they can afford a BP/W, or just doesn't want to use a BP/W, there are options...

[cardiver]

in that case, if its a small canister, put the canister on a weight belt under your BC or on a cam strap on the tank. Keeping in mind that on the tank will make it harder to turn on and off unless you put it upside down (but not so low as to crush your cord every time you sit down)

yes, i know this isn't the prescribed method, but if someones trying to find a bridge to get them through till they can afford a BP/W, or just doesn't want to use a BP/W, there are options...

I have a Nite Rider 10/14 watt hid that I mount on my tank strap. It has a on/off striker on the light head, so I can mount the battery on my tank right side up and not worry about crushing the cord.
The light that I bought list for 899 but I sent the owner of Nite Rider an e mail telling him which other lights I was looking at and their prices. He sold me the light for 500.00........
http://www.niteriderdive.com/Merchant2/ ... y_Code=HID

[lavachickie]

Thanks for all the great info, all! Love this board.

[Tubesnout23]

in that case, if its a small canister, put the canister on a weight belt under your BC or on a cam strap on the tank. Keeping in mind that on the tank will make it harder to turn on and off unless you put it upside down (but not so low as to crush your cord every time you sit down)

yes, i know this isn't the prescribed method, but if someones trying to find a bridge to get them through till they can afford a BP/W, or just doesn't want to use a BP/W, there are options...

What about somebody like me who has a webbing harness with a BP/W and has just bought a Light Monkey 9W? Unfortunately the light did not come with any kind of instructions on how to attach it to the harness properly. I know I saw other divers using those kind of lights but I cannot remember how they were attached and on which side of the body...

[Nwbrewer]

in that case, if its a small canister, put the canister on a weight belt under your BC or on a cam strap on the tank. Keeping in mind that on the tank will make it harder to turn on and off unless you put it upside down (but not so low as to crush your cord every time you sit down)

yes, i know this isn't the prescribed method, but if someones trying to find a bridge to get them through till they can afford a BP/W, or just doesn't want to use a BP/W, there are options...

What about somebody like me who has a webbing harness with a BP/W and has just bought a Light Monkey 9W? Unfortunately the light did not come with any kind of instructions on how to attach it to the harness properly. I know I saw other divers using those kind of lights but I cannot remember how they were attached and on which side of the body...

Here you go -

http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/page/u ... ary-lights

[LCF]

Betty, didn't the light canister come with two pipe clamps holding a piece of webbing to the canister? That's the way all of my lights have been supplied. If that's the case, you simply slide the light onto the right-hand waist strap, and secure it in place with a spare buckle. If not, you need a short piece of webbing (about 4 or 5 inches) and two appropriately sized stainless steel pipe clamps. Fold the webbing so that you have about a 2 1/2" length of webbing, with both ends folded toward the middle. Put the pipe clamps around the canister without tightening them. Put the folded ends of the webbing under the pipe clamps and tighten them down. Presto -- webbing loop!

[Tubesnout23]

in that case, if its a small canister, put the canister on a weight belt under your BC or on a cam strap on the tank. Keeping in mind that on the tank will make it harder to turn on and off unless you put it upside down (but not so low as to crush your cord every time you sit down)

yes, i know this isn't the prescribed method, but if someones trying to find a bridge to get them through till they can afford a BP/W, or just doesn't want to use a BP/W, there are options...

What about somebody like me who has a webbing harness with a BP/W and has just bought a Light Monkey 9W? Unfortunately the light did not come with any kind of instructions on how to attach it to the harness properly. I know I saw other divers using those kind of lights but I cannot remember how they were attached and on which side of the body...

Here you go -

http://www.unifiedteamdiving.com/page/u ... ary-lights

Great !Thank you!

[Tubesnout23]

Betty, didn't the light canister come with two pipe clamps holding a piece of webbing to the canister? That's the way all of my lights have been supplied. If that's the case, you simply slide the light onto the right-hand waist strap, and secure it in place with a spare buckle. If not, you need a short piece of webbing (about 4 or 5 inches) and two appropriately sized stainless steel pipe clamps. Fold the webbing so that you have about a 2 1/2" length of webbing, with both ends folded toward the middle. Put the pipe clamps around the canister without tightening them. Put the folded ends of the webbing under the pipe clamps and tighten them down. Presto -- webbing loop!

Thank you!

Technical terms are not my forte so I posted a couple of pictures of the canister to show what it has...(it like a pocket open in two sides ...uummhh! Ma!...made of webbing)

[LCF]

You just slide your waist belt webbing through the "slot" created by the webbing on the canister. Be sure to put a buckle on the waist strap after you put the canister on, so the canister won't come off and fall when you unbuckle your harness (it's hard on the cord).

[Tubesnout23]

After some adjustment I was able to fit the light without having to re-do the entire webbing of the harness.

The light worked fine. Apparently Sam is very jealous now...He said that he could not see the difference between my 9W and Idevore's 12W, I think, light. I bet there must be...It seemed to me that her light 'cone' was wider.

Anyway, one thing I still don't understand is the battery charger.

Do I have to charge the battery pack at the end of each dive? When I attached the wires of the battery charger to the battery pack the light on the charger was green, then when I unplugged those wires and plugged them back to the charger the light became red!

[ljjames]

once the light is plugged in to the charger, sometimes with some chargers (how's that for a vague statement) you may need to unplug (or turn off, i'm not sure which charger you have) the power supply to the charger. When you then turn it back on/plug it in, it should turn steady yellow or amber, or be a blinking color (green or yellow or amber), basically anything other than steady green or red. Usually a steady green means it's 'full' and means it's on 'float charge' mode.

With some smart chargers, they need to analyze the state of the battery for minute or so before they actually kick in to charging mode.

it could also be that your dive time was not enough to actually drop the battery, those lithium packs have insanely long burn times with the smaller lights

if your charger never seems to 'catch' you might drop an email to Corey at Light Monkey and ask him for further details.

i put mine on the charger after every dive day. a) i have big video lights that actually do suck down the battery, and b) that way i'm rarely caught 'off guard' with a low pack. c) with the exception of my newest light, i have OOOLLLLDD batteries and chargers. I'm always a little worried that maybe just maybe one didn't catch when i turned my back and just float charged all night.

One of my buddies who has lithium goes till he can't remember the last time he put it on the charger... Then he either charges it, or it dies halfway through a dive to let him know it's time (okay, maybe i'm exaggerating a little, but it seems that way)

[funkydiver]

EDIT: Okay, let's say $500...

if you're interested in a canister light, a 9w Light Monkey LED might be a contender:

http://northeastscubasupply.com/store/L ... _2969.html

Shell (Oregondiver) has one and she loves it... not cheap but worth the money

[LCF]

According to Tobin George, whose opinion on matters of engineering I completely trust, deep-cycling batteries is very bad for battery life. Charging your NiMH or Lithium batteries after every use will prevent them from developing a shorter and shorter burn time. I don't find it that big a deal, since I'm going to rinse the canister and light head anyway, to take it apart and put the batteries on every night. It's certainly much easier than the pain of buying new batteries!