Ammonite LED One MKII Review (kinda)

[buddhasummer]

Led One

Discover the LED One by Ammonite System, a compact and powerful backup torch perfect for all underwater activities. Its durable design ensures reliability, prov

ammonitesystem.com

Bought this light for travel mainly because it runs on 3x AA batteries and as a back up.

It says beam angle is 6 degrees, looks wider than that to me, I'd guess more like 8-10.

It states 400 lumen output.

It's a robust feeling light. Triple O ring sealed, depth rated to 200m, twist activated.

Run time 7 hours.

Light head is metal and body is delrin (?).

Body has metal tube, not sure if it's to draw heat from LED to assist with better battery life like the Heser back up or just a tube to hold batteries.

With AA batteries in Japan the batteries rattle around which I found mildly annoying. With AA batteries here in Oz they do not rattle but top battery gets stuck in light head tube and requires teeth to remove it. You can see teeth marks in my photos.

When removing top battery it pulls led unit out of light head.

The LED unit itself is made from cheap brittle plastic, it doesn't inspire confidence. I guess good thing is it might mean buying spare bulbs or upgrading in the future maybe possible, assuming you can get hold of Ammonite.

Almost all online dealers that I've contacted do not seem to stock O rings or colour kits.

The led unit is fitted with 2 O rings, one internal and one external. Not sure if they are there for reasons of assembly of if it is an attempt to protect led should light flood. No mention of it in the literature. If it is in fact to protect led unit from flooding I think it's a fail as batteries have a seam so imagine internal O ring would not stop water flooding into led, not sure.

Ammonite customer service is woeful, took weeks of sending multiple emails to get a response. With twist lights I like to have spare O rings or at least know the size so I can source O rings, I like to replace every year as best practice. I tried to get O rings when I purchased the light but dealer said they do not stock them. I think it's good service for light manufactures to supply at least one set of spare O rings, it's not like they are expensive. Failing that at least make them easily available for purchase. Ammonite, when I eventually got a reply wanted €1 euro per O ring and €45 in shipping.

There is a colour ring kit you can buy but it is very hard to find and you get a selection of colours, you cannot buy specific colours. It may well be you can direct from Ammonite but lack of response and shipping costs when you do get hold of them would make it all but cost prohibitive.

I was fortunate that the dealer I bought from was able to change ring from orange to blue, I like blue.

Overall I think it's a nice light, not too bright (my usage does not require the sun), long run time, easily available AA batteries, triple O ring sealed, feels robust. Price was OK, think I paid $85 USD plus shipping but seems only online purchases so add shipping to the cost.

Not sure I'd recommend it given the plethora of other options on the market and Ammonites less than even acceptable customer service. Maybe I would ...

 

[buddhasummer]

More pics:

 

[buddhasummer]

Hate the carpet and refuse to vacuum it.

 

[lexvil]

Love that carpet, perfect to hauled out on (‘muricanism) for not removing muddy shoes.

 

[buddhasummer]

Love that carpet, perfect to hauled out on (‘muricanism) for not removing muddy shoes.

It's yours ...

 

[Wibble]

Have both a LED1 and LED2, the original versions.

Both have a very phallic design which might be why the changed it in v2???

Anyway, they work. They've worked for years despite that they're permanently on my harness, tucked under the bottom strap (DIR style). I rarely test them but know it's there.

If my primary torch fails -- or more likely a "buddy's" light has failed -- then I can reach down and pull it out of the harness, twist the head and voilla! Let there be light.

They're not the brightest light in the world, but they've done many hundreds of dives over 8 years with me and have never failed.

The LED1 is smaller, taking 2 AA batteries/cells. The LED2 is bigger, taking C batteries/cells.

For a harness torch, the LED1 is better. For light output the LED2 is brighter.

Bottom line. They just work.

 

[buddhasummer]

Yes, the LED2 is 800 lumens and the OG led One was 200 lumens IIRC. They no longer make the LED2 but I still see the occasional one floating around online.

They make a short LED one same specs as long one but runs on 2x CR123A batteries.

 

[buddhasummer]

200 lumens 2x AA is a light I would like. I like simple twist lights. It's a struggle to find a good low lumen light which is my preference for clear water night diving. It seems mega lumen lights are the norm now which are often simply too bright for night OW tropical diving.

 

[Wibble]

What always impressed me about them was their build quality. As you showed in your pics, there's 3 O-rings and the delrin is thick and chunky. The alloy looks OK after years of abuse sea and freshwater diving. I never wash/rinse it (will get a photo).

 

[buddhasummer]

With a better dealer network, better availability of parts and accessories, better customer service I think they could become a lot more popular.